Advice For Farmers Research Articles

Working for the environment: farmer attitudes towards sustainable farming actions in rural Wales, UK

AbstractRecognition of land management impacts on water quality and flooding, and climate change-induced increases in storm intensity and flood risk, have led to interest in farmer provision of ecosystem services alongside food production. However, pathways for practical design and funding of agroecological interventions are less well understood. Effective design and implementation of sustainable farming initiatives have been linked to human-centred aspects including stakeholder engagement and provision of social and economic co-benefits. To obtain information on Welsh farmer perspectives on sustainable farming actions and aid development of agroecological policy and design guidance, Welsh farmer perspectives on sustainable farming were obtained through discussion, online polls, and questionnaires. Participant-identified barriers to action included incorporation of return on initial time and cost investment in long-term farm budgets, occurrence of extreme weather events, and tenanted land. Decision-making processes were rooted in community discussion to balance perceived needs of the land and farm business, with communication preferences expressed for bilingual farm advice provision and support of farmer-to-farmer knowledge transfer pathways. In addition to responding to research questions, participants identified interdependent components of economic, social, cultural, and environmental sustainability necessary to achieve positive environmental outcomes, and expressed environmentally oriented farming identities linked to environmental guardianship and caretaking. Design of tree-planting schemes was discussed as an example of this interlinkage, with positive attitudes expressed for land sharing at small spatial scales, but not at the whole-farm scale.

Regional technical efficiency rankings and their determinants in the Irish dairy industry: A stochastic meta‐frontier analysis

AbstractThe paper aims to evaluate regional farm efficiency rankings for Ireland which seeks to be a leader in the global dairy industry. It conducts a within‐country analysis based on technical and scale efficiency of dairy farms to explore how regional constraints imposed by the milk quota may have affected Ireland's regional farm efficiency levels. The stochastic meta‐frontier approach is adopted because of its usefulness in comparing regional technical efficiencies. The findings suggest that policies aiming to promote labor and soil quality improvement in the East region, and that relate to discussion groups in the South region, in addition to management of herd size, would be useful for improving efficiency postquota. Moreover, some farms expanded beyond their optimal scale leading to a reduction in efficiency levels and this points to the need to tailor farm advice and promote caution and prudence in farm expansion decisions, especially in a region like South West. [EconLit Citations: D22, D24, L25, Q1, R1, R58].

Should ‘Impartial’ Advice be a Priority of European Agricultural and Rural Policies?

SummaryRecent EU legislation will require Member States to ensure that farm advice which is supported by EU funding is impartial. In this article we present the findings of an online workshop which asked whether this should be a priority for European advisory supports within the Common Agricultural Policy. The answer was ‘no’. At the workshop, results of AgriLink were presented for discussion with international experts. These results highlighted major pitfalls for setting the boundaries of independent advice. Participants from Europe and North America agreed that ‘impartial’ advisors providing or selling only advice are rare in many contexts. Key organisations offering farm advice in many European countries, such as farmers’ cooperatives, often have established relationships with commercial suppliers. Being apparently independent from industry is also not sufficient for ensuring that advice addresses societal issues. Farmers’ choice for advice is more likely to reflect established trusted relationships than the ‘impartiality’ of the advisor. Workshop participants instead argued that policies should focus on increasing transparency (revealing vested interests); investing in ‘back office’ activities to ensure that advisors have access to reliable and relevant evidence; and ensuring that the full range of EU farmers have access to professional advice.

