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Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering AgriculturalStakeholder Mental Models to Better UnderstandRecent Land Use Conversion
Benjamin L. Turner • Melissa Wuellner •
Timothy Nichols • Roger Gates
Accepted: 24 January 2014
� Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate how alternative land ethics of
agricultural stakeholders may help explain recent land use changes. The paper first
explores the historical development of the land ethic concept in the United States
and how those ethics have impacted land use policy and use of private lands.
Secondly, primary data gathered from semi-structured interviews of farmers,
ranchers, and influential stakeholders are then analyzed using stakeholder analysis
methods to identify major factors considered in land use decisions, priorities of
factors of each group, and to define relevant mental models describing each group’s
view of the land ethic concept. Results show that these stakeholder groups prioritize
land use factors qualitatively differently and possess strikingly different land ethics.
It is concluded that shifts in stakeholder land ethics have contributed to recent land
use changes. Lastly, we discuss how current agricultural policy sends mixed signals
about preferred land use and the potential ramifications based on the different land
ethics we’ve described.
B. L. Turner (&)
Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, West River Ag Center,
1905 Plaza Blvd., Rapid City, SD 57702, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Wuellner
Natural Resource Management, Natural Resource Management-Box 2140B, Brookings,
SD 57007, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
T. Nichols
Honors College, Honors College-Box 2075A, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
R. Gates
South Dakota State University, West River Ag Center, 1905 Plaza Blvd.,
Rapid City, SD 57702, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
123
J Agric Environ Ethics
DOI 10.1007/s10806-014-9494-y
Keywords Land ethic �Mental models � Land use � Stakeholder analysis
Introduction
Agriculture is a vocation that takes great pride in the value and history of its work.
Producers, part-time practitioners, and professionals in agricultural related indus-
tries alike work to provide food and fiber for the survival and benefit of fellow man.
That ethical responsibility of growing things for human use is clear and simple. As
Dundon (2003) stated, ‘‘Who needs ethics to complicate that simplicity?’’
Ethics is the study of rules and principles that govern human conduct and what
constitutes right and wrong in human decision making (Robinson et al. 2007); the
word itself is derived from the Greek ethos which means ‘‘character’’. Agricultural
management takes place within the intersection of ecologic, economic, and social
spheres. This makes defining agricultural ethics quite difficult depending on the
sphere(s) of interest to an individual.
The Northern Great Plains (NGP) is a diverse, productive landscape capable of
supporting an array of land uses depending on specific and local characteristics
(Fig. 1). However, there has been a recent shift from grassland to cropland as a
primary land use, particularly in the central region of the NGP. There are very often
multiple, indeed conflicting, demands that pressure agricultural production in
meeting food and fiber demands (e.g., Endangered Species Act, Clean Air and
Water Acts, USDA farm programs or subsidies, market price and input cost
volatility, public perceptions of agriculture, soil productivity, standard of living and
generational transfer, etc.). These pressures, although individually appearing
unrelated, converge on agricultural landscapes due to their ecological (e.g., soil,
plants, animals, etc.), economic (e.g., commodity prices and costs) and social (e.g.,
family) characteristics. The convergence of forces on agricultural landscapes gives
rise to concern not only in agricultural ethics but also in land ethics.
History tells us that land use changes follow changes in people’s land ethics, a
duel of perspectives that ‘‘swings the pendulum’’ towards increased production or
conservation enhancement depending on which of the above forces prevail. In light
of recent grassland losses, what is the land ethic duel today? What forces have
shaped a ‘‘pendulum swing’’ towards land conversion of grasslands to row crop
agriculture?
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this paper is to investigate expressions of land ethics among various
agricultural stakeholders in the NGP and how that may influence land use
determination. We begin with a brief history of United States land use changes and
policy. We then present a qualitative approach to understand the current land use
‘‘pendulum swing’’. Many studies have investigated land ethics related to animal
agriculture and technology (Anthony 2012), morals and sustainability (Meijboom
B. L. Turner et al.
123
and Brom 2012), ethics and economics (Diebel 2008; Thompson 1990), environ-
mental conservation (Reimer et al. 2012), and gender roles (Alston and Whittenbury
2013). On the other hand, many quantitative approaches have been used to
investigate land use change (e.g., Faber et al. 2012; Stephens et al. 2008; Sohl et al.
2012; Wright and Wimberly 2012; Johnston 2013), but none looked deeply into
ethical values of individual producers. Stakeholder interviews, as well as a focus
group, were utilized to describe and verify key factors and mental models expressed
by stakeholders within a land ethic framework, allowing for comparison of
expressed land ethics across each stakeholder group. This paper concludes with a
discussion of potential implications of future land use policy in light of differing
ethics expressed by stakeholders groups and the mixed messages they receive from
current public policies.
Development of the Land Ethic Concept and Evidence of the ‘‘SwingingPendulum’’
Preserving Resources Through Conservation Enhancement
The earliest descriptions of an American land ethic were expressed in the early
1800s by Ralph Waldo Emerson and his pulpil Henry David Thoreau. Emerson
wrote of the reciprocal relationship needed between man and nature (Emerson 1836)
while Thoreau famously wrote about his experience living at Walden Pond near
Concord, MA. Thoreau expressed his land ethic with appreciation for the
complexity and harmony of nature, a living earth that man must live in harmony
with (see Thoreau’s Walden 1854). John Wesley Powell echoed these men from a
scientific perspective. Powell, head of USA Geological Survey (1881–1894),
proposed that land settlement and development for agricultural purposes should be
based on local conditions and potential, such as precipitation, soil, and water, not on
arbitrary sections (Stegner 1992). President Theodore Roosevelt propelled these
ideas into the twentieth century. Restraint or limited impact on natural resources
was at the core of his perspective. In his seventh State of the Union address as
President, he stated:
Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess, it becomes
foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as
inexhaustible; this is not so. (Roosevelt 1907a)
Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of potential land uses, their relative disturbance level and capacity to provideecosystem goods and services. Source B.L. Turner
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
Roosevelt is also quoted: ‘‘The conservation of natural resources is the
fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve
all others’’ (Roosevelt 1907b).
