Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Social networks vital for rural conservation efforts

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By MELISSA LAMBERTON, Communications research assistant

When ecologists search for solutions to Iowa’s natural resource management dilemmas, they usually study the land or water, examining how farming practices influence the soil, shape the watershed, and alter the ability of ecosystems to perform vital functions. Ryan Atwell took a different approach. He studied the farmers.

Atwell, who received a Ph.D. from Iowa State University’s Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (NREM) in 2008, hoped to gain insights into how rural stakeholders value their countryside with the goal of developing better tools for conservation practices. ISU NREM associate professor Lisa Schulte Moore and Lynn Westphal from the U.S. Forest Service also worked on the project, which was partially funded by the Leopold Center’s Ecology Initiative.

Atwell knew from the start that ecologists and farmers don’t always see the world the same way. “I grew up in rural culture,” he said. “I knew the ecologists’ vision was a great ideal, but it wasn’t going to be accepted by a lot of rural folks.”

Corn Belt farmers feel pressure to increase row crop production to supply emerging biofuel markets. At the same time, ecologists emphasize the importance of leaving perennial cover on the landscape to protect ecosystem services like soil fertility, flood control, water quality and biodiversity. They encourage farmers to use targeted practices, such as crop rotations, riparian buffers or restored wetlands, to benefit the entire watershed.

This approach stems from the way ecologists envision the landscape as a network of rivers, connecting small local waterways to larger ecological systems. But Atwell discovered that rural stakeholders do not perceive their countryside in watershed terms. Instead, they identify strongly with networks of people.

Atwell investigated how rural stakeholders thought about conservation practices by conducting 33 interviews with 42 residents near Stanhope in Hamilton County. To his surprise, when he asked participants what they valued about the countryside, they answered primarily in social terms, telling stories about neighbors, community events, and their deep concern for disappearing homesteads and a diminishing way of life.

The results suggest that conservation practices have not yet been integrated into the social networks that define rural culture and ethics. Interviewees generally approved of perennial cover crops because of perceived benefits for water and wildlife, but they did not place a high priority on them. Moreover, they felt unable to bring about change in large-scale landscapes and institutional systems.

At first, Atwell encountered reluctance from rural residents to participate. He initiated informal conversations at grain elevators and farm supply businesses, but had difficulty setting up interviews. Then, after a conversation at a local restaurant, members of a women’s group took an interest in the project and referred him to several farmers. The experience reflects an important insight from the study data: conservation agencies need to connect their personnel with social networks to work successfully in rural communities.

“Given short-term economic constraints, there are few opportunities to inject new ecological thinking into the community at present,” Schulte Moore said. “We need new models for how to work with farm communities on making landscape changes that benefit both them and the people living downstream.”

The researchers discovered that rural farmers aren’t likely to adopt new conservation practices unless a coordinated strategy exists at multiple levels, from individual farms to local communities to regional institutions. Initiatives that focus on achieving outcomes at only one scale aren’t likely to create long-term change. On a small scale, for example, farmers showed a preference for conservation methods that mesh with farm practices, while on a large scale they wanted the government to offer trustworthy financial incentives.

“Oftentimes in conservation we get tunnel vision,” Atwell said. “We focus on effecting change at just one level of the system…. Both farmers and policymakers said we need concerted change efforts that work across multiple levels of the system.”

The researchers solicited the views of state leaders in agriculture, conservation and policy through a companion study, where they held a participatory workshop to determine what opportunities and challenges exist for making use of perennial vegetation. Iowa landscapes often fall into two extremes—conservation areas rigidly protected from disturbance, and farmland valued only for productivity. Almost all the participants spoke favorably about the ability of perennial cover to bridge the gap by blurring the distinction between working lands and protected areas.

Nevertheless, significant challenges remain to encouraging conservation with perennial cover. In Iowa, a highly interconnected socioeconomic and political structure, which includes many external inputs like fertilizers, crop technologies and government subsidies, creates a system of row crop farming that resists modification despite recognized disadvantages for rural communities and the environment. To bring about change, Atwell’s research suggests, conservationists need to understand and foster social, economic and political networks that span both local and regional scales.

Atwell has gone on to develop incentive-based programs and environmental markets, and recently completed a fellowship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Schulte Moore is continuing her research with ISU graduate student Drake Larson, whose work focuses on practical tactics for change.

The research has appeared in Ecology and Society, Landscape Ecology, and Land Use Policy. The studies were funded by the Leopold Center’s Ecology Initiative, USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, ISU Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, and ISU Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture.

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