The California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Healthy Soil Program (HSP) began incentivizing farmer adoption of agroecological practices in 2017. It was the first state-level effort of its kind and provides a test case through which we examine the impact of public institutional support for agroecological approaches. The mixed-method evaluation reported here documents all HSP practices adopted between 2017 and 2022 and evaluates each practice using an established agroecological rating system. We then combine the agroecology rating of HSP practices with CDFA provided budget data to quantify the financial allocation of resources to different levels of agroecological transition. We find that despite including a menu of practices with great agroecological potential, HSP has funded relatively few of these transformative practices, and funding has instead been dominated by simple input-substitution practices like compost application. We also use farmer interview and survey data to quantify the frequency and drivers of funded practice maintenance following the end of HSPs three-year incentive period. Funded practice maintenance has never been assesed in California. We find that 71% of all HSP practices were maintained, with prior practice experience, farm size, and number of employees all positively associated with maintenance. We conclude with a set of recommendations for improving the agroecological impact of the HSP.

Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) programs are different from other fields because they focus on a complex integration of humanities, social, and natural sciences concepts centered on the interactions of coupled human and natural systems. The interdisciplinary nature of IES programs does not lend itself to traditional discipline-specific concept inventory frameworks for critically evaluating preconceptions and learning. We discuss the results of the first phase of a research project to develop a next generation concept inventory for evaluating interdisciplinary concepts important for introductory IES courses. Using the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus (the intersections/interdependencies of food, energy, and water sectors) as our focus, we conducted a content analysis of eight representative college-level introductory environmental course syllabi and course materials (e.g., textbooks, journal articles, print media) to identify common interdisciplinary FEW Nexus concepts taught in introductory IES courses. Results demonstrate that all IES introductory course materials reference the FEW Nexus. Food, energy, and/or water resources as individual elements of the FEW Nexus are frequently described, but connections between these resource systems are included less often. Biology, energy systems, waste and pollution in the natural environment, agriculture, earth sciences and geology, climate change, behavioral social sciences, and economics concepts are most associated with FEW concepts, hinting at commonalities across IES topics that anchor systems thinking. Despite differences in IES programs, there appears to be some alignment between core concepts being taught at the FEW Nexus in introductory courses.

Co-production of knowledge (through project design or research) is viewed as an effective approach to solving environmental problems, which may also increase community adaptive capacity in the face of climate change. However, the reality is that little is known about long-term impacts of co-production on researchers, communities, and outputs. We qualitatively analyzed case studies to understand co-production processes and related adaptive capacity outcomes. These 13 case studies were developed to identify impacts of the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture water (2001–2013) and climate (2010–2015) portfolios, which funded projects focused on research, education, and extension related to climate and water issues on working lands. Case study data included interviews, survey responses, and analysis of reports and publications related to a single project. We found that projects which were responsive to specific needs and assets of stakeholders had strong connections to adaptive capacity outcomes, but that these projects did not necessarily entail highly interactive practices of co-production of knowledge (e.g., stakeholder-driven research with continuous interactions between academic and non-academic partners). Our research provides evidence to suggest that, in some contexts, engagement approaches that are less time- and resource-intensive for stakeholders may be as effective at building adaptive capacity as highly interactive co-production efforts.

Groundwater depletion and water scarcity are significant global risks facing humanity. Improved irrigation efficiency is a key strategy for achieving sustainable management of groundwater resources. In 2021, we surveyed vineyard managers in the Paso Robles (California) American Viticultural Area, assessing the level of, and barriers to, adoption of six irrigation efficiency best management practices (BMPs). BMP adoption was relatively low overall, with the use of flow meters most widespread (55%) and plant tissue sampling to schedule irrigation least prevalent (32%). Financial expense to implement and manage was the most cited barrier and UC Cooperative Extension was the most trusted information source for water management concerns. There was a clear relationship between BMP adoption and the vineyard and vineyard manager characteristics included in the study. Participation in Sustainability in Practice (SIP) certification and its related grower-to-grower network activities emerged as the single most important determinant of BMP adoption. A vineyard typology of three types (small, medium and large-scale) was also constructed to understand the relationship between BMP adoption, vineyard type and other vineyard and vineyard manager characteristics. There were sharp differences between vineyard types in BMP adoption, barriers to adoption, and trusted information sources. The analysis concludes with targeted outreach recommendations to improve BMP adoption that include financial and technical assistance. Our approach of assessing adoption, characterizing barriers, identifying opportunities, and formulating an outreach strategy informed by farm typology is relevant to other irrigated agricultural regions facing water scarcity and groundwater depletion and could be extended to other irrigation BMPs as well as to other crops.