Production Enhancement Through Resource Utilization
In the Land Ordinance of 1785, Jefferson proposed a new method to survey land for
both governments and businesses: a strict grid of rectangles known as townships,
each consisting of 36 sections, size 640 acres (259 ha) each, with ‘‘quarter sections’’
(64.75 ha) and ‘‘units’’ (16.19 ha) within each section (Encarta 2006). This method
of surveying facilitated Jefferson’s dream of an agrarian society of small
landowners spread over the whole nation (Boyd et al. 1950) and was eventually
used to survey land acquired by the USA in the Northwest Territory, the Louisiana
Purchase, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Another ethic that developed
alongside Jefferson’s agrarian society was ‘‘manifest destiny’’, defined by journalist
John L. O’Sullivan:
It is America’s manifest destiny to overspread the contentment [to fulfill
God’s plan] (Encarta 2006).
The culmination of Jefferson’s grid and manifest destiny was achieved with the
passing of the Homestead Act of 1862. This act granted a ‘‘quarter section’’ to
settlers who would work the land for 5 years. Hundreds of thousands of settlers
acquired homesteads and began moving westward across the continent.
How the Pendulum Impacts the Land
Homestead Act allotments of public land continued as late as 1916 (Gray et al.
1938). These allotments were unrealistically small (due to the Jeffersonian grid) and
tended to be west of the 100th meridian (Cooke et al. 1936; Fig. 2). Part of the
justification was a 1909 Bureau of Soils claim that USA soils were an
‘‘indestructible and immutable’’ resource (Sachs 1994). Optimistic farmers arrived
in droves during years of favorable rainfall, leading to a misperception of how arid
the environment could actually be (Lockeretz 1978). Homesteading, because of the
small acreage issued to each family, encouraged overgrazing of pasture and
cultivation of land in many areas unsuitable.
These forces, combined with drought, led to serious but small dust bowls
occurring from 1910 to 1914 (Johnson 1947; Lockeretz 1978). However, the
drought eased and a new wave of farmers entered the Plains. Profits and technology
aided in increased cultivation capacity. Wheat prices increased through World War I
and peaked in 1919 ($2.16 per bushel compared to $0.87 during 1910–1914).
Tractors introduced during World War I enabled farmers to achieve unprecedented
scale (Lockeretz 1978). Promotion of cultivation (Fig. 3), which relied on
widespread tillage practices, led to massive exposure of soils to wind erosion,
resulting in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s (Fig. 4).
B. L. Turner et al.
123
Pendulum Swings in Response to the Dust Bowl
The United States Congress established the soil erosion service (SES) to investigate
the Dust Bowl causes and provide solutions. Hugh H. Bennett (the service’s first
director from 1933 to 1951) famously stated ‘‘It would be better if the sod had never
been broke at all’’ (Baumhardt 2003) and that the massive soil erosion problems
were a result of ‘‘a false philosophy of plenty, a myth of inexhaustibility’’ of land
resources. He advised that government programs be redesigned to give incentives
for diversified cropping systems with reduced tillage to conserve water and soil
resources. The SES created the Soil Bank program (SBP) in 1956, which focused on
removing lands from production with high risk of erosion to establish permanent
vegetative cover.
Individual land owner’s perspectives also shifted as a result of the Dust Bowl and
this shift was championed by wildlife scientist Aldo Leopold. Leopold’s message
was an appeal to a landowner’s conscience with a formalized definition of the land
ethic:
A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of
the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise (Leopold 1949).
Fig. 2 A sign marking the 100th meridian in central South Dakota. The 100th meridian was a geographicmarker to homesteaders indicating where farming should stop and land remain in native prairie. Today,farming along or west of the meridian is common. Photo credit author B.L. Turner
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
Bennett and Leopold’s efforts made great strides for soil, water, and wildlife
conservation, which remained at the forefront of agricultural policy through the
1940s and 1950s.
Get big or get out
However, new policies arose that were intended to address rising welfare and
economic concerns in agriculture to swing the pendulum toward production. The
best example of this was Dr. E.R. Butz (USA Secretary of Agriculture 1971–1976),
who championed the ‘feed the world’ mentality and advised producers and
agribusinesses alike to ‘get big or get out’ by planting crops ‘fence row to fence
Fig. 3 World War I-era posters promoting wheat production and export. Photo credits University ofNorth Texas Library and AuthenticHistory.com
Fig. 4 Effects of the Dust Bowl were not only seen across the Great Plains, including the picture on theleft taken near Dallas, South Dakota, but in places as far away as the nation’s capital, seen in the rightpicture of the Lincoln Memorial under a cloud of dust. Photo credit wikipedia.org and weta.org
B. L. Turner et al.
123
row’. To achieve this, Butz abolished a New Deal program that paid for
conservation (see ‘ever-normal granary’; Henry Wallace) and initiated the first
direct payments to farmers (Philpott 2008). These incentives led to increased
cultivation as well as erosion risk, with annual cropland soil losses estimated at
4.0–6.8 billion tons (GAO 1977; Barlowe 1981; Harlin and Barardi 1987; Lee 1984)
and vast tracts of wildlife habitat fragmented or destroyed.
