Dept. of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
Dept. of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2020 Dec 15;276:111223. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111223. Epub 2020 Sep 3.
Midwest corn producers face inherent risks in their daily operations and incorporate risk-management strategies to reduce uncertainty; among these, crop insurance has dominated the agricultural landscape for decades. Previous research on conservation adoption has primarily examined the impact of individual-level characteristics on adoption, yet little is known about the impact of external factors, such as crop insurance. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews and a multi-state survey to determine if crop insurance requirements limit cover crops and/or conservation tillage adoption for Midwest corn producers. Our findings indicate that crop insurance requirements are not a barrier to adoption. Rather, crop insurance and conservation practices serve unique - not contradictory - roles in Midwest producers' operations and are used simultaneously. Future research should continue to identify and seek solutions for external barriers to broadly increase adoption rates.
中西部玉米种植者在日常运营中面临固有风险，并采用风险管理策略来降低不确定性；其中，农作物保险数十年来一直主导着农业格局。先前关于采用保护性耕作的研究主要考察了个体特征对采用的影响，但对于外部因素（例如农作物保险）的影响知之甚少。本研究采用混合方法，进行了半结构化访谈和多州调查，以确定农作物保险要求是否限制了中西部玉米种植者采用覆盖作物和/或保护性耕作。我们的研究结果表明，农作物保险要求不是采用的障碍。相反，农作物保险和保护性耕作在中西部生产者的运营中发挥着独特的作用（而不是相互矛盾的作用），并且可以同时使用。未来的研究应继续确定并寻求广泛提高采用率的外部障碍的解决方案。
