Tillage Practices, the Language of Blame, and Responsibility for Water Quality Impacts in Row Crop Agriculture

Farmers and government agency watershed specialists use narratives to interpret and give meaning to the tension between farming practices and the impacts of management decisions on the environment. We trace how farmers construct responsibility for water quality management, how farmers and governmental agency staff perceive management decisions that transform the land, and how local knowledge influences tillage practices. In our analysis, we find a pattern of row crop farmers in Iowa claiming individual stewardship and responsibility as social actors, while not holding themselves accountable for personal investment in conservation practices that would reduce water quality impacts. These findings are linked to a discussion of two different approaches to motivate behavior change in agriculture: regulations versus incentives. Increased understanding of the cognitive processes of farmers provides a foundation for developing policies and educational interventions to strengthen long term behavior changes that protect the environment while assuring productivity and profitability in agricultural systems.