Renewed Conservation and Production Priorities
With renewed pressure on public policy to conserve natural resources, the
conservation reserve program (CRP) was established under the 1985 Farm Bill.
Similar to its predecessor SBP, CRP incentivized removal of high risk erosion land
for establishing permanent cover. However, unlike SBP’s 3-year contracts, CRP
required 10–15 year contracts. CRP’s long-term benefits have been positive for both
soil conservation and wildlife and has been perceived so favorably that the program
has been renewed in every subsequent Farm Bill. Similarly in the 1990 Farm Bill,
the Wetlands Reserve program established incentives for wetland protection.
However, there also exists today renewed focus on agricultural production, with
programs such as multi-peril or revenue-based crop insurance (e.g., USDA-RMA’s
actual production history, actual revenue history, or adjusted gross revenue plans) or
the USA renewable fuels standard, approved by both the 2005 Energy Policy Act
and again in 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.
Current Land Use Status
According to a USDA-ERS report (Claassen et al. 2011), most high productivity
land is used for intensive cropping (80 %) while most low productivity land is used
for grazing (73 %). Medium productivity land is spread across all land uses,
including cropping (53 %), hay and pasture (10 %), range (32 %), and CRP
enrollment (5 %). The report concluded that this data ‘‘implies that [economic]
returns to medium productivity land are similar across land uses, although
landowners may differ on the most valuable use’’ (Claassen et al. 2011). Similarly,
the FAO (2011) stated:
Ranchers, advisors, and policymakers must not assume that a uniform
management approach for all grasslands can be successful in maintaining the
unique ecology of each grassland type; such an assumption has been shown to
be disastrous in the past, and could be catastrophic in the future. The grassland
goods and services valued by society also vary a great deal, as they are
influenced by different soils, topographies, climates, and managements, and
their interactions.
These recent reports highlight the need of understanding land owners or operators
values, which are highly influential in determining land use. Unfortunately,
relatively few studies have examined these factors.
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
Methods
Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder analysis is an approach for generating knowledge about stakeholders’
actions to understand their behavior, intentions, interrelations and interests and to
assess the influence and resources they bear on decision making or implementation
processes (Varvasovszky and Brugha 2000). The stakeholder model offers ethicists
an approach to ecologic-economic-social problems by identifying groups that have
intrinsic values at the intersections of these sectors (Moodley et al. 2008).
Substantial efforts have been made in corporate business to develop ethical
principles and strategies for management (Preston 1975; Carroll 1991; Warwick and
Cochoran 1985). Development in agricultural ethics has been slower (Dundon 2003)
but stakeholder analysis could be a way to strengthen the existing knowledge base
or expand the breadth of inclusiveness for framing land ethics problems.
In this study, unstructured interviews and follow-up correspondences were done
with three stakeholder groups: (1) participants inclined toward farming use (denoted
F); (2) participants inclined toward ranching use (denoted R); and (3) influencers
(i.e. highly knowledgeable persons not inclined to rangeland versus farmland use
but whose opinion was valued across stakeholder groups, denoted I for ‘‘influenc-
ers’’). Farmers and ranchers were the primary voices contributing to this study and
their views were supplemented by influencers. A focus group was later used to
either validate or refute the initial finding, allowing for refinement of conclusions.
The cumulative aim of these procedures was to describe the mental models of
system participants. A mental model of a dynamic system is a relatively enduring
and accessible, but limited (i.e. imperfect), internal conceptual representation of an
external system whose structure maintains the perceived structure of that system
(Doyle and Ford 1998). Mental model articulation is crucial for understanding the
complexity and perceptions existing in ethical decision making.
Interview Methods
Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, where the investigator begins
with a preset number of questions for the participant but allows the conversation to
vary depending on responses (Hancock et al. 2007). Garnering in-depth insights into
stakeholder values and relationships and the ability to triangulate sources is a major
strength of semi-structured methods (Reed et al. 2009). Interviews were conducted
face-to-face, usually at the home, home-office or office building in which the
participant chose to meet. Only one interviewee was unable to meet in person due to
time and travel limitations; that interview was conducted via telephone.
The interview guide consisted of two lists of 20 open-ended questions
(summarized in Table 1). Not all questions were asked of every participant, but
each was asked at least one question from each topic area. Interviews were audio
recorded and transcribed, usually within 24 h; none were transcribed later than
3 days after the interview took place. Handwritten field notes were taken during
each interview and were used for reference during transcription to confirm specific
B. L. Turner et al.
123
concepts or terms used by the interviewee whenever words or phrases did not sound
clear in the recording.
Coding Procedures: Open and Axial Coding
The purpose of open coding was to refine the problem, determine problem
boundaries and identify key variables or factors and their causal arguments that
reflect mental models of the system participants. Each transcription was read and
color coded based on land use related factors. For example, ecological, agricultural
production, or land use characteristics were coded green. Public policy, government,
and politics were coded blue. Economics, marketing and technology were coded
yellow. Lastly, personal values, extracted mental models and family and community
related thoughts were coded gray. Memoing was used widely throughout open
coding to describe implicit structure, sub-factors within a given color code (e.g.,
commodity prices or input costs within economics), general observations or
sometimes questions to be reflected upon later.
During axial coding, segmented data were aggregated by finding relationships
among categories of codes. Similar to knowledge mapping, which utilizes semi-
structured interviews to identify interactions and knowledge of stakeholders (Reed
et al. 2009), causal loop diagramming was employed to investigate the variables and
causalities each stakeholder identified with and valued. Causal loop diagramming is
a method developed through system dynamics used to identify and visually describe
mental models, system components and sub-components, and the potential causality
enforced from variable to variable. The procedure used here followed recommen-
dations of Kim and Andersen (2012).
