Farmer typologies integrating latent and observed characteristics: Insights for soil and water conservation outreach

One of the fundamental rules of effective communication is to “know your audience.” When engaging farmers in conservation in the U.S. and elsewhere where their participation is voluntary, communication should start with the fundamental recognition that farmers are heterogeneous in many ways; their attitudes, values, and motivations, as well as their farms’ biophysical and economic characteristics, can influence their behaviors. Previous typology research in Iowa, USA using data from a panel survey of farmers, revealed heterogeneity by identifying four types of farmers—Conservationists, Deliberative, Productivists, and Traditionalists—based on latent class analysis of variables measuring varied dimensions of awareness, attitudes, beliefs, perceived motivations, and barriers to practice adoption. The study presented in this article advances the typology by associating observable variables from the same survey (e.g., farmer demographics, farm enterprises, participation in conservation programs, adoption of conservation practices) with the four farmer types. The Conservationist type was the most educated and indicated a high intention of adopting cover crops. The Deliberative type tended not to have a conservation plan with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Productivist farmer farmed the most land, rented and owned, and had the highest no-till implementation in land size and percentage of the group. The Traditionalist type rented the least amount of land. We expect outreach professionals, watershed coordinators, and conservation practitioners can use observable characteristics to segment the farmer population and improve conservation messages by tailoring them to the specific farmer types, leading to a higher return on investment in terms of money, time, and goodwill.