Rethinking the Dimensions of Farm Advice

Rethinking the Dimensions of Farm Advice

New Entrants Need Tailored Farm Advice

SummarySupporting new entrants in farming is an increasingly important political and practical issue in European agriculture. This article looks at a specific group of new entrants – career changers – who move into agriculture from other occupational and educational backgrounds. As they bridge several worlds, they are often important innovators. One of the main challenges encountered by this group is the lack of tailored advice and insufficient capacity of the existing agricultural advisory services to respond to their specific innovation needs. The article examines how career changers use the knowledge from their background and access new knowledge on agriculture. The research is based on biographical interviews with individuals who have changed their careers and in‐depth interviews with advisors in Latvia. The results suggest that the gap between knowledge needs and knowledge services is being filled through the creation of professional networks by new entrants with each other and with industry experts and customers and to a lesser degree with formal advisory services. We discuss how in this situation various actors in the EU’s agricultural knowledge and innovation system (AKIS) may better help the career changers to professionalise in farming and undertake sustainability‐oriented innovations.

Context Specificity and Time Dependency in Classifying Sub-Saharan Africa Dairy Cattle Farmers for Targeted Extension Farm Advice: The Case of Uganda

Despite the huge potential for milk production, interventions to improve productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are barely based on specified farm classifications. This study aimed to develop robust and context-specific farm typologies to guide content of extension farm advice/services in Uganda. From a sample of 482 dairy farmers, we collected data on farmer socio-demographics, farm management practices, ownership of farm tools and facilities, willingness to pay for extension services, milk production, and marketing. Farm typologies were obtained based on principal component and cluster analyses. Thereby, of the three dairy production systems that emerged, small-scale, largely subsistence yet extensive and low productive farms were more prominent (82.6%). Farms that were classified as large-scale, less commercialized yet extensive with modest productive systems were more than the medium-scale commercial farms with intensive and highly productive systems. However, the later were considered to potentially transform dairy farming in Uganda. It was also predicted that the validity of our farm classification may persist until half of the farms have moved between clusters. The study gives new insights on dairy production systems in Uganda, which can be used to organize more targeted research on farmers’ extension needs for facilitating delivery of relevant and effective extension services and designing appropriate extension policies.

AgroSupportAnalytics: A Cloud-based Complaints Management and Decision Support System for Sustainable Farming in Egypt

Sustainable Farming requires up-to-date advice on crop diseases, patterns, and adequate prevention actions to face developing circumstances. Currently, in developing countries like Egypt, farmers’ access to such information is extremely limited due to the agriculture support being either not available, inconsistent, or unreliable. The presented Cloud-based Complaints Management and Decision Support System for Sustainable Farming in Egypt, named as AgroSupportAnalytics, aims to resolve the problem of both the lack of support and advice for farmers, and the inconsistencies in doing so by current manual approach provided by agricultural experts. Key contribution is the development of an automated complaint management and decision support strategy, on the basis of extensive research on requirement analysis tailored for Egypt. The solution is grounded on the application of knowledge discovery and analysis on agricultural data and farmers’ complaints, deployed on a Cloud platform, to provide farming stakeholders in Egypt with timely and suitable support. This paper presents the overall system architectural framework along with the information and storage services, which have been based on the requirements specifications phases of the project along with the historical data sets of past 10 year of farmers complaints and enquiries in Egypt.

Impact of daesi program on knowledge levels of input dealers in andhra pradesh, India

Most of the farmers in India seek farm advice from input dealers but majority of these dealers do not have formal agricultural education. In order to build their technical competency in agriculture, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) has launched a self-financed “One-year Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers (DAESI) Program” so that they can blend their business with extension services besides discharging regulatory responsibilities. A knowledge test was developed to study the impact of DAESI Program on knowledge levels of input dealers, by taking 45 trained and 45 non trained dealers randomly from 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh. Results of the study showed that there exists a huge gap in the knowledge levels of trained and non trained input dealers. The findings clearly showed that the diploma programme had contributed to increased knowledge levels of input dealers on crop production technologies which are sufficient to give suitable advice to field level problems of farmers.

