Fair Enough:
Farmer-Led Councils and Adopting BMPs
Yanira Campos, NSF LAKES REU, East Carolina University
Advisor: Dr. Nels Paulson, UW-Stout
Understanding the Impact of Fairness on BMP Index
•
•
•
How many BMPs can we predict a farmer would use??
Previous literature has revealed “perceptions of procedural fairness
have been correlated with the increased satisfaction, perceived fairness
in resulting decisions and satisfaction with managing the
organization”(Lockwood et al. 2010).
Farmer surveys were scaled using three questions (Cronbach’s alpha
.8443) that captured fairness in policy making, regulating, and if there
was a fair process for people to voice their opinions. We analyzed 72
farmer surveys and the impact of perceived fairness on their use of
Best Management Practices (BMPs) for reducing run-off.
Fairness is important to farmers even when discussing regulations that
are not particular to farming: “We aren’t going to follow the Dunn
county shore land ordinance. If Menomonie is exempt, I can’t see why
we have to follow it. Here we mow up to the river.”
Understanding the Importance of Farmer-Led Councils
•
Farmer-Led Councils provide farmers with the ability to decide as a
group of farmers how to best incentivize the correct usage of BMPs for
other farmers in their given region.
•
A farmer interviewed expressed the importance of having an
agricultural background in order to establish trust and acceptance of
ideas between farmers. He expressed that many young farmers are
afraid to ask questions in fear that they will look inferior. The farmer
sees himself as a mentor for any given younger farmer because he
believes that many other farmers might ask the same questions.
•
Farmer-Led Councils allow for the exchange of information and ideas
and can ultimately lead to a greater use of BMPs.
Average Farmer BMP Usage
Gross farm
sales are
$100$250K
2 year
degree
Somewhat
likely to
partcipate in
Farmer-Led
Councils.
Neutral
about
whether
water politics
are fair
47% BMP Use
Minimum Farmer BMP Usage
Some High
School
Gross farm
sales less
than $50K
Extremely
unlikely to
partcipate in
Farmer-Led
Councils
Strongly
disagree that
water politics
are fair
4.66%
BMP Use
Maximum Farmer BMP Usage
Graduate
Degree
Relationship between BMP Use and Perceptions of Fairness in Water
Pollution Policy Making, Regulation, and Voicing Opinions
Gross farm
sales are
more than
$500k
Extremely
likely to
participate in
Farmer-Led
Councils
Strongly
agree that
wáter politics
are fair
93.61%
BMP Use
Relationship between likelihood to participate in a
Farmer-Led Council and Farmer Popularity (PageRank)
Impact of Farmer Popularity (i.e. PageRank) on Willingness to Participate in Farmer
Led Councils by Farm Size
Small Farm
Medium Small Farm
Medium Large Farm
Large Farm
High
High PageRank
Disagree that Water
Politics are Fair
BMP Index
Medium High
Neutral
Medium Low
Agree that Water
Politics are Fair
Low PageRank
Low
Willingness to Participate in Farmer Led Councils
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0.001
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Unlikely to participate
in Farmer-Led Council
0.003
0.005
0.007
0.009
0.011 0.013
PageRank
0.015
0.017
0.019
0.021
Likely to participate in
Farmer-Led Council
This work supported by National Science
Foundation SMA grant #135738
0.023