Why do farmers maintain best management practices?

Millions of dollars are spent annually in the United States on the installation of agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) that are intended to protect water quality and conserve soil. Extensive research has been done to understand what motivates farmers to install BMPs but no work has been done to understand what motivates farmers to maintain BMPs after installation. This dissertation examines BMP adoption and maintenance through a three-stage process. First, a statistical meta-analysis of both published and unpublished BMP adoption literature was conducted. The following variables were identified as having the largest impact on adoption: access to and quality of information, financial capacity, and being connected to agency or local networks of farmers or watershed groups. This study showed that various approaches to data collection affect the results and comparability of adoption studies. In particular, environmental awareness and farmer attitudes have been inconsistently used and measured across the literature. This meta-analysis concludes with recommendations about the future direction of adoption studies, along with guidelines for how data should be presented to enhance the adoption of conservation practices and guide research. The variables that were identified in the meta-analysis served as a starting point for the development of a questionnaire to assess the social dimensions of BMP maintenance. This questionnaire was used to survey landowners who installed BMPs between 1990 and 2005 through the Nonpoint Source/Total Maximum Daily Load (NPS/TMDL) branch of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). Simultaneously, a BMP assessment was developed which used ArcGIS and aerial images to remotely inspect the condition of these BMPs. Based on intercoder reliability scores, this method proved to be a consistent approach to BMP evaluation. The remote assessment evaluated all 595 vegetative BMPs installed through the IDEM’s 319 programs since its inception in 1990 to 2005. The results showed that most of these BMPs are in acceptable condition or better. Only grassed waterways and riparian buffers had median scores below acceptable. Eroding streambanks, rather than improper maintenance, appeared to cause many riparian buffers to fail. The results demonstrated that remote assessment of BMPs is a quick yet reliable approach that will allow for regular inspection of BMP condition. In the final analysis, results from landowner surveys and the remote BMP assessment were combined for statistical analysis. The findings highlight the importance of local organizations for disseminating information and educating landowners about the importance of BMP maintenance. When these organizations assist with upkeep and maintenance, however, the results are mixed. Local groups are proficient at assisting with the maintenance of active-field BMPs, but require further training before they will be able to help landowners with the upkeep of fallow-field BMPs. Many of the constructs that had a positive influence on fallow-field BMPs had a negative impact on active-field BMPs, and vice versa