Factors influencing enrollment of leased cropland in the Conservation Stewardship Program in Kansas

Federal conservation programs in the United States rely on the voluntary participation of farmers and landowners to generate environmental benefits across agricultural landscapes. Understanding factors influencing enrollment of leased cropland is critical since over half of all cropland in the United States is leased. In this paper, we use a unique data set from a survey and choice experiment in Kansas to identify factors that affect enrollment of leased cropland in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Results suggest that farmers’ environmental stewardship attitudes are associated with higher enrollment of leased cropland in the CSP. Fixed cash leases and relationships with landowners described as “business only” are related to lower enrollment in the CSP. Farmers with larger operations and those that rely more heavily on agricultural income are more likely to enroll. Farmers have strong preferences for higher CSP payments, and they dislike contracts that pay landowners a larger proportion of the base program payment. The time required to submit an application and the percentage of the operation that must be enrolled in the CSP contract are negatively related to contract selection. Our study suggests that reinforcing stewardship identities among farmers, encouraging closer tenant-landowner relationships, reducing transaction costs of participation, and relaxing contract requirements may increase enrollment of leased cropland in agri-environmental programs.