Steve R. Simmons

Farmer perspectives on cropping systems diversification in northwestern Minnesota

It is important to understandfactors that influence management decisionsthat determine the level of diversificationwithin cropping systems. Because of the widevariety of cropping systems within a region,our study focused on a single county (Marshall)in northwestern Minnesota. This county wasselected because it is in an area where farmerswere reevaluating their cropping practicesduring the 1990s in response to severe plantdisease outbreaks and economic stresses. Asurvey (n = 153) and follow-up interviews (n = 9)of representative farmers in Marshall Countyshowed that they were approaching theircropping systems management decisions underthese conditions through a dominant conceptualframework (scientific) and two secondaryconceptual frameworks (institutional andspiritual), which we termed “mental causalmodels.” The study illustrates the ways farmersdefine and make decisions affecting theircropping systems diversity under conditions ofagronomic and economic adversity. It alsochallenges agricultural professionals to expandtheir thinking about educational strategiesthat are sensitive to the varied perspectivesof farmers beyond just the scientific mentalcausal model.