To achieve this, color codes for each interview group were aggregated together
for analysis in axial coding. These single arguments were arranged by theme within
stakeholder group and ranged from as little as one or two sentences to an entire
page. Coding charts were created for each argument that revealed an insight about
land use. These were given a conversation identification number based on type of
interviewee, participant number, and paragraph number. Information sources or
context were recorded where applicable. Also, themes were recorded based on the
color coded area from which the argument came as well as notes that described any
memos that provided additional information. These coding charts were used to
document quantitatively the nature and number of arguments by participants to use
in the stakeholder-factor analysis.
Stakeholder-Factor Analysis
A structured approach to identify stakeholder interests in factors, causal relation-
ships and ethical considerations was used to quantify the qualitative methods
described above. A stakeholder-factor matrix was created similar to Moodley et al.
(2008) to quantify the priorities and ethical responsibilities of each stakeholder
group and understand any interactions or divergences among them. The matrix was
created by counting the number of arguments from each stakeholder group within
the coding charts about where their ethical priorities and concerns lie. The matrix
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
allowed for relatively rapid identification of risk, support, importance, and
interrelated issues for each stakeholder group.
Focus Group Methods
Focus groups are extremely valuable within stakeholder analysis because they allow
small groups to brainstorm, categorize and prioritize ideas, to provide rapid
feedback, and are useful for generating data on complex issues that require
discussion to develop understanding (Reed et al. 2009). For this study, a focus group
was initiated to view, discuss, and respond to the initial conclusions reached from
analysis of the interview data.
The focus group took place during a 1-h session in Rapid City, SD. Subjects were
pre-selected and gathered for a meeting through a continuing education program
facilitated by a third-party organization. Twenty-nine individuals participated in the
group (Fig. 6) and were identified as either F, R, or I depending on their operation or
role. The lead author presented preliminary results from the individual interviews.
The focus group was allowed to ask questions for further clarification. Then the
group was split into five sub-groups of five and one sub-group of four participants.
Each were given three questions to discuss for 15 min:
1. How accurate were the definitions of the mental models defined?;
2. How could the interview factors identified be improved?; and
3. How could producer and/or agricultural leadership influence land conversion
decisions?
Table 1 Interview sections with example questions
Interview sections Sample question(s)
Description of enterprise/role Can you describe the nature and scope of your operation?
How does your organization help agricultural producers? Land
managers?
Personal values/nature of
contribution
What motivated you into the agricultural business?
What are the primary tools you use to help land managers make
decisions?
Challenges/issues coming for
agriculture
What challenges or issues do you foresee in the near- and long-term
future for your industry?
Conversion history Have you converted acres from prairie to cropland? Why or why not?
Have you witnessed prairie being converted to cropland?
Views toward public policy How has public policy, like subsidies or insurance, influenced your
decisions?
Views toward ecosystem good
and services
What value do you place on ecosystem goods and services?
If any of these goods and services are lost, are they worth trying to
restore/recover?
View about potential
conservation strategies
What, if any, solutions do you see in the struggle to conserve native
rangeland while still being able to produce field crops that are so
highly demanded?
B. L. Turner et al.
123
At the conclusion of the 15-min period, each group reported the highlights of
their discussion, verifying or refuting the preliminary conclusions and providing
feedback from the questions above.
Author Involvement
The authors’ degree of involvement differed among participants. Although each
interview was kept within 1 h, more or less time was spent with each person due to
logistics and individual schedules. For example, some interviewees insisted on
meeting over dinner at their home or spending the night if they knew the author had
lengthy travel, while others insisted on meeting in an office or at another location
due to time and travel limitations. In the latter cases, interaction occurred strictly
during the interview.
The physical presentation and background of the interviewer may influence
responses. The interviewer’s background includes agricultural experience in rural
Texas. It was common to wear blue jeans, boots, a western hat or baseball cap to an
interview, likely giving interviewees comfort that the researcher was knowledgeable
about agriculture and did not feel the need to ‘dumb-down’ their responses. Most
interviewees also inquired about the author’s background out of curiosity. Because
the author was not local, participants realized he did not have an ‘agenda’ and was
not attempting to expose producer’s responses for a specific cause.
Sites and Samples of Interviews
Interviews were continually conducted until the most recent interviewee per
category yielded no new information (Didier and Brunson 2004) or until a total of
ten interviews per category were reached. In total, 25 participants were interviewed
(eight farmers, eight ranchers, and nine stakeholders) from the state of South Dakota
(Fig. 5).
Potential subjects were initially contacted using a directory from a continuing
education program. For those who agreed to participate, the researcher sought the
participants’ friends and neighbors nearby to further explore land use in that area.
Of those contacted through the directory or by reference from agreeable
participants, only one declined to participate. Respondents ranged from those
highly engaged in the land use debate (e.g., on a committee or elected board
member of a commodity group; publicly elected officials) to those who preferred
not to publicly engage, focusing strictly on their own operation.
Efforts were made to obtain input from as many types of land-based operations
and stakeholders as possible (e.g., farms or ranches ranging from a few hundred to
6,000 ha; legislators, CPA’s, industry middlemen; academic or state natural
resource agency researchers, etc.; Tables 2, 3). Interview data were strengthened
by overlap among producers and their respective enterprises as many operated more
than one.
