Factors affecting farmers' adoption of conservation tillage

ABSTRACT: The importance of 10 variables in explaining the adoption of conservation tillage practices was tested in Iowa. All but one of the hypothesized relationships was partly supported by the data. Tenure status did not relate to adoption. As expected, persons adopting conservation tillage differed from nonadopters in some of their personal attributes, farm firm characteristics, orientations, and the potential for erosion on their cropland. Significant differences in several of these variables also were found between persons who were the first to adopt conservation tillage and those who adopted conservation tillage later. The findings proved generally consistent with previous research on the characteristics and farming situations of persons who have been innovative in their use of other types of agricultural practices.