Does privatizing advisory services guarantee better services? Evidence from advisory services pertaining to cocoa certification in Côte d’Ivoire

ABSTRACT Purpose This study investigated the impact of privatization of advisory services on the quality of the services. Design/methodology/approach The front- and back-office dimensions of advisory activities were analyzed through interviews with 43 advisers involved in the advisory services provided as part of a cocoa exporter's certification program. Findings Our results showed that the ratio of advisors per producer in the private advisory system is too high, and the means of transport for advisors are inadequate. The training received by the advisors is strongly oriented towards mastering technical subjects related to certification requirements, while soft or process topics that would provide them with knowledge and skills required to co-produce with farmers is neglected. Regarding the front office dimension, advice to cocoa producers is largely prescriptive and fails to co-produce knowledge that is relevant to their needs. Practical implications The study produced empirical data that allows us to go beyond the theoretical farm advice approach derived from micro-economic modeling. Theoretical implications Our findings weaken the arguments in favor of privatization of farm advisory services. Originality/value The study provides insights into the consequence of privatizing farm advisory services in the West Africa context by producing one of the first study on this subject in Côte d'Ivoire.

How the performance rationales of organisations providing farm advice explain persistent difficulties in addressing societal goals in agriculture

This article posits that an economic analysis of the full diversity of organisations providing agricultural advice is needed to explore how societal issues related to environment and occupational health are addressed in the provision of such advice. Our theoretical framework draws on existing research in institutional economics applied to services, in particular to Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS). The methodology is based on a case study, the French seed potato supply chain. The results consider all the KIBS suppliers that deliver advice to farmers in the supply chain. They demonstrate the importance of organisations (linked to upstream and downstream industries) that are often neglected in studies on the pluralism of farm advisory services. Four main types of KIBS are described: client-owned advisory organisations; integrated services where service are developed primarily to accompany a commercial activity; consultancy firms; and parastatals. Each of them design both front-office and back-office service activities, according to their own profitability objectives. The analysis of the performance rationale of these different types of KIBS organisations provides an in-depth understanding of their economic strategies and the reasons why they address – or ignore – the possible adverse effects of their activity on occupational health and the environment. In such a context, public policy seems necessary to frame collective action and integrate environment and human health issues into farm advice. The conditions of efficiency of such interventions are discussed.

What are the impacts of within-field farmland management practices on the flux of greenhouse gases from arable cropland in temperate regions? A systematic map protocol

BackgroundReducing greenhouse gas emissions is a vital step in limiting climate change and meeting the goals outlined in the COP 21 Paris Agreement of 2015. Studies have suggested that agriculture accounts for around 11% of total greenhouse gas emissions and the industry has a significant role in meeting international and national climate change reduction objectives. However, there is currently little consensus on the mechanisms that regulate the production and assimilation of greenhouse gases in arable land and the practical factors that affect the process. Practical advice for farmers is often overly general, and models based on the amount of nitrogen fertiliser applied, for example, are used despite a lack of knowledge of how local conditions affect the process, such as the importance of humus content and soil types. Here, we propose a systematic map of the evidence relating to the impact on greenhouse gas flux from the agricultural management of arable land in temperate regions.MethodsUsing established methods for systematic mapping in environmental sciences we will search for, collate and catalogue research studies relating to the impacts of farming in temperate systems on greenhouse gas emissions. We will search 6 bibliographic databases using a tested search string, and will hand search a web-based search engine and a list of organisational web sites. Furthermore, evidence will be sought from key stakeholders. Search results will then be screened for relevance at title, abstract and full text levels according to a predefined set of eligibility criteria. Consistency checking will be employed to ensure the criteria are being applied accurately and consistently. Relevant studies will then be subjected to coding and meta-data extraction, which will be used to populate a systematic map database describing each relevant study’s settings, methods and measured outcomes. The mapping process will help to identify knowledge gaps (subjects lacking in evidence warranting further primary research) and knowledge clusters (subjects with sufficient studies to allow a useful full systematic review), and will highlight best and suboptimal research methods.

