Farmer adoption of climate-smart practices is driven by farm characteristics, information sources, and practice benefits and challenges

Authors: JOHNSON, DEVON - University Of California, Davis; ALMARAZ, MAYA - Princeton University; RUDNICK, JESSICA - University Of California, San Diego; PARKER, LAUREN - University Of California, Davis; Ostoja, Steven; KHALSA, SAT DARSHAN - University Of California, Davis

Submitted to: Sustainability
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/3/2023
Publication Date: 5/16/2023
Citation: Johnson, D., Almaraz, M., Rudnick, J., Parker, L.E., Ostoja, S.M., Khalsa, S.S. 2023. Farmer adoption of climate-smart practices is driven by farm characteristics, information sources, and practice benefits and challenges. Sustainability. 15(10). Article 8083. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108083.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108083

Interpretive Summary: Climate change will require farmers to adopt adaptation practices, some of which can also help to mitigate climate change. In order to advance climate smart agriculture, it is important to understand what barriers may exist for farmer adoption. In order to elucidate key relationships between climate smart practices and farm characteristics, farmer information sources, and the challenges and benefits of the practices, a survey of more than 900 California farmers was conducted, focusing on four soil health-related practices. Survey analysis uncovered differences between farmers who adopted all four practices (high adopters) and those who adopted two or three practices (moderate adopters) or only one practice (low adopters). Namely, farm size and water access are important indicators of adoption, with high adopters being more likely to farm larger parcels and low adopters being more likely to have access to only one water source. Although little differences emerged between adopter groups in terms of information sources and the consideration of practice benefits, survey analysis does indicate that addressing uncertainty in practice adoption (e.g., practice efficacy, cost-benefit uncertainty, etc.) may be the final barrier in the transition from moderate adoption to high adoption. Using this information, agricultural outreach and extension agents can identify where to target their efforts to promote adoption of climate smart practices. The survey analysis suggests that technical assistance providers should emphasize more practice benefits, address uncertainties, and develop incentive programs that overcome barriers in order to ensure climate smart practices are feasible for adoption by different groups of farmers.

Technical Abstract: Agriculture plays an important role in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Yet, advances in climate-smart agriculture require a better understanding of farmer adoption. This exploratory paper uncovered differences that distinguish High, Moderate, and Low adopters of climate-smart practices. Our study utilized 952 in-person surveys of California farmers with a focus on mitigation and adaptation practices, along with farm characteristics, information sources, and practice benefits and challenges. Specifically, farmers with larger parcels were more likely to be High adopters, and farmers with access to only one water source were more likely to be Low adopters. There was no significant difference found between Moderate and High adopters’ use of any information sources. The ranking of different information sources changed between groups. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the rate of Moderate and High adopters’ consideration of practice benefits. All groups identified practice uncertainty as the greatest challenge, with a significant difference between Moderate and High adopters. Our results demonstrate where differences occur between farmer adopter groups and by extension provide insights into where to target outreach efforts to promote the adoption of climate-smart practices in California agriculture.