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
Follow-Up Correspondence
To maintain involvement with stakeholders, follow-up correspondences were
conducted to allow interested participants to view preliminary conclusions and to
give them an opportunity to provide additional remarks about the nature of the land
use decisions. This was achieved by sending each participant a 10-slide presentation
in Adobe PDF format that summarized the factors and the mental models defined
after the interview process. Feedback was recorded via email by the primary author
to compare reactions to the data. Six of the 26 producers (23 %) responded to the
follow-up opportunity.
Fig. 5 Map of South Dakota indicating stakeholder participants from both interview and focus groupparticipants. (Green dots farmer; Yellow triangle rancher; Red diamond Influencer). Color gradientindicates annual rainfall. (Color figure online)
Table 2 Type and number of
agricultural enterprises
represented in farmer and
rancher samples
Type of enterprise Number in
interview
sample
Number in
focus group
Total
Row crop 14 13 27
Cow-calf 13 10 23
Feedlot 3 1 4
Wildlife hunting/
recreation
3 N/A 3
Hay/pasture 3 N/A 3
Stocker/custom grazing 2 N/A 2
Swine 1 0 1
Dairy 0 1 1
Total 39 25 64
B. L. Turner et al.
123
Results
Alignment of Key Factors Through Open Coding
The open coding procedure revealed nine factors influential in land use determi-
nation: economics, community, land base, land ethic, ownership, technology,
ecology, soil health, and public policy (Table 4). Many interviewee responses
included multiple factors, highlighting the highly linked and complex nature of land
use decisions. These factors were evident in both the individual stakeholder and
focus group responses.
The diversity of factors identified illustrates the complex, commonly overlapping
context in which land use decisions are made and resources managed. Because the
focus of this paper deals with the land base and individual land ethics, a brief
overview of the Land Base and Land Ethic factors follows. Stakeholder quotations
are followed by a letter in parenthesis: F for farmer, R for rancher, I for influencer.
Table 3 Influencer role and
representationInfluencer role Number in
interview
sample
Number
in focus
group
Total
Grain marketer 2 1 3
Cattle order-buyer 1 0 1
Certified public accountant 1 0 1
Agency wildlife researcher 1 0 1
Farm researcher 1 0 1
Legislator 1 0 1
Water district manager 1 0 1
State department of
agriculture representative
1 1 2
Engineer 0 1 1
Ag loan officer/lending 0 3 3
Beef industry representative 0 2 2
Ag teacher/FFA sponsor 0 1 1
SDSU extension 0 1 1
Farm service agency 0 4 4
Ag public relations 0 1 1
Food company representative 0 1 1
Ag business/agronomy 0 1 1
Energy company representative 0 1 1
Pork industry representative 0 1 1
Ag union representative 0 1 1
Total 9 20 29
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
Land Base
If we are going to continue to feed the world I think [land conversion has] to
happen (F)
External pressures, such as increasing food and energy demands, growing
compliance standards, and profit or expansion pressures to reach long-term goals on
both farmers and ranchers have led to an array of pressures on the landscape.
I would say [farmers] view themselves more as ‘‘we’re helping feed the
world’’, [they’re] helping keep US food prices down, which I happen to
believe they are. That [they] are part of a grander plan to feed a hungry
growing population (I)
As it becomes harder for us, whether it’s the Environmental Protection
Agency, or animal-rights activist…it’s going to add a cost (F)
The biggest challenge we have, if you want to talk about governmental
pressures, there is obviously environmental pressures. Regulations that are
coming down the pipe that may impact the cost of production, may impact our
ability to do things necessary from an environmental standpoint (R)
Pressures on the land base were also internally driven through the self-imposed
pressure to remain productive enough to sustain desired lifestyles. In most cases,
these included goals to pass operations on to the next generation or expanding
acreage:
Table 4 Identified system factors accompanied with a response
Factors Sample Response
Economic ‘‘The drivers are the economics; it’s not good… the fact is they have to make money- it’s
sheer economics’’ (F)
Community ‘‘I don’t think that we can restore the dynamics of the communities in this state any more
than we can restore the grasslands’’ (R)
Land base See below
Land ethic See below
Ownership ‘‘I’m probably less willing to take some wild risk on something really wild out there than
someone who didn’t have the roots that we have’’ (F)
Technology ‘‘As our farming practices have changed we’re seeing more sophisticated agronomy, seeing
a lot higher use of fertilizer using variable-rate, using global positioning for tillage’’ (I)
Ecology ‘‘If we degrade our ecosystem in an attempt to feed 9 billion people then we will end up
starving ourselves���We shouldn’t be doing anything to degrade our own ecosystem’’ (I)
Soil health ‘‘Healthy land has to have high organic matter, and it has to have residue out there to
protect it from wind and water erosion’’ (F)
Public
policy
‘‘You know the cattle people don’t get government payments…But there isn’t anything out
there that’s going to guarantee you $800 an acre whether it rains, hails, whatever. So the
livestock industry is at a disadvantage right away’’ (R)
