How farmer cognition of complexity in agroecosystems affects decision-making about cover cropping

View the project final report

Commodities

• Agronomic: corn, soybeans, wheat

Practices

• Crop Production: cover crops
• Production Systems: agroecosystems
• Soil Management: soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: social psychological indicators

This project, “How farmer cognition of complexity in agroecosystems affects decision-making about cover cropping”, aimed to understand how farmers are grappling with uncertainties and complexities of agroecosystems and how they decide to adopt, continue, or forgo cover crops on their fields. Specifically, this project mapped farmer cognition of complexity (the patterns of relationships among causal factors that reveal an individuals’ understanding of a system), examined how the levels of cognition of complexity are related to cover crop decisions, and determined if or how farmers may be using cognitive biases during their decision-making process.

The educational approach began with sharing pilot survey drafts with extension agents and farmers for feedback, ensuring the survey questions were relevant and grounded in farmer experience. Insights from these exchanges, along with preliminary interview data, informed the design of a large-N survey that was distributed to row-crop farmers in the Midwest (North Central Region States) which was ultimately completed by 179 row-crop farmers. Surveys collected information on cover crop use, farmer perceptions of their agroecosystems, cognitive biases, and farmer demographic information.

The research approach applied dual-process theory as a framework to understand how farmers made decisions regarding cover crops. Survey responses were analyzed through three regression models predicting cover crop adoption, status quo (SQ) bias, and recency (RC) bias, followed by a path model to explore relationships among these variables. Survey responses offered insight into the cognitive biases influencing farmer decisions and provided information for developing cognitive maps. By mapping farmer decision-making, this project identified which factors farmers view as crucial to their agroecosystems and how they perceive agroecosystem dynamics of said factors. This was foundational for understanding the role of systems thinking in farmer cover crop decisions.

Research conclusions show that systems thinking (cognition of complexity) was not significantly associated with cover crop adoption or cognitive biases, contrary to expectations. However, both SQ and RC biases (System 1) negatively affected cover crop adoption, suggesting that farmers less prone to such biases are more likely to adopt cover crops. These findings highlight how cognitive shortcuts may contribute to low rates of cover crop adoption in the U.S. and underscore the importance of addressing decision-making processes (not just agronomic or financial constraints) when designing conservation outreach. 

This work deepened researchers' understanding of farmer perspectives and cognitive processes, while also offering farmers an opportunity to reflect on their own biases and decision-making around cover crops. Insights into how farmers view agroecosystems can inform more effective engagement strategies and help clarify relationships in the system that may otherwise be overlooked or overemphasized. These findings can strengthen future outreach and education efforts, ultimately supporting farmers in linking their management practices to environmental outcomes and enabling stakeholders to work together toward more sustainable land management.

This project was an opportunity to engage a large group of row-crop farmers, learn farmer thought processes, and map their cognition of the complex interactions that structure the agroecosystems in which they work. Learning outcomes included a deeper understanding of farmer perspectives that can inform future collaborations among researchers, extension professionals, and farmers. Researchers also gained insight into farmer characteristics that are related to increased levels of complexity and cover crop adoption. Though cognition of complexity was not a significant predictor of cover crop adoption, learning farmer perspectives can help prospective outreach professionals approach farmers to increase cover cropping behavior with farmer priorities in mind. Cognitive mapping and evaluation of cognitive biases could also be valuable information to farmers who may become more aware of biases they hold. Farmers may also benefit by comparing their thinking patterns to other farmers. The knowledge gained from this research contributes to literature by expanding our knowledge of decision-making; it advances our grasp on farmer-perceived agroecological complexity and farmer reliance on biases (i.e., recency bias, status quo bias).

Actionable outcomes included highlighting the role of cognitive shortcuts in decision-making and showing how these may reduce cover crop adoption. Learning what biases are employed in decision-making offers researchers the opportunity to intervene with strategic framing of recommendations or simply by making farmers aware of the limitations of using biases. This project also leverages novel methods of cognitive map analysis (i.e., network analysis) to shed light on decision-making, which constitutes a methodological contribution to the broader research community.