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Understanding Practice Change by Rural Landholders David Pannell ARC Federation Fellow School of Agricultural and Resource Economics University of Western Australia

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Key points <ul><li>Practice change depends on: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>The human dimension (learning, social processes, goals, perceptions, …) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>The technologies (relative advantage, trialability) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Each practice has its own unique adoption story </li></ul><ul><li>For policy, extension and research, it pays to anticipate adoptability </li></ul>

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The human dimension The innovative practice 

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At the individual level <ul><li>It’s a learning process </li></ul><ul><li>Initially uncertainty is high </li></ul><ul><ul><li>e.g. about a new pasture plant’s response to climate, soils, pests, weeds, inputs, grazing, etc. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Over time, learning  uncertainty falls </li></ul><ul><li>Subjective perceptions – it’s personal </li></ul>

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Learning process - stages <ul><li>Awareness of problem or opportunity </li></ul><ul><li>Non-trial evaluation </li></ul><ul><li>Trial evaluation </li></ul><ul><li>Adoption (or not) </li></ul><ul><li>Review and modification </li></ul><ul><li>Disadoption </li></ul>Continuum Process is never complete

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Social factors influence adoption <ul><li>Related to communication, trust, credibility </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Social networks </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Physical proximity </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Extension </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Ethnic/cultural divisions </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Related to benefits from adopting the practice </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Off-farm income </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Property size </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Age/education </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Reason for holding land </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Goals </li></ul></ul>

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A variety of goals <ul><li>(i) material wealth & financial security </li></ul><ul><li>(ii) environmental protection and enhancement </li></ul><ul><li>(iii) social approval and acceptance </li></ul><ul><li>(iv) personal integrity, ethics </li></ul><ul><li>(v) balance of work and lifestyle </li></ul>

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Categories of adopters <ul><li>Kernal of truth </li></ul><ul><li>But given too much emphasis </li></ul><ul><li>Don’t forget the practices </li></ul><ul><li>An individual could be </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Early adopter for a new crop variety </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Laggard for a new pasture species </li></ul></ul>

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The human dimension The innovative practice 

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 Characteristics of practices Relative advantage Trialability

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Relative advantage <ul><li>Economic benefits </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Profitability of practice </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Farming systems effects </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Adjustment cost </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Riskiness </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Compatibility </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Complexity </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Opportunity cost </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Compatibility with </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Beliefs/values </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Family goals </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Self image </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Brand preference </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Environmental </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Values of landholder </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Threats </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Benefits of practice </li></ul></ul>

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Relative advantage driving peak adoption

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‘ Convenience agriculture’ <ul><li>More management demands </li></ul><ul><li>Less time available </li></ul><ul><li>The challenge for ‘inconvenient’ agricultural practices </li></ul><ul><li>e.g. Intensive livestock systems? </li></ul>

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 Characteristics of practices Relative advantage Trialability

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Trialability <ul><li>How easy is it to get over the learning hump? </li></ul>

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Factors reduce value of trialling <ul><li>Observability low or costly </li></ul><ul><li>Highly novel new practice </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Previous experience not transferable </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Long time scales </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Survey of farmers in Upper Kent, 1997 </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Of the farmers who invested in Landcare (e.g. drainage, trees, lucerne) less than half had observed any benefit </li></ul></ul>

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Each practice has its own adoption story <ul><li>Influential factors </li></ul><ul><li>Time frame </li></ul><ul><li>Groups of adopters and non-adopters </li></ul>

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Factors influencing no-till adoption <ul><li>Higher education </li></ul><ul><li>Participation in extension activities </li></ul><ul><li>Use of paid consultant </li></ul><ul><li>Years since first awareness of nearby no-till adopter </li></ul><ul><li>Occurrence of a very dry year </li></ul><ul><li>Fall in price of glyphosate </li></ul><ul><li>Location (region/state) & average rainfall </li></ul><ul><li>Effectiveness of pre-emergent herbicide (trifluralin) </li></ul><ul><li>Soil-moisture-conservation & seeding timeliness </li></ul>NOT SIGNIFICANT: Erosion risk; soil conservation benefits; Landcare 82% of decisions correctly predicted Source: D’ Emden et al. 2006

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Factors influencing IWM adoption <ul><li>Higher use of extension </li></ul><ul><li>Higher education </li></ul><ul><li>Lower discount rate for future returns </li></ul><ul><li>Perception of higher ryegrass control (efficacy) </li></ul><ul><li>Perception of higher economic value of practices </li></ul><ul><li>Perception of longer time until new herbicide </li></ul><ul><li>Uncertainty of when new herbicide will be available </li></ul><ul><li>Higher proportion of the farm cropped </li></ul><ul><li>The resistance status of the farm </li></ul>86% of decisions correctly predicted Source: Llewellyn et al. 2006

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It pays to anticipate adoptability <ul><li>Researchers </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Target research effort to practices and technologies with better prospects </li></ul></ul>

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It pays to anticipate adoptability <ul><li>Extension </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Sustained adoption requires relative advantage </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Ignoring that threatens credibility </li></ul></ul>

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It pays to anticipate adoptability <ul><li>Policy </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Anticipate adoptability when considering policy responses (what mechanism, if any) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Non-adoption is generally for good reasons, especially if it persists </li></ul></ul>

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Key points <ul><li>Practice change depends on: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>The human dimension (learning, social processes, goals, perceptions, …) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>The technologies (relative advantage, trialability) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Each practice has its own unique adoption story </li></ul><ul><li>For policy, extension and research, it pays to anticipate adoptability </li></ul>