AgEBB-MU CAFNR Extension

Green Horizons

Spring 2022

Survey of Missouri Landowners Explores the Potential of Woody Perennials
to Integrate Conservation and Production

Raelin Kronenberg, Lincoln University Research Technician,
Center for Agroforestry Graduate Research Assistant alumna

Figure 1. The six regions of Missouri as divided by MU Extension used to compare planting design preferences. Counties included in the sample are indicated by dots. Brown dots represent rural counties, black dots represent urban counties.

Agroforestry allows landowners to address resource concerns, support conservation on their land, and simultaneously grow products for personal use or sale. Despite these benefits, widespread acceptance of these practices remains low. To better understand why adoption of agroforestry practices is limited, researchers at the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry surveyed agricultural landowners to better understand their preferences for productive conservation plantings such as agroforestry systems. A total of 6,708 paper surveys were mailed out to agricultural landowners in ten counties across Missouri to capture any potential differences in preferences based on geography (figure 1). In the survey, landowners rated the desirability of various planting plan scenes, decided if they would plant agroforestry systems, and indicated their interest in federal conservation programming (figure 2).

Figure 2. Sample of planting plan images from survey. Shows an open field, a conifer windbreak, and a multifunctional windbreak. This same layout was used to gauge desirability of silvopasture, riparian forest buffers, and forest farming scenes.

The surveys had a 6% response rate, which is much lower than the 30% typically expected during survey research (Pennings et al. 2002). This lower response rate was likely due to over-surveying of the Missouri farming population (Coon et al. 2019). It is important to mind this lower response rate when drawing conclusions from this research, as the participating population of landowners does not fully represent the state of Missouri. The survey respondents were 61 years old on average, and the majority self-identified as male (71.6%) and white (96.5%). Approximately 75% had some level of education above a high school diploma, with 45% earning a college degree. The majority were not full-time farmers (73%) and when asked what their primary occupation was, "retired" was the most popular answer with 60 responses. Healthcare (7), education (9), finance (8) and local county government positions (7) were other common primary occupations. Generally, net farm income ranged from none ($0) to less than $20,000 a year.

Figure 3. Comparison of mean desirability ratings between planting plan images in section two of the survey. Different letters indicate means that are statistically significantly different. 1= Very Undesirable, 3= Neutral, and 5= Very Desirable on Likert Scale shown to participants.

When comparing the mean ratings of the three planting plans in each agricultural scene, multifunctional agroforestry designs were always preferred over the typical agricultural land management plans (figure 3). This shows that landowners took interest in, and widely preferred, agroforestry plantings. Each planting design received similar ratings across all regions of the state and in both urban and rural counties.

When asked about participating in federal conservation programs, 69% of respondents indicated interest in enrolling. Primarily, landowners wished to enroll in conservation programs to conserve natural resources on their farm, address a resource concern such as erosion, or to provide wildlife habitat or hunting opportunities. When prompted to explain why they had not previously enrolled in a conservation program, landowners commonly mentioned a lack of program knowledge, the complex enrollment requirements of the programs, and a distrust of the government.

The specific factors that influence agroforestry adoption were also explored through the survey. Age had a negative influence on agroforestry adoption, meaning older landowners were less willing to plant agroforestry compared to younger landowners. The presence of marginal land was a positive factor for increasing a landowner's willingness to plant the agroforestry designs. Landowners with interest in conservation were also more willing to plant agroforestry. When examining landowner goals for their land, goals that focused on conservation, recreation, education, and agritourism management approaches correlated with greater willingness to plant agroforestry. Taken together, the profile of the most likely "first adopters" of agroforestry were younger landowners interested in conservation with some amount of marginal land they were willing to manage with alternative practices. This ideal adopter profile also emerged in other agroforestry adoption studies (Atweel et al. 2010, Mattia et al. 2018).

Interestingly, some of the insignificant factors in this study were found to be important in other adoption studies. While the number of acres owned had no significant influence on willingness to plant agroforestry in this sample population, other researchers have found larger farms to be more willing to invest in conservation and plant agroforestry, as they have more land and capital available to invest (Featherstone and Goo 1993; Strong and Jacobson 2006; Valdivia and Poulos 2009; Prokopy et al. 2019). Income was another variable that did not show any significant relationship with willingness to plant agroforestry. This contradicts other studies that found farm income positively correlated with adoption (Strong and Jacobson 2006; Valdivia and Poulos 2009; Prokopy et al. 2019)

Overall, landowners in Missouri are receptive to agroforestry plantings, rating them higher, on average, than traditional agricultural land management practices. Offering technical assistance or funding increased the willingness of landowners to plant multifunctional agroforestry designs. These findings prove helpful for guiding outreach efforts for conservation work and agroforestry adoption. Importantly, landowners who were already interested in conservation programs were more willing to plant agroforestry when working with a natural resource professional, indicating that agroforestry can and should be talked about more by natural resource agencies. As knowledge of conservation programs and agroforestry is still a barrier for landowners to establish these practices, continual educational programming is essential. This project also warrants additional work on agroforestry adoption. It will be important to replicate similar surveys in other states to gather localized information on landowner goals, interest in conservation programs, and perceptions of agroforestry planting designs relevant to the local farming communities.

This work is supported by the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry and the USDA/ARS Dale Bumpers Small Farm Research Center, Agreement number 58-6020-0-007 from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and by Award Number 2018-67019-27853 (subaward 090754-17910) from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Please direct questions or comments about this research to Raelin Kronenberg, email: KronenbergR@lincolnu.edu.

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