This systematic review assembles evidence for rights-based approaches–the right to food and food sovereignty–for achieving food security and adequate nutrition (FSN). We evaluated peer-reviewed and gray literature produced between 1992 and 2018 that documents empirical relationships between the right to food or food sovereignty and FSN. We classified studies by literature type, study region, policy approach (food sovereignty or right to food) and impact (positive, negative, neutral, and reverse-positive) on FSN. To operationalize the concepts of food sovereignty and the right to food and connect them to the tangible interventions and practices observed in each reviewed study, we also classified studies according to 11 action types theorized to have an impact on FSN; these included “Addressing inequities in land access and confronting the process of land concentration” and “Promoting gender equity,” among others. We found strong evidence from across the globe indicating that food sovereignty and the right to food positively influence FSN outcomes. A small number of documented cases suggest that narrow rights-based policies or interventions are insufficient to overcome larger structural barriers to realizing FSN, such as inequitable land policy or discrimination based on race, gender or class.

California's wine grape growers will face increasing challenges under a changing climate as most production occurs near the boundaries of current varieties' climatic thresholds. As part of this study, we developed a method for transforming downscaled climate information from the publicly available Cal-Adapt database into useful and useable climate projections for vineyard managers and advisors in the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area. We shared vineyard-specific projections during interviews of 20 managers and advisors. Overall, interviewees expressed trust in the projections and found them helpful in reducing their psychological distance from climate change. The projections prompted consideration of strategies for managing future climate risk and planning adaptation, with the majority of adaptations associated with long-term decisions such as row orientation, variety selection, dry farming, crop diversification and relocation. Agri-climatic decision support tools such as the one prototyped here may prove especially helpful for incorporating climate adaptation into the long-term business planning and vineyard redevelopment decisions facing managers and advisors in the near future. This approach could be extended to other California wine grape regions or to other perennial crops with expected vulnerabilities to climate change.

The 2012 Midwestern US drought resulted in major impacts to farmers and the public. Extreme events like drought will continue in the future due to climate change. We studied how the elite national press-New York Times (NYT) and Wall Street Journal (WSJ)-covered the 2012 Midwestern drought, how climate change was addressed, and how NYT and WSJ articles differed from each other and agricultural trade publication (ATP) article coverage before, during, and after the drought. A previous study found that ATP articles emphasized short-term drought recovery efforts. We suggest this emphasis was exacerbated by how drought and climate change were reported in the national media. Few articles discussed climate change in all publication types. Most articles that did cover climate change did not attribute a cause; however, over half of NYT articles mentioned human-caused climate change. WSJ and ATP articles had more content similarities than NYT articles. Overall, climate change discussions in all publication types were related to personal impacts. Climate change reporting in the WSJ and NYT was broad. ATP climate change reporting related to weather conditions in relation to farm resilience. Focusing on impacts and recovery may have attenuated risk perceptions. We contend that communication should recognize human-caused climate change and increased likelihood of weather extremes.

This research evaluated trajectories of agrarian change following liberalization and deregulation of the coffee commodity chain, assessing the transformation of agrarian class structures and livelihoods between 2000 and 2009 among landed coffee farmers from Agua Buena, Costa Rica. Simultaneous processes of differentiation, deagrarianization, and repeasantization are documented. Deagrarianization is identified as the result of either adaptive or maladaptive processes of livelihood diversification out of agriculture. Repeasantization is characterized by the widespread adoption of low external-input agriculture driven by cultural norms of self-sufficiency and labour flexibility within farm households. In order to ensure equitability and the continued viability of rural households in communities ravaged by commodity deregulation, aid and training need to be targeted towards resource-poor households in two principal areas: first, to transition off-farm livelihoods into stable and high return activities and, second, to provide the agroecological knowledge and resources for farming households to self-provision and distantiate themselves from the market.

This paper presents the case of a voluntary watershed project that addressed the need for improving water quality by reducing agricultural nutrient loss. The Beargrass Creek Watershed Approach Project in Wabash County, Indiana aimed to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve ambitious water quality goals and maximize the effectiveness of conservation funding through locally-led efforts that bring together multiple stakeholders throughout the process. The project focused on implementing the "right practices" in the "right places" through a goal-oriented, science-based, and locally-adapted approach to voluntary conservation. We examine and evaluate all three phases of the project and discuss successes and lessons learned from the point of view of both agricultural producers and agency staff from the local Soil and Water Conservation District and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Through the lens of the Health Belief Model and Protection Motivation Theory, we analyzed interviews of 36 agricultural advisors in Indiana and Nebraska to understand their appraisals of climate change risk, related decision making processes and subsequent risk management advice to producers. Most advisors interviewed accept that weather events are a risk for US Midwestern agriculture; however, they are more concerned about tangible threats such as crop prices. There is not much concern about climate change among agricultural advisors. Management practices that could help producers adapt to climate change were more likely to be recommended by conservation and Extension advisors, while financial and crop advisors focused more upon season-to-season decision making (e.g., hybrid seeds and crop insurance). We contend that the agricultural community should integrate long-term thinking as part of farm decision making processes and that agricultural advisors are in a prime position to influence producers. In the face of increasing extreme weather events, climatologists and advisors should work more closely to reach a shared understanding of the risks posed to agriculture by climate change.

