Transitions to agroecological farming systems in the Mississippi River Basin: toward an integrated socioecological analysis

Industrial agriculture has extensive environmental and social costs, and efforts to create alternative farming systems are widespread if not yet widely successful. This study explored how a set of grain farmers and rotational graziers in Iowa transitioned to agroecological management practices. Our...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agriculture and human values 2014-12, Vol.31 (4), p.621-635
Main Authors: Blesh, Jennifer, Wolf, Steven A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural Economics
Agriculture
Alternative farming
Animal cognition
Biodiversity
Corn
Crops
Ecological farming
Education
Ethics
Evolutionary Biology
Farmers
Farming systems
Farms
Federal policies
Greenhouse gases
History
Innovations
Legumes
Livestock
Manures
Natural resources
Nitrogen
Philosophy
Pollution
River basins
Soil fertility
Sustainable agriculture
Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science
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Summary:Industrial agriculture has extensive environmental and social costs, and efforts to create alternative farming systems are widespread if not yet widely successful. This study explored how a set of grain farmers and rotational graziers in Iowa transitioned to agroecological management practices. Our focus on the resources and strategies that farmers mobilized to develop opportunities for, and overcome barriers to, transitioning to alternative practices allows us to go beyond the existing literature focused on why farmers transition. We attend to both the ecological and socioeconomic context of innovation by comparing processes of technical change in two contrasting regions of Iowa. Farmers cultivated farm-level biodiversity and enterprise diversity, developed new cognitive and psychological competencies, and overcame barriers to innovation by developing external network linkages with peers, knowledge organizations, and federal policies. Our research provides insights into how biophysical, cognitive, structural and market considerations can be integrated into research efforts that aim to make sense of innovation toward sustainable agriculture.
ISSN:0889-048X
1572-8366
DOI:10.1007/s10460-014-9517-3