Farmers' commitment to continued use of the late spring soil nitrogen test

Abstract

AbstractWithin the past decade, low cost and convenient soil tests have been developed and marketed to permit better matching of soil nitrogen levels with crop needs. We explore the factors related to farmers' initial adoption and their commitment to continued use of one such kit, marketed in Iowa as N-Trak. Early adopters of the N-Trak had many of the same personal and farm operation characteristics as farmers who have been early adopters of other farming innovations. Further, the principal factors in differentiating between various levels of commitment to continued use of the kit were perceptions of technological attributes of the kit and, to a much lesser extent, farmer attitudinal factors and personal characteristics. These results suggest that perceived attributes of the technology, especially its returns to time, effort, and financial investment, were critical in the decision to adopt and continue to use the N-Trak kit. Early adopters' decisions to continue using it focused primarily on cost, profitability, and technological issues, to the exclusion of water quality concerns measured by attitudinal items. These findings suggest that providing information that shows the kit's ease, compatibility, and advantages, would be more persuasive than marketing it as a tool to enhance water quality.