Last Updated on April 18, 2024 by Yilin
Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) in Florida are conditional stipulations for farmers that are intended to achieve sustainability goals while prioritizing economic feasibility by allowing farmers to participate in programs of their choosing in a variety of sustainable practices from cover crops and conservation tillage to buffer strips and land retirement (Liu, 2022). The intention of deterring from a one-size-fits-all approach to sustainability is intended to bolster farmer awareness and support for environmentally friendly land use practices as the program grants them the liberty to make decisions that protect their land while remaining economically feasible. Despite this intention, farmer perceptions regarding BMPs in Florida still vary depending on their personal experience.
Building Awareness
A significant factor in determining a farmer’s perception of BMPs is their prior exposure to outreach and Extension programs. The more access that a farmer has to training, education opportunities, and outreach programs regarding the purpose and application of BMPs the more likely they are to incorporate such practices (Bechini). This is likely a result of the fact that these programs disperse the idea that BMPs are made to be malleable so that farmers of distinct scales and crop varieties can implement them realistically.
Navigating Regulations
There can be damage to a farmer’s sentiment regarding BMPs based on legislation. A majority of BMPs are conditionally regulated, so when environmental conditions reveal significant damage to water or land resources, local farmers would be required to incorporate a BMP tactic to help protect the environment or they could conditionally implement another tactic such as enhancing irrigation systems or strictly monitoring their water usage, which are typically more expensive (Dorian).
This intricate form of regulation often leads to confusion among farmers as their job does not require them to be well-versed in litigation terms, instead, they are trying to run a farm as a successful business that can prosper in the future. This seeming conflict causes concern among farmers that the government is trying to run their farms for them; however, this is largely a misconception due to a lack of outreach and training regarding BMPs (Bechini). Focusing outreach on the flexibility of BMP programs may be a more successful strategy to urge farmers to engage with BMPs as the stigma of government control is countered.
Educating about Climate Change
Another issue impairing the ability for BMPs to be more widely accepted among the Florida agricultural community could be misconceptions about what is classified as climate change. While 79% of Florida farmers are greatly worried about poor water quality impairing their ability to farm, a little under 43% are slightly or greatly worried about the impact of climate change (Liu). This certainly reveals a discrepancy in climate change perceptions as it seems to be mistaken as the sole increase of average temperature or changes in precipitation patterns, rather than the holistic impacts of humanity on our natural resources.
By having Extension programs reveal the anthropogenic impact of farming on surface and groundwater quality, of which they are highly concerned, it may be possible to encourage more farmers to take advantage of more BMPs as they will be able to see the results of their efforts at a local scale (Dorian). By dispersing information about climate change being a local and global phenomenon, it may be possible to prevent a defeatist attitude in Florida farmers, and catalyze them to join the BMP program, so they can protect their own resources while also protecting the economic yield of their labor.
Overall, the social, biophysical, institutional, and economic factors of BMP enrollment mentioned throughout this reveal may all be evaluated to determine which strategies are best able to be tailored to the needs of local farmers and maximize their understanding of the purpose and personal anecdotes regarding the BMP program to ensure a sustainable agricultural future!
References
Bechini, L. (2019, May). Drivers and Barriers to Adopt Best Management Practices. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652619336959
Dorian, E.B.M. (2020, April 27). Social-Psychological Determinants of Farmer Intention to Adopt Nutrient Best Management Practices: Implications for Resilient Adaptation to Climate Change.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479720312287
Liu, H. (2022, March 17). Incentivizing the future adoption of best management practices on agricultural land to protect water resources: The role of past participation and experiences. Ecological Economics. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800922000519
This blog article was written by the University of Florida Active Learning Program student intern Jax Mendelsohn and edited and reviewed by Yilin Zhuang.
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