The Midwestern United States experienced a devastating drought in 2012, leading to reduced corn and soybean yields and increased instances of pests and disease. Climate change induced weather variability and extremes are expected to increase in the future, and have and will continue to impact the agricultural sector. This study investigated how agricultural trade publications portrayed the 2012 U.S. Midwestern drought, whether climate change was associated with drought, and whether these publications laid out transformative adaptation measures farmers could undertake in order to increase their adaptive capacity for future climate uncertainty. We performed a content analysis of 1000 media reports between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2014, sampled from ten agricultural trade publications. The results lead us to suggest that trade publications’ 2012 U.S. Midwestern drought discussion lacked information that would allow farmers and agricultural advisors to assess climate change risk and subsequent potential adaptive management strategies. Agricultural risk from climate change is very real, and farmers will need to adapt. The agricultural trade publications studied missed an opportunity to convey risk from climate change and the transformative adaptation practices necessary for a sustainable and resilient agricultural system.

Water quality in the Midwestern United States is threatened as a result of agricultural runoff. Based on self-reported data from a survey of farmers in Indiana, we aim to provide a better understanding of how awareness of water quality problems, farm-as-business attitudes, and stewardship attitudes are related to each other and willingness to improve water quality. More specifically, we propose and test a structural equation model grounded in dual-interests theory to examine if and to what extent the relationships between awareness and farm-as-business attitudes are mediated by stewardship attitudes. We found evidence to support our model, particularly the importance of stewardship versus economic attitudes. Emphasizing economic incentives to increase adoption of conservation practices may need to be reconsidered given the growing evidence that pro-social variables influence conservation decisions. We draw attention to similarities and differences in applied environmental management and environmental psychology research, calling for greater integration across these approaches.

Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) can help local communities alleviate water runoff and reduce pollution in a cost-effective way. However, few researchers have examined the adoption of stormwater BMPs in urban-suburban communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing adoption and maintenance of rain barrels, a commonly promoted urban-suburban BMP, in two watersheds in Indiana. The resulting analysis of quantitative survey data, qualitative interview data, and practice assessment field data indicated that: (1) People with more positive attitudes towards the environment and higher level of knowledge about practices are more likely to adopt practices; (2) Gardeners with the intention of reducing water use in their yard were the most prevalent adopters and should be targeted for future stormwater conservation practices; (3) Between 25% and 35% of practices were discontinued within five years of their adoption; and (4) Informational signage stating adopters' commitment to practices and support for the environment is a potential strategy for fostering practice maintenance over time. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Although non-operating landowners control a growing percentage of farmland in the U.S., not enough is known about them. Modern agricultural practices have increased the global food supply, yet they have also contributed to environmental degradation, meaning more information about all stakeholders involved in farmland decision making is necessary. Using data from a 2014 survey in Indiana, this paper provides needed information about the characteristics of out-of-state non-operating farmland owners (e.g., absentee), their views toward conservationvractices on their land, and their relationships with their tenants. We find that support for conservation practices is generally high, but varies by the type of practice. Landowners are more comfortable with informally encouraging their tenants to use specific practices than including conservation provisions in their leases. Major barriers in encouraging their tenants to use conservation practices include the need for more information and the potential costs for themselves and their tenants. Landowners' relationships with their tenants generally play no role in whether or not they encourage conservation practices, however, more frequent land visitation, more emphasis on the environmental views of their tenant, and positive views toward government programs are significant predictors of encouragement. These findings can be used to more effectively design targeted outreach campaigns that encourage absentee landowners to work with their tenants to voluntarily implement conservation practices on their land. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public trust in organizations focused on improving environmental quality is important for increasing awareness and changing behaviors that have water quality implications. Few studies have addressed trust in soil and water quality information sources, particularly for both agricultural and nonagricultural respondents of the same watersheds. Surveys in 19 watersheds across five states in the Midwest assessed trust in, and familiarity with, soil and water quality information sources. Overall, respondents most trusted University Extension, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, while lawn care companies, environmental groups, and land trusts were less trusted. Significant differences in trusted sources were found between watersheds, and between agricultural and nonagricultural respondents across and within watersheds. Among agricultural respondents, a clear relationship exists between familiarity and trust; as familiarity with an organization increases, so too does level of trust. This relationship is less clear-cut for nonagricultural respondents in this region. We highlight implications of these findings for soil and water quality outreach efforts.

