Rice producer enrollment and retention in a USDA regional conservation partnership program in the southern United States

Abstract

Private lands conservation is critical to maintain available and quality natural resources in agriculture-dominated landscapes. Financial capital and technical assistance incentives are a primary tool to recruit and retain voluntary participation in private lands conservation programs and, subsequently, to induce persistence of innovative conservation practices. Fundamental to program success is to evaluate how, why, and to what extent incentives and program characteristics motivate participation and persistence. This study draws on diffusion of innovations’ attributes of innovation as our conceptual and interpretive framework to qualitatively explore and describe program participation and persistence of on-farm water, nutrient, and wildlife habitat management practices among a cohort of rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) producers enrolled in the Rice Stewardship Program (RSP) in the southern United States. A total of 50 interviews were conducted between January of 2019 and July of 2019 in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Findings suggest the program’s lack of complexity (practices were simple to enact) and relative advantage (practices were viewed as better than previous practices) were primary motivations that influenced initial and continued participation, as well as the persistence of specific practices. Compatibility with current on-farm practices and the observability of outcomes or benefits to program participation and its practices were reported consistently but as secondary motivations. Nutrient management practices were observed as having the highest potential persistence as these practices were perceived to be compatible, observable, and relatively advantageous, particularly in relation to the region’s existing nutrient stewardship framework. As few evaluations of private lands conservation programs specific to rice agriculture exist, our findings offer practical insights for managers to consider program evaluation or design that is based on the established innovation attributes framework common to other agricultural contexts.