Using word clouds to present farmers’ perceptions of advisory services on pollution mitigation measures

Advice delivery is one mechanism that can be used to encourage the uptake of water pollution mitigation measures amongst the farming community, but determining who is best placed to effectively provide advice and increase adoption creates a challenge for policy-makers. Through in-depth interviews, this research investigates the perspectives of both farmers and farm advisers on the delivery of water pollution mitigation advice in three agriculturally contrasting areas of England. A novel approach using word clouds as a visual comparative tool for qualitative data is presented to demonstrate a transferable method for disseminating research findings to a wider audience outside of academia. Results from the interviews indicate differences across the regions, and that contrasts exist between farmers and advisers' perceptions. This suggests it is important to assess both perspectives when designing effective advice delivery mechanisms and for policy-makers to consider who is most appropriate to effectively deliver farm advice.

The influence of on-farm advice on beliefs and motivations for Swiss lowland farmers to implement ecological compensation areas on their farms

ABSTRACTPurpose: Farmers hold a key to reaching biodiversity targets, but will only carry out this service to society if they are sufficiently motivated to do so. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of on-farm advice as a tool for motivating farmers to take action to preserve or even to enhance biodiversity on their farms.Design/methodology/approach: To address this aim, we surveyed 133 farmers (response rate 43.9%), of whom 23 had received on-farm advice about farmland biodiversity conservation over a period of six years.Findings: The results showed that key beliefs and motivations were positively influenced by farmer advisory services. Farmers who had received advice agreed significantly more strongly in the compatibility of biodiversity conservation and production; that biodiversity is important; and that nature conservation on farms is appreciated by society.Practical Implications: These results allow the conclusion that on-farm biodiversity advice might be a useful way of positively influencing the beliefs and enhancing motivations of farmers to contribute to biodiversity conservation on their farms.Theoretical implications: Although several papers have examined the influence of agricultural extension on farmer behaviour, the results of this study contribute to explaining some of the contradictions in the literature about the effectiveness of advisory services. Furthermore, this study addresses [Batary, P., L. V. Dicks, D. Kleijn, and W. J. Sutherland. 2015. “The Role of Agri-Environment Schemes in Conservation and Environmental Management.” Conservation Biology 29: 1006–1016.] challenge that there has been insufficient research on the link between farmer advice and the effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes.Originality/value: This paper is among the first to address these research gaps and is the first to examine the influence of advice on farmer conservation behaviour in the Swiss context.

The stocks and flows of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium across a 30-year time series for agriculture in Huantai county, China

In order to improve the efficiency of nutrient use whilst also meeting projected changes in the demand for food within China, new nutrient management frameworks comprised of policy, practice and the means of delivering change are required. These frameworks should be underpinned by systemic analyses of the stocks and flows of nutrients within agricultural production. In this paper, a 30-year time series of the stocks and flows of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are reported for Huantai county, an exemplar area of intensive agricultural production in the North China Plain. Substance flow analyses were constructed for the major crop systems in the county across the period 1983–2014. On average across all production systems between 2010 and 2014, total annual nutrient inputs to agricultural land in Huantai county remained high at 18.1kt N, 2.7kt P and 7.8kt K (696kg N ha−1; 104kgP ha−1; 300kgK ha−1). Whilst the application of inorganic fertiliser dominated these inputs, crop residues, atmospheric deposition and livestock manure represented significant, yet largely unrecognised, sources of nutrients, depending on the individual production system and the period of time. Whilst nutrient use efficiency (NUE) increased for N and P between 1983 and 2014, future improvements in NUE will require better alignment of nutrient inputs and crop demand. This is particularly true for high-value fruit and vegetable production, in which appropriate recognition of nutrient supply from sources such as manure and from soil reserves will be required to enhance NUE. Aligned with the structural organisation of the public agricultural extension service at county-scale in China, our analyses highlight key areas for the development of future agricultural policy and farm advice in order to rebalance the management of natural resources from a focus on production and growth towards the aims of efficiency and sustainability.