B. L. Turner et al.
123
Long-term goals would be to someday pass this on to my son, also
expansion… there’s a lot of personal gain in feeding people and keeping this
world going (F)
We want to continue to grow…so we do things to grow the business without
trying to detrimentally affect the resource (R)
Lastly, the pressure to scale production, fulfill demand and remain profitable
could lead to ‘mining’ of natural resources:
[With increasing cash farm rents] we are going to mine more of the
soil…[farmers] are going to try to get as much out of it before [they’re] done
instead of looking to the next generation (F)
Will we see those impacts immediately? No. But you will eventually because
the nutrients are going away (I)
We do not have a mechanism to price externalities well enough to result in
good long-term land-use decisions. We are going to tear up a lot of Prairie and
be sorry for it (R)
Land Ethic
We are just tenets here (R)
Each of the producer groups expressed a clear land ethic, however, the way in
which they defined it differed dramatically. For example, ranchers expressed views
of holism and emphasized the long-term factors in decision making:
The long-term sustainability of wildlife, livestock and our existence depends
on how we take care of the land (R)
Conservation would have a very, very high value to me. I would not consider
exposing or risking the resources that are entrusted to me…I won’t do it (R)
It’s just really gratifying to know that what we’re doing is contributing to the
diversity instead of taking away from it…The greater the diversity the more
we are in sync with nature. It’s a validation that were probably on the right
track when it comes to how we treat the land (R)
This is contrast to farming stakeholders who characterized maintenance of
productivity as a personal value:
We can do the very best job of what we can do. And I’m talking about planting
the crop, taking care of it and harvesting it (F)
You have to make profit to make a living, so I have to keep focused on that (F)
There is a lot of value in success…when you have the ability to reach a goal or
produce and hit your goals is very rewarding…there’s a lot of personal gain in
feeding people (F)
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
This stakeholder comment is likely the most concise way to summarize the
different land ethic definitions of various producers:
Its ‘farming is a business’ [row crops] versus ‘farming is a lifestyle’ and I am a
steward [ranching] (I)
These differing views of land ethic provides insight about an operator’s
preference to disturb the landscape through intensive cultivation or conservation
through conscious self-restraint. Cultivation was less a concern for the business
oriented producer versus those who view themselves as tenants and stewards first.
Stakeholder-Factor Matrix
Axial coding identified 26 sub-factor descriptions (Table 5), which helped to create
an eight-factor stakeholder matrix (Table 6). Most of the responses were related to
economics (27.3 %), ecology (17.5 %), and the land base (15.3 %).
Alignment of Stakeholder Mental Models
Mental models of stakeholders were also quite different due to different land use
histories, experiences, roles, and values. Farmers thought of production components
much more independently (e.g., efficiency of individual units) while ranchers tended
to view their operations synergistically (e.g., efficiency of the whole operation).
For example, ranchers were less likely to invest in new activities unless it stood to
benefit multiple enterprises, whereas farmers were more likely to invest in such
activity even if it were to benefit only one enterprise.
Farming stakeholders tended to value the maintenance of production (Fig. 6). Six
out of 10 concerns or interests of farmers were related to production maintenance:
profits, agronomy, grain production, productivity, operation size, and markets and
marketing. Ranchers also valued profits and markets and marketing, but from a
livestock rather than a grain perspective. While ranching stakeholders did value
profits and production, they tended to value the integrity of the ecosystem more
highly, with four of their highest ten factors pointed at ecology related factors:
ecosystem goods and services, environmental impacts, grass conversion, and
integrity/diversity of landscapes (Fig. 7). Although farmers also valued ecosystem
goods and services, they tend to focus on different goods and services than ranchers.
For example, farmers tended to focus on soil functions such as water infiltration and
nutrient storage while ranchers tended to focus on wildlife and plant diversity,
nutrient cycling, and recreation.
Influencer stakeholders tended to view the system much more objectively than
either of the producer groups (Fig. 8). For example, influencers’ number one
response sub-factor was grass conversion. Influencers also more highly valued the
impacts of land use on the rural population and the role that subsidies play in land
use decisions compared to farming and ranching responses. Farming’s top responses
did not include subsidies but were concerned with the recruitment and retention of
young producers to agriculture. Ranching was concerned with subsidies (due to
subsidies’ potential influence on farming intensity), but the rural community did not
B. L. Turner et al.
123
show up as evidently in their top responses, as generational transfer of ranching
assets entails less financial risk compared to farming assets. Influencers usually
supported the group in which they had greater association (e.g., grain marketers
sympathetic to individual farmers; cattle order buyers more sympathetic to
Table 5 Sub-factors identified with descriptions
Sub-factor name Description of comments included with the sub-factor.
Markets and
marketing
Commodity and input markets; volatility
Ag profits Concern for profit or loss
Grain production Total grain produced (either on the farm or in the region)
Livestock
production
Total number of livestock inventory and/or the pound of meat produced
Eco. G&S Non-market goods such as water filtering, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, etc
Integrity/diversity The integrity/diversity of the landscape relative to the native condition of the NGP
Environmental
impacts
Non-point source pollution, erosion, biodiversity losses, etc
External pressures Polices such as taxation or environmental compliance
Internal pressures Maintaining operation feasibility for future generations
Operation size Pressure to increase size and scale relative to current state
Grass conversion Loss of grassland due to conversion, primarily to farming but also urbanization
General concern General concern about public policy’s influence on private land and potential
unintended consequences
Subsidies Concern that agricultural subsidies contribute to land use decision making
Flexibility Flexibility or lack of flexibility in government programs that limit management
options
Rural population Concern about diminishing rural communities
Producer age Influence that producer age has on enterprise preferences, i.e. whether to farm or
ranch
Young producers Concern that too few people are returning to agriculture and what can be done to
bring people back
Labor Influence that agricultural labor has on the rural economy/social stability
Agronomy Technology enhancements that lower unit costs of production
Genetics Crop genetic improvements that increase feasibility of row crops
Equipment size Size and scale of agricultural equipment whose investment in raises production
demands to meet financial obligations
Productivity The ability of soil under management to maintain productivity either with or without
major management amendments (e.g., N, P, and K)
Native-ness How close soil under management is to soil characteristics prior to major human
disturbance (e.g., tillage)
Absentee
ownership
Concern that absentee owners create potential consequences on land use choice,
financial demands, or social community
Risk on owned The risk preference of a producer operating on their own land, usually less risky
relative to leased land
Risk on leased The risk preference of a producer operating on land they lease from absentee
owners, usually more risky relative to own land
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
ranchers). They cherished their role of helping producers within the system remain
viable and sustainable for the long-term (Table 7).
