Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices among Kentucky Farmers and Their Perception about Farm Sustainability

TL;DR

This study investigates the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices among Kentucky farmers, exploring perceptions, predictors, barriers, and socioeconomic factors influencing their implementation.

Contribution

It identifies key barriers and predictors affecting SAP adoption and provides insights into farmers' perceptions and socioeconomic influences in Kentucky.

Findings

Farmers perceive their practices as sustainable.

Major barriers include lack of knowledge and technology.

Socioeconomic factors influence adoption rates.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify commonly adopted SAPs and their adoption among Kentucky farmers. The specific objectives were to explore farmers' Perceptions about farm and farming practice sustainability, to identify predictors of SAPs adoption using farm attributes, farmers' attitudes and behaviors, socioeconomic and demographic factors, and knowledge, and to evaluate adoption barriers of SAPs among Kentucky Farmers. Farmers generally perceive that their farm and farming activities attain the objectives of sustainable agriculture. Inadequate knowledge, perceived difficulty of implementation, lack of market, negative attitude about technologies, and lack of technologies were major adoption barriers of SAPs in Kentucky.