Fasciola and fasciolosis in ruminants in Europe: Identifying research needs.

Summary Fasciola hepatica is a trematode parasite with a global distribution, which is responsible for considerable disease and production losses in a range of food producing species. It is also identified by WHO as a re‐emerging neglected tropical disease associated with endemic and epidemic outbreaks of disease in human populations. In Europe, F. hepatica is mostly associated with disease in sheep, cattle and goats. This study reviews the most recent advances in our understanding of the transmission, diagnosis, epidemiology and the economic impact of fasciolosis. We also focus on the impact of the spread of resistance to anthelmintics used to control F. hepatica and consider how vaccines might be developed and applied in the context of the immune‐modulation driven by the parasite. Several major research gaps are identified which, when addressed, will contribute to providing focussed and where possible, bespoke, advice for farmers on how to integrate stock management and diagnosis with vaccination and/or targeted treatment to more effectively control the parasite in the face of increasing the prevalence of infection and spread of anthelmintic resistance that are likely to be exacerbated by climate change.

Achieving successful farmer engagement on greenhouse gas emission mitigation

This paper explores the potential for farmers’ engagement on the issues related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation in extensive low-input livestock farming systems. The framework used was based on Participatory Action Research. This involved integrating quantitative evidence on GHG emission impacts at the farm level and qualitative data on the obstacles to the adoption of innovation based on farmers’ perceptions and attitudes to climate change. The study aims at building social capital among 14 farmers in the South West and West Midlands regions in England, and it evaluates the potential for the adoption of emission mitigation strategies. The Rapid Farm Practices Appraisal (RFPA) tool was created to assess farm practices based on their mitigation potential. Practices were assessed twice over 6–9 months. Semi-structured interviews were used to assess barriers and opportunities to farmer engagement and on-farm innovation. Farmers were invited to a focus group meeting to network with other farmers and engage with researchers. All farmers participated in the 2 farm assessments, but only half the farmers adopted changes in farm management. All farmers appreciated the RFPA tool, the clearness of the information provided and the focus of the tool on practices directly. The main obstacles to innovation were limited financial capital, lack of trust in government action and confusion over the effectiveness of farm advice on mitigation. The lack of long-term flexibility of agricultural policies and the source of information greatly influenced the acceptance of advice. Results suggest the potential for the expansion of the RFPA tool to include economic assessment of farm practices and the engagement of a larger pool of farmers and farming systems. The tool could be used to support the GHG Action Plan and future environmental policies, and as an integrated self-assessment tool for farmers under Environmental Stewardship Schemes.

The roles of farm advisors in the uptake of measures for the mitigation of diffuse water pollution

Governments face increasing pressure to implement effective policy to reduce diffuse water pollution from agriculture (DWPA). Various strategies and combinations of policy mechanisms have been adopted by different countries to change farmer behaviours with varying degrees of success. This paper focuses on the use of advice delivery to farmers as a mechanism to encourage uptake of DWPA mitigation measures on farms in England.Farm advisory services in England have dramatically changed over recent years, with concerns that the sector has become fragmented due to many organisations and businesses offering advice. This paper studies the role of various farm advisors and organisations providing one-to-one advice by interviewing 81 farm advisors in three agriculturally contrasting regions of England: East Anglia, the North West and South West. Objectives were to assess: which DWPA mitigation measures are being recommended by different advisors? How do recommendations differ between sources of advice and is there any conflict? And which mechanisms do advisors use to influence uptake of advice?Results from the interviews indicate that the advice delivered and the mechanisms used to influence uptake of advice vary between organisations and some advisors do indeed have particular roles within the farm advisory sector. Policy makers therefore need to consider not only what mitigation measures should be encouraged, but also which organisations and advisors are best placed to deliver on the ground advice to farmers. There is also scope to incorporate understandings of farm advice provision into catchment management plans to aid effectiveness of future agri-environmental policy.

