Poster presentation for virtual conference

1. Changes in farmer
decision-making across
the agricultural cycle
Margaret Beetstra, PhD Candidate
Eric Toman, PhD
Robyn Wilson, PhD

2. • To implement an on-farm conservation
practice, farmers are required to make a
number of decisions.
• Decisions related to complex practices like
cover crops (i.e. a crop planted outside of the
regular growing season to provide soil
benefits and reduce erosion) are not made all
at one time, but rather throughout the year.
• Simultaneously, farmers experience time and
financial swings throughout the year that
mirror the agricultural cycle.
• When an individual does not have the time or
financial resources that they need, they may
experience cognitive changes and make
decisions differently than usual.
Introduction
Cover crops
Image source: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ia/technical/ecoscience/agronomy/stelprdb1075705/

3. • Currently, researchers primarily collect data
from farmers in the winter months.
• These data are used to inform programs and
policies related to on-farm conservation
practices.
• If farmers think about conservation practices
like cover crops differently throughout the
year, then it may be important to evaluate
current researcher data collection methods.
Implications

4. 1. How does farmer time and financial
availability change throughout the year?
2. When are farmers making cover crop-related
decisions during the year?
3. Do farmers think about cover crops the same
way throughout the year?
4. Do farmers experience cognitive changes
throughout the year that might influence their
decision-making?
Research Questions

5. • Mixed-methods panel approach
– Surveyed Midwestern farmers
– Interviewed Ohio farmers
• For surveys and interviews, we asked the same
farmers the same questions at each time point to
determine if their answers changed
– Farm and farmer characteristics, perceptions and
use of cover crops, on-farm concern levels,
cognitive assessment, resource constraints
Methodology
Survey 1: April/
May 2019 (N=101)
Survey 2: August
2019 (N=71)
Survey 3: January/
February 2020 (N=48)
Interview 2: May/
June 2020 (N=28)
Interview 1: January/
February 2020 (N=29)

6. 1. How does
farmer time
and financial
availability
change
throughout
the year?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Jan/Feb Mar/Apr May/June July/Aug Sep/Oct Nov/Dec Never
#ofFarmers(Money)
%ofFarmers(Time)
Most financially satisfied Most financially stressed
Less busy than usual Average level of busy
More busy than usual
• Farmers are the least busy in the winter months and most busy near
planting and harvest.
• Farmers feel the most financially satisfied in the winter and the most
stressed before harvest.

7. 2. When are farmers making cover crop-
related decisions during the year?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Jan/Feb Mar/Apr May/June July/Aug Sep/Oct Nov/Dec
%ofFarmers
Whether to plant Type(s) to plant Amount of seed needed
When to plant When to harvest/terminate
• Most cover crop-related decisions are made in the late summer and near
harvest, with the exception of termination.

8. 3. Do farmers think about cover crops the
same way throughout the year?
• Farmers perceive the benefits of cover crops differently throughout the
year.
Jan/Feb Apr/May Aug
Intention to
use cover
crops
No differences across the year
Perceived
benefits from
cover crops
Higher than at
other times of
the year
No differences
Perceived
barriers to use
cover crops
No differences across the year

9. 4. Do farmers experience cognitive changes
throughout the year that might influence their
decision-making?
94%
88%
96%
87%
93%
87%
78%
92%
93%
82%
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
100%
Orientation Attention Learning/
immediate recall
Abstraction/
similarities
Information
%AverageCorrectResponses
Jan/Feb May/June
• We found that farmer orientation, attention, and information were
significantly (blue dots) lower in May/June than in January/February.
Learning/immediate recall and abstraction/similarities did not significantly
change.
• We used five tests to
measure different types
of mental status:
knowing where one is
and the date, ability to
pay attention, ability to
learn and immediately
recall information,
ability to identify
similarities, and ability
to answer basic
knowledge questions.

10. 1. Farmers experience fluctuations in the time and
financial resources throughout the year, in particular
experiencing much more free time during the winter months.
2. Cover crop decisions are not made at only one point
of the year, with certain decisions like the timing of
termination occurring months later than other practice-
relevant decisions.
3. Farmers do not think about cover crops in exactly the
same way across the year, in particular viewing practice
benefits as highest in the winter.
4. Farmers experience cognitive changes throughout the
year, signaling that the way that they make decisions may
not be stagnant.
Takeaways

11. This research was funded by the National Wildlife
Federation (Award ID 1903-087), National Science
Foundation (Award #1949379), and Ohio Sea
Grant (Project #R/SEL-003-PD)
Questions? Please contact Margaret Beetstra at
beetstra.2@osu.edu or in the Whova app
Acknowledgements & Contact Information