Date of Award
Summer 8-11-2025
Advisor(s)
David Conner
Travis Reynolds
Mario Machado
Molly Anderson
Project Description
Agricultural decision-making research related to incentive programs for practice adoption increasingly recognizes that farmers balance multiple objectives rather than solely optimizing for one. This study examines how farmers’ actual costs to implement managed intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) relate to their importance ratings of diverse management goals. Drawing on data from a five-year USDA Conservation Innovation Grant titled “Managing Pastures for Healthy Farms and Healthy Soils” that partnered with Vermont livestock farmers to provide financial and technical support for implementing soil health practices, I first analyze survey responses rating the importance of different management priorities, and then test for any possible associations between farmers’ self-reported priorities and their actual implementation costs for soil health management practices over a three year period. Results reveal that Vermont livestock farmers balance complex values that extend beyond simple economic optimization, with implementation costs ultimately showing no statistically significant association with the importance farmers assign to other management factors. In-person interview data support these findings, with farmers describing decision-making processes and systems thinking that integrate multiple values and goals. These results suggest that effective incentive programs must account for farmers’ multi-objective decision-making rather than assuming economic motivations are the primary determinant of farmer behavior.
Project Approach
Scholarly research
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Recommended Citation
Southall, Sadie, "Exploring the relationship between MIRG implementation costs and other management priorities on Vermont livestock farms: implications for incentive programs" (2025). Food Systems Master's Project Reports. 37.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fsmpr/37