The U.S. Cooperative Extension Service was created 100 years ago to serve as a boundary or interface organization between science generated at the nation′s land grant universities and rural communities. Production agriculture in the US is becoming increasingly complex and challenging in the face of a rapidly changing climate and the need to balance growing crop productivity with environmental protection. Simultaneously, extension budgets are diminishing and extension personnel are stretched thin with numerous, diverse stakeholders and decreasing budgets. Evidence from surveys of farmers suggests that they are more likely to go to private retailers and consultants for information than extension. This paper explores the role that extension can play in facilitating climate change adaptation in agriculture using data from a survey of agricultural advisors in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska and a survey of extension educators in the 12 state North Central Region. Evidence from these surveys shows that a majority of extension educators believe that climate change is happening and that they should help farmers prepare. It also shows that private agricultural advisors trust extension as a source of information about climate change. This suggests that extension needs to continue to foster its relationship with private information providers because working through them will be the best way to ultimately reach farmers with climate change information. However extension educators must be better informed and trained about climate change; university specialists and researchers can play a critical role in this training process.

This research evaluated the impacts of Fair Trade marketing networks and shade-tree diversification on the reduction of land-use change out of coffee production in the district of Agua Buena, Costa Rica. These resistance strategies were deployed by smallholder coffee farmers in response to the “coffee crisis,” which involved record low coffee commodity prices and record high external input costs. This research found that Fair Trade price premiums were inconsequential in providing support for smallholder resistance to land-use change out of coffee production. In contrast, the adoption of agroecological practices such as shade-tree diversification reduced reliance on costly external inputs, which allowed adopting producers to keep land in coffee production at a significantly higher rate than non-adopters. One conclusion drawn is that when addressing agricultural development crises, the promotion of agroecological practices that cut costs may be as good a strategy or better than one that focuses on enhancing yields or establishing price supports.

Climate change threatens the health of global forests. Integrating climate information into forest management can help with climate change adaptation but doing so requires extensive engagement between scientists, practitioners, and decisionmakers. Forestry advisors are an important source of forest management information for many private landowners. However, little is known about forestry advisors' attitudes toward using and delivering climate and weather information. We surveyed state service foresters in the midwestern United States to assess their information needs and attitudes toward incorporating climate and weather forecasts into their practices. Most respondents (70%) indicated that they could find the short-term weather information they needed to advise landowners. Only 26% indicated that they could find the long-term climate information they needed. A majority of respondents indicated they would be interested in receiving long-term climate information. Results suggest that service foresters are open to using climate forecasts and information. Work needs to be done to ensure that the information presented is valuable to and usable by foresters.

Author(s): Babin, Nicholas Lawrence | Advisor(s): Gliessman, Stephen R | Abstract: Between 1999 and 2005 deregulation of international coffee commodity chain produced both a coffee crisis, characterized by lowest prices ever for coffee farmers in producing countries, as well as a coffee boom within consuming countries as the latte revolution took shape. This research seeks to understand how social, economic and environmental change have unfolded in producing country of Costa Rica following this coffee crisis. The impacts of two resistance strategies that peasant coffee farmers and their allies have deployed in face of this crisis are tested: participation in Fair Trade marketing networks and adoption of agroecological farming practices. Over six years of ethnographic community-based fieldwork, more than 70 agrobiodiversity inventories, archival research, semi-structured interviews, numerous farmer focus groups as well as a randomized survey of more than 100 farm-households were main methodologies utilized to gather data for this research project.I find that Fair Trade price premiums were inconsequential in providing support for smallholder resistance to coffee crisis in Costa Rica. I find pivotal, role played by Costa Rican governmental institutions in a successful agroecological transition that reduced external input costs. This is significant because process took place amidst backdrop of roll-back neoliberalism characterized by privatization and declining state involvement in provision of services. With no market, not even a fair one, able or willing to provide training and unique resources these smallholders needed, state not only stepped in, but was successful according to results of this study. With innumerable environmental, social and economic spillover effects of this transition process accruing at several scales, results of this study argue for creation or redirection of state-led institutions with power and support to conduct agroecological research and training, especially in de-technification transitional process to low-external input agriculture.