Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability
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The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
2017
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1503250466552905 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu15032504665529052021-08-03T07:03:57Z Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability Harrison, Jennifer A. Agriculture Behavioral Sciences Environmental Science Environmental Studies Sustainability farm sustainability organic dairy RISE sustainability assessment Ohio intent to change barriers to change There are numerous factors that contribute to how farmers perceive the sustainability of their management practices, this research examines one factor, the influence of their own data. Farmers can engage with data on multiple levels. Some information is personalized such as farm soil tests, billing records and farm assessments while some data is more general such as best management practices and newsletter articles. My thesis is that the level of personalization and engagement of the data will improve the measurement of their farms’ management strategies which will in turn shape how farmers perceive their overall sustainability and ultimately guide their decision making on intent to change management practices for improved sustainability. This research examined how well farmers know the strengths and weaknesses of their management practices in terms of sustainability and explored how accessing information affected their intent to change management practices. I support this thesis in subsequent chapters with research that compares farmers’ overall assessment of the sustainability of their practices with objective measures of the sustainability of their practices, through comparing results from the RISE evaluation and a mail survey that I developed based on both RISE and readily available NRCS data. The correspondence between the subjective and objective measures can differ depending on consultation and examination of the underlying data. I further show differences in the farmers’ intent to change their practices as a function of distance to information, how well their current practices contribute to their sustainability, either according to them or in an objective index, and the existence of barriers to change. I found that when farmers engaged in data such as billing and production records, they were more likely to assess the sustainability of their operations to be at about the same level as the more objective RISE assessment did. This was found for the themes soil use, material use and environmental protection, quality of life and economic viability. However, when they neglected or lacked data they were more likely to overestimate their sustainability which occurred in the themes water use, energy and climate, biodiversity and working conditions. The one theme farmers consistently underestimated their sustainability was animal husbandry, a theme that is paramount for them. 2017 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1503250466552905 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1503250466552905 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Agriculture Behavioral Sciences Environmental Science Environmental Studies Sustainability farm sustainability organic dairy RISE sustainability assessment Ohio intent to change barriers to change |
| spellingShingle |
Agriculture Behavioral Sciences Environmental Science Environmental Studies Sustainability farm sustainability organic dairy RISE sustainability assessment Ohio intent to change barriers to change Harrison, Jennifer A. Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability |
| author |
Harrison, Jennifer A. |
| author_facet |
Harrison, Jennifer A. |
| author_sort |
Harrison, Jennifer A. |
| title |
Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability |
| title_short |
Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability |
| title_full |
Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability |
| title_fullStr |
Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Exploring the Role of Data Engagement in Intent to Change Management Practices for Improved Farm Sustainability |
| title_sort |
exploring the role of data engagement in intent to change management practices for improved farm sustainability |
| publisher |
The Ohio State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1503250466552905 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT harrisonjennifera exploringtheroleofdataengagementinintenttochangemanagementpracticesforimprovedfarmsustainability |
| _version_ |
1719452864910196736 |