Abstract
The exponential rise of information available means we can now, in theory, access knowledge on almost any question we ask. However, as the amount of unverified information increases, so too does the challenge in deciding which information to trust. Farmers, when learning about agricultural innovations, have historically relied on in-person advice from traditional ‘experts’, such as agricultural advisers, to inform farm management. As more farmers go online for information, it is not clear whether they are now using digital information to corroborate in-person advice from traditional ‘experts’, or if they are foregoing ‘expert’ advice in preference for peer-generated information. To fill this knowledge gap, we sought to understand how farmers in two contrasting European countries (Hungary and the UK) learnt about sustainable soil innovations and who influenced them to innovate. Through interviews with 82 respondents, we found farmers in both countries regularly used online sources to access soil information; some were prompted to change their soil management by farmer social media ‘influencers’. However, online information and interactions were not usually the main factor influencing farmers to change their practices. Farmers placed most trust in other farmers to learn about new soil practices and were less trusting of traditional ‘experts’, particularly agricultural researchers from academic and government institutions, who they believed were not empathetic towards farmers’ needs. We suggest that some farmers may indeed have had enough of traditional ‘experts’, instead relying more on their own peer networks to learn and innovate. We discuss ways to improve trustworthy knowledge exchange between agricultural stakeholders to increase uptake of sustainable soil management practices, while acknowledging the value of peer influence and online interactions for innovation and trust building.
Highlights
We are living in a world experiencing more information overload than ever before (Bawden and Robinson 2020)
Farmers generally used and placed most trust in other farmers when they wanted to learn about soil management, as one Hungarian arable farmer (HF07) explained: “I discuss our experiences with my fellow farmers
Most respondents thought the internet was a useful way to find out about new information on soil and gauge what other farmers felt about the topic, though advisers did not find online farmer experiences shared on social media were credible as they believed anecdotal stories were not robust enough to be considered “evidence”
Summary
We are living in a world experiencing more information overload than ever before (Bawden and Robinson 2020). Never has there been a time when people can theoretically, with the right technological resources and skills, access much of humanity’s collective knowledge in a matter of seconds via the internet This explosion of digital content has, led to numerous challenges. The rise of inaccurate, unchecked, unintentionally or deliberately misleading and pre-filtered content can make it harder to know what is trustworthy, credible and reliable (Hargittai et al 2010) Together, this can create anxiety, uncertainty, or irrationality in decision-making (Eppler and Mengis 2004), creating a significant cognitive load, which can lead to inefficient and ineffective use of time and resources (Bawden and Robinson 2020). Information seekers are challenged with finding information and assessing, processing and controlling it (Tenopir 1990; Jackson and Farzaneh 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call