Although public policy (e.g., crop insurance structure, CRP incentives) was
shown to be important in land use determination, it only received 11.7 % of all
stakeholder responses, which ranked fourth of all major factors identified.
Economic, ecologic, and land base factors ranked substantially higher, with
community factors ranked somewhat similarly. There were also key interactions
between factors. For example, government programs support a few key crop species
(e.g., corn, soybeans and wheat) which incentivized producers to plant these crops
and thereby invest in specialized technology. This not only restricts future cropping
choices in order to fully utilize the investment, but also signals to agronomy and
Table 6 Stakeholder-factor matrix
Factors Sub-factors Farmers Ranchers Influencers Sub-
factor
total
Factor
total
% of
total
Economic Markets and marketing 6 13 7 26 114 27.3
Ag profits 16 13 5 34
Grain production 11 7 11 29
Livestock production 8 11 6 25
Ecology Eco. G&S 11 18 5 34 73 17.5
Integrity/diversity 1 8 6 15
Environmental impacts 0 15 9 24
Land base External pressures 5 10 1 16 64 15.3
Internal pressures 2 1 1 4
Operation size 8 2 0 10
Grass conversion 9 11 14 34
Public policy General concern 3 7 4 14 49 11.7
Subsidies 4 9 12 25
Flexibility 4 4 2 10
Community Rural population 3 6 8 17 43 10.3
Producer age 3 2 1 6
Young producers 5 2 6 13
Labor 5 0 2 7
Technology Agronomy 12 1 3 16 29 6.9
Genetics 1 2 4 7
Equipment size 3 2 1 6
Soil health Productivity 9 8 7 24 28 6.7
Nativeness 0 3 1 4
Ownership Absentee ownership 4 2 3 9 18 4.3
Risk on owned 3 0 0 3
Risk on leased 2 1 3 6
Total 138 158 122 418 418 100
B. L. Turner et al.
123
Fig. 6 Farming stakeholders top ten sub-factors
Fig. 7 Ranching stakeholders top ten sub-factors
Fig. 8 Influencer stakeholders top ten sub-factors
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
equipment companies that these are the commodities that need development
emphasis (e.g., improving genetics, increasing combine size, etc.). As production is
‘scaled-up’ to larger acreages to pay for these investments, declines in both
ecosystem diversity (e.g., number of plant species) as well as rural communities
(e.g., increasing farm sizes reduces total number of farmers) occurred.
Focus Group Responses
How Accurate are the Mental Models Described?
The group consensus was that the factors presented as well as mental models
(Table 7) accurately portrayed those of stakeholders in the region. They also added
further evidence from their experience concerning mental models of farming and
ranching:
Farmers are more economic; it’s easier to move in-and-out of [activities]
faster.
The major difference is labor intensity. Producers are influenced, whether they
want to or not, by labor intensity. [Cattle production] just takes longer [to
produce a harvest], it is quicker for farming.
Because of the farming production system nowadays, farmers have more time
to be exposed and influenced by market, social, or technological changes.
These highlight an important contrast between land use choice and how it
influences the amount and type of interaction a producer has with the land.
Ranching tends to be slower, more labor intensive for more time during the year,
which hinders the ability to utilize external resources (e.g., consultants).
What is the Role of Agricultural Leadership in Defining Land Ethics and Influencing
Land Use Decisions?
The focus group highlighted some key insights about agricultural leadership (e.g.,
local community leaders; local respected producers; etc.) and the role it should play
Table 7 Brief mental model characteristics identified for each interview group that contributed to each
respective land ethic definition
Farming Ranching Influencers
Efficiency oriented
Enterprise accountants
Interactive with external
environment, actors, and
markets
Land ethic = maintenance
of production
Synergy oriented
Whole-farm accountants
Independent of external
environments, actors, and
markets
Land ethic = integrity
of ecosystem
Objective observers
Sympathetic of producers
goals
Cherish their own role
Valued long-term success
for all
Land ethic = sustaining
agricultural heritage for all
B. L. Turner et al.
123
in land ethics and land use decision making. These revolved around agricultural
leaders’ role in the rural community and how aware and sensitive leadership
education needs to be while interacting with producers:
Getting leaders engaged at the local level [is critical]
We [agricultural producers] need to raise awareness of what is happening [on
the land].
We need to be sensitive of traditional vs. progressive attitudes.
Farmers and ranchers tend to butt heads; we need to be facilitators of change.
This shows that some producers are willing to take ownership of complex issues
such as land ethics and land use when presented with pertinent information and
challenged with such questions.
Do You See the Life Cycle or Don’t You?
An interesting dynamic that the focus group described was the relationship between
land use choice and intimacy with the land. Farmers were described as more
economic, as they are able to move in and out of particular activities faster than
ranchers could. This is due to the nature of the production cycle. Ranching entails
year-round labor in order to feed and care for livestock through the winter. Farming
activities on the other hand are primarily spring-fall activities, giving farmers
3–5 months to travel to conferences, participate in workshops or industry meetings,
attend farm or technology shows, or simply take personal time off. Although
economically feasible and personally satisfying, this has shifted farming from one
that recognizes a full year’s life cycle on the land (i.e. planting, plant growth,
reproduction, seed harvest and storage, and then re-planting) to one that only has to
manage intra year linkages (i.e. planting, plant growth, harvesting). The necessary
input—seeds—are now out sourced by farmers to major agribusinesses.
