Farmers Attitudes Concerning On-Farm Research: Kansas Survey Results

Abstract

In 1993, a survey was mailed to elicit the opinions of active farmers about on-farm research (OFR), to determine their preferences for collaborative OFR, and their attitudes about research station‐based research. The samples were derived from three groups of farmers: those on a list kept by the Kansas Agricultural Statistics (KAS) office, members of the Kansas Farm Management Association (KFMA), and those on the mailing list of the Kansas Rural Center (KRC), an organization with an explicit commitment to sustainable agriculture. Our results found that most farmers engaged in OFR, either on their own initiative or in collaboration with outside groups. The majority of farmers expressed a desire to cooperate to a greater extent in OFR and a willingness to contribute resources and time to aid in that effort. Another notable result was the willingness of farmers to consult, and share information concerning OFR with other farmers. Differences were found between the KRC sample compared with the KAS and KFMA samples in that OFR related work was particularly important to farmers with an explicit sustainable agriculture orientation, who tended to be less convinced of the usefulness of research station‐based research and the research activities of commercial firms. Kansas Rural Center farmers wanted more say in the design and implementation of such OFR than did the KAS and KFMA farmers. Our findings support the conclusion that every effort should be made to involve farmers as partners in the research process rather than as someone for whom research is done.