Content area
Abstract
The impact of agricultural practices on water quality and wetlands is an environmental and policy issue of increasing significance. To acquire an understanding of Cornbelt farmers' and landowners' attitudes towards, and willingness to enroll land into the CRP and 30-year easement programs for cropland retirement to protect water quality, 770 Cornbelt farmers and landowners were surveyed by mail and 157 were surveyed by personal interview. The analysis focused on 10 Cornbelt counties chosen for their potential to impact surface and groundwater quality, potential for wetland restoration, current CRP enrollments, and diversity of farm enterprises.
The analysis follows the political ecology model which is comprised of four levels. The first level of analysis examines the historical factors behind the development of Cornbelt Agriculture and their relevance for today. The second level of analysis examines the political economy in which Cornbelt agriculture is enmeshed and from which ecological consequences occur. The Third level of analysis is statistical, consisting of logistic analysis of the respondents' decision to enroll or not enroll inthe programs presented, and an OLS analysis of the subsample of the population that does decide to enroll a percentage of their eligible acres into the programs. At fourth level, spatial analysis is conducted on four Illinois survey counties, and case studies from three Illinois counties.
The results of the analysis found that farmers would enroll lands into the CRP and the 30 year easement program if the economic gain was greater than the opportunity costs. There were no consistent findings in the statistical analysis explaining the differences in conservation behaviors. The case studies revealed that conservation behavior and degradation of water resources is better understood by examination of the farm in its physiographic and social setting.