How does commercialisation impact on the provision of farm advisory services? Evidence from Belgium, Italy, Ireland and the UK

Farm advisory services have returned to both the academic and the political agenda. Commercialisation—charging a fee for an advisory service—is a trend observed not only in private advisory organisations, but to some extent also in public and other types of organisations. This paper explores how commercialisation of farm advice impacts on the quality of services. Based on key informant interviews and a unique data set from a survey of 227 advisory organisations across four European countries, both the front-office and the back-office dimension were investigated. The paper compares private organisations that draw income from charging for their services with non-private organisations (public, non-governmental and farmer-based organisations). We found that the private organisations are typically small and medium size enterprises that employ fewer advisors than non-private organisations. Their services are more personalised, that is, they have a higher proportion of 1:1 advice and they have a lower ratio of farms per advisor. With regard to the back office dimension, they differ little from non-private organisations in terms of training their advisors but have considerably lower levels of investment in research and development, and tend to rely on peer-to-peer networks and cooperation with other private consultancies and public authorities. We conclude that commercialised advice has several advantages but favours affluent clients. It is essential for commercial advisory services to be complemented with other services that reach different types of farmers, and that public support is available to improve the knowledge flows between public research and private organisations.

Application of the FARMSCOPER tool for assessing agricultural diffuse pollution mitigation methods across the Hampshire Avon Demonstration Test Catchment, UK

Abstract Agricultural diffuse pollution is a significant contributor to water and air quality in many catchments and the need to control harmful emissions remains paramount for government policy. In England, the Demonstration Test Catchments (DTCs) have been established to provide a basis for testing on-farm mitigation measures using collaborative multi-partner research and some of this work is targeting the Hampshire Avon (∼1700 km2) catchment. To help provide integrated farm advice across England and Wales, a new Excel-based tool, FARM Scale Optimisation of Pollutant Emission Reductions (FARMSCOPER), has recently been developed for characterising diffuse agricultural pollutant emissions from representative farm types and quantifying the expected impacts of control options on those losses to the environment. Against this background, this paper describes the application of FARMSCOPER in the Hampshire Avon DTC in order to assess its utility at catchment scale and the potential benefits of relevant and practical mitigation options. Spatial datasets and the Agricultural Census returns for 2009 specific to the River Avon catchment were integrated to produce a collection of representative farm types which capture the characteristics of the local physical environment, land use patterns and farm management practices. FARMSCOPER was used to estimate the annual emissions of nitrate, phosphorus, sediment, nitrous oxide, methane and ammonia for each representative farm type. The scenarios investigated comprised baseline losses with no mitigation measures implemented, current emissions using information on the present implementation of options under existing schemes and initiatives and, the maximum potential reduction possible on the basis of implementing all available and relevant options. Model outputs suggested that reductions in pollutant loads in response to the existing uptake of mitigation methods are small (e.g. 10% for phosphorus, 7% for sediment, 4% for nitrate and 5% for nitrous oxide). FARMSCOPER suggested that technically feasible pollutant reductions on the basis of the implementation of more mitigation options could be of the order of 47% for phosphorus, 66% for sediment, 22% for nitrate and 16% for nitrous oxide. This work represents the first catchment scale application of the FARMSCOPER tool.

Factors Affecting Farmer Participation in Agritourism

Using a national farm survey, this study estimates a logit model to identify factors affecting U.S. farmers' participation in agritourism. Of the dummy variables, public access to the farm for recreation has the greatest positive impact, followed by farms near central cities, farms in Rocky Mountain and Southern Plains regions, farmers with college education, farmers paying for farm advice, farms organized as partnerships/corporations, farms enrolled in conservation programs, and farmers with access to the internet. Continuous variables affecting participation include acres of owned land, percent of land unsuitable for crops, operator age, and distance to cities. Targeting farms and farmers with these traits can increase the success of agritourism promotion efforts.