Complex Shades of Green: Gradually Changing Notions of the ‘Good Farmer’ in a Swedish Context

There are ever‐growing demands on farmers to consider the wider environmental implications of production, not least in the Baltic Sea Region where concerns about agricultural‐related eutrophication are significant. In Sweden, farmers are being nudged through voluntary agro‐environmental measures, enticed by the market and compelled to make the transition from a productivist agriculture to a multifunctional one. Drawing on the ‘good farmer’ concept, inspired by Bourdieu, this article studies Swedish conventional and agro‐environmental organic farmers' views and reflections on the changing relationship between farming practices and the environment. The article finds that despite 25 years of agro‐environmental policy in Sweden, some conventional farmers are still mired in a narrow productivist mindset. That said, the study concludes that we should be wary of conceiving the ‘good farmer’ too strictly in productivist terms, given that the ‘rules of the agricultural game’ in Sweden are leading to a more divergent farmer habitus. Farmers are looking for opportunities within the multifunctional agricultural field, which increasingly demands and expects all farmers to embed social and environmental goals into production considerations.