'My grandfather would roll over in his grave:' family farming and tree plantations on farmland

In this paper we hypothesize that farmers with a stronger valuation of family farming will be more resistant to converting farmland to tree plantations. Our survey data analysis from 106 farmers in northern Alberta reveals that general opposition to trees on farmland is the strongest predictor of fa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rural sociology 2007-03, Vol.72 (1), p.111-135
Main Authors: Neumann, P.D, Krahn, H.J, Krogman, N.T, Thomas, B.R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Differences
Agricultural economics
Agricultural land
Agricultural Occupations
Agricultural policy
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Alberta
Attitudes
Canada
Capital assets
Children
Competition
Conservation (Environment)
Conversion
Data Analysis
Determiners
Economic incentives
Families & family life
Family (Sociological Unit)
Family Farms
Family Influence
Farm Management
Farmers
farmers' attitudes
Farming
Farms
Farmworkers
Foreign Countries
forest plantations
Forestry
Gender Differences
Generations
Incentives
Income
Investment
Land use
land use change
Ownership
Plantations
Poplar
poplar trees
Questionnaires
Resistance
Rollover
Rural and urban sociology
Rural Areas
Rural Farm Residents
Rural sociology
Social conditions
Social Scientists
Sociology
Soil Science
Surveys
Trees
Values
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Summary:In this paper we hypothesize that farmers with a stronger valuation of family farming will be more resistant to converting farmland to tree plantations. Our survey data analysis from 106 farmers in northern Alberta reveals that general opposition to trees on farmland is the strongest predictor of farmers' resistance to the establishment of poplar tree plantations on privately-owned land. Valuation of family farming is the strongest determinant of resistance to trees on farmland. Among the potential intervening variables influencing support for tree plantations, including county, age, gender, number of children, and percent of income from farming, number of children and percent of income from farming had significant direct effects on valuation of family farming. This study suggests that economic incentives alone are unlikely to influence farmers' willingness to convert their land to non-traditional uses, and that intergenerational transfer of land, and its relationship to valuation of family farming, deserves further attention in rural sociological scholarship.
ISSN:0036-0112
1549-0831
DOI:10.1526/003601107781147428