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Negotiating agricultural change in the Midwestern US: seeking compatibility between farmer narratives of efficiency and legacy

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  • Nathan J. Shipley

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • William P. Stewart

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • Carena J. Riper

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

Agroecosystems in the Midwestern United States are undergoing changes that pressure farmers to adapt their farming practices. Because farmers decide what practices to implement on their land, there are needs to understand how they adapt to competing demands of changes in global markets, technology, farm sizes, and decreasing rural populations. Increased understanding of farmer decision-making can also inform agricultural policy in ways that encourage farmer adoption of sustainable practices. In this research we adopt a grounded view of farmers by interpreting their decision-making through their stories of everyday life. We use a narrative analysis to identify recurrent themes that characterize farmer decisions as active negotiations between the demands of efficiency in maximizing crop yields with a desire to steward land through past, present, and future generations. Together these narratives portray farmer decisions as a place-making process that seeks compatibility among distinct aspirations for their land.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathan J. Shipley & William P. Stewart & Carena J. Riper, 2022. "Negotiating agricultural change in the Midwestern US: seeking compatibility between farmer narratives of efficiency and legacy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1465-1476, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:39:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10460-022-10339-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-022-10339-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. John Strauser & William P. Stewart, 2023. "Landscape Performance: Farmer Interactions across Spatial Scales," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.

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