WCROC Farm Sustainability Project: Considering Online Decision Support Tools

Abstract

The University of Minnesota’s West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) is aiming to provide an online decision support tool to farmers that will help them improve the sustainability and resiliency of their operations. A team of graduate students at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public affairs researched the use and uptake of online decision support tools for farm sustainability in order to provide recommendations to help achieve this goal. We investigated the various forms decision support tools can take, and the factors that affect their uptake and use by farmers. There are 15 variables and eight “core factors” affecting tool use including: cost, ease of use, peer recommendation, and relevance to users. In designing a tool that is easy to use and relevant to farmers, there are a wide array of metrics and indicators that could be used. Using soil carbon as an example of a sustainability indicator, we illustrate some of the complexity of choosing specific metrics. While there are often economic and policy barriers to adopting sustainable practices, social and cultural factors that shape a farmer’s knowledge and beliefs are often more important influences on farming practices. Adoption of sustainable practices often occurs as a result of information gained from new social relationships with other agriculture professionals, particularly other farmers. Designing and facilitating the use of a new decision support tool requires collaboration with users (farmers) throughout the entire process. Feedback between designers and users during the design and diffusion of the tool will ensure that the tool is appropriate for the users’ needs. Facilitating communication between users of the tool, which could be achieved through a farmer discussion group, will help farmers use the tool and qualify the information they receive.