Busy road frontage influences on-farm adoption of visible good management practices

• Published in: Journal of rural studies Vol. 99; pp. 45 - 52
• Main Authors: Dorner, Zack, Knook, Jorie, Yang, Wei, Stahlmann-Brown, Philip
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2023
• Subjects: Adoption; Agriculture; beef; dairy industry; Environmental norms; Good farming; Life on land; New Zealand; sheep; Social pressure; surveys; New Zealand; Life on land; Environmental norms; Agriculture; Good farming; Social pressure; Adoption
• ISSN: 0743-0167; 1873-1392
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.02.006

The agricultural sector faces increasing social pressure for its environmental impacts, potentially prompting farmers to uptake voluntary ‘good management practices’ (GMPs). While the existing literature posits that uptake of GMPs is prevalent in observable places such as along busy roads, there is a lack of quantitative empirical evidence. This study identifies whether perceived busy road frontage impacts farmers' adoption of voluntary GMPs via a large-scale survey of dairy and sheep and beef farmers in New Zealand. We find that frontage on a busy road is associated with greater uptake of a GMP that is easily observed and recognised by the general public, but GMPs not visible from the road do not show greater uptake. We further find that the effect is amplified for dairy farmers vis-à-vis sheep and beef farmers, consistent with the higher levels of public scrutiny of the dairy industry. We contribute to the social pressure literature by demonstrating how visible GMPs subject to scrutiny are likely to have higher uptake. •Social pressure pushes industries to change.•One way farms are subject to this pressure is through visibility from the road.•We find busy road frontage increases adoption of visible Good Management Practices.