This picture is dramatically different for a rancher who can be responsible for
three generations of cattle at any one time (i.e. cow, nursing calf, and replacement
heifers being developed). This is true from a feeding perspective as well. Because
cattle require forage year round, ranchers have to account for forage growth,
reproduction and reemergence the next year and must not compromise this through
over-grazing. Year-round demand for labor to care for livestock provides ranchers
continuous opportunities to interact with both plant and animal life cycles on the
land and greatly reduces flexibility to participate in activities described above. This
major difference in life cycle exposure described within the focus group is yet
another factor influencing the land ethic of ranching and farming stakeholders.
Discussion
This work set out to investigate the initial questions: what is the land ethic duel
today? And what forces have shaped a shift in land ethics as they relate to land
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
conversion from grasslands to row crop agriculture? This paper attempted to answer
this question through stakeholder interviews and a focus group, to solicit individual
goals, values, and ethics among stakeholder groups. The results shed light on
potential directions of future land use, particularly as it relates to policy changes.
The Continuous Debate: Production and Profit Versus Conservation
Enhancement
Since Jefferson first proposed the use of surveys based on grids and a nation of
agrarians, USA public policy has been shaped by the land ethics of its leaders. It has
been a tug of war, or a swinging pendulum, as policy shifts one way (toward
production and profit; e.g., manifest destiny) and then back (to conservation
enhancement; e.g., Roosevelt and the National Park Service). As successful as the
modern day CRP has been, renewed policies for production and profitability have
emerged such as highly subsidized multi-peril or revenue-based crop insurance
programs. These programs are a public manifestation of individual land ethics
expressed through the politics of the day. For example, SBP and CRP were
established as society pushed back after the Dust Bowl and the loss of wildlife
habitat and erosion of the 1970s. Similarly, direct payments and insurance tools
have been in response to calls to enhance production and profitability for agriculture
as environmental and market conditions improved. Each policy direction represents
a sincere effort by society to address land use problems. Because currently elected
leadership directs policy, a feedback exists between policy makers with agricultural
producers and society based on their own mental models and land ethics.
Influence of Current Land Ethics on the ‘‘Pendulum’’
Recent USA farm and energy policy has shifted to support a few commodity crops.
This trend has lead towards more monoculture based ecosystems and might be
described as a putting all our eggs in one (or a few) baskets approach. In response,
conservation oriented stakeholders have expressed discontent. The result was the
addition of Sodsaver and Conservation Compliance provisions in the Senate passed
2012 Farm Bill. The progression of society discontent followed by policy responses
has created a confounding decision making environment for land owners and
operators.
Land is a finite resource with boundaries. Producers operate on land in an effort
to be successful to achieve the standard of living they desire. How they achieve this
is influenced by a number of factors, including economics, community, and public
policy. Clear feedbacks exist in economics (e.g., profitability) and community (e.g.,
school size; number of new producers), but policy feedbacks have become
confusing. Today there exists incentives to both increase production and scale of
agriculture as well as enhance biodiversity conservation, which sends mixed
messages to society about what the long-term land use goals of the nation are and
allows agricultural producers, elected officials, and society-at-large to ‘‘play
politics’’ on whatever side of an issue or policy they want, confusing even more the
messages sent about land use policy goals.
B. L. Turner et al.
123
True Land Ethic or Enlightened Self-interest?
Dundon (2003) described the fantasy of ‘‘value neutral’’ ideals and that efforts to
define concepts as ‘‘value neutral’’ as trying to shake off the more representative
role of multi functionality in agriculture. The issue of multi functionality is critical
to understanding land use decision. Again, Dundon informs us:
What this history [of value neutral progress] reveals is that values implicit in
agriculture or impacted by its tools become ‘‘new’’ values to be positively
pursued as explicit functions of the agricultural enterprise when those values
are clearly endangered, or at least clearly obvious to some adequately vocal
constituency. Such multi functionality would produce tensions and conflicts in
any profession or vocation, so it is not surprising that annoyance and nostalgic
desires for greater simplicity are expressed in agriculture.
The producers interviewed for this study clearly described ideas and values that
shape their land ethic. Both producer groups clearly valued the agricultural
landscape, the benefits it provides, and the heritage that comes with being involved
in agriculture. In the most basic terms, all the producers interviewed deeply cared
for and valued the land on which they operate.
However, when each group’s comments were analyzed in greater depth, it
became clear that ranching stakeholders valued different functions of the land
compared to farming. For example, Ranching’s most frequently expressed concern
was ecosystem goods and services while farming was most concerned with
agricultural profits. In other words, ranching was explicitly concerned with threats
of loss of ecosystem goods and services; Farming was explicitly concerned with
threats of loss of agricultural profits, among others. These explicit functions have a
distinctive parallel to those land ethics of Aldo Leopold or the Manifest Destiny
paradigms, described above.
If there is such a distinction, what determines where a producer falls on the land
ethic continuum? Is holding a profit protection viewpoint truly a land ethic, in the
sense that it protects the ecosystem from which agricultural benefits of food
production are derived? For example, Ranching’s view of protecting ecosystem
services (rancher’s highest concern in Fig. 7; evident through conservation of
grazing, wildlife habitat management, etc.) is indeed a way of protecting their own
agricultural profit (their fourth highest concern). On the other hand, farming’s view
of protecting agricultural profits (farmer’s highest concern) is viewed as a way to
protect the ecosystems goods and services (i.e. if we are profitable we can take care
of the land; evident through soil management practices that increase efficiency
rather than ecosystem integrity, e.g., no-till adoption, residue management,
precision applications, etc.). These explicit functions that influence land use
decisions highlight the continuing conflict between land ethics of agricultural
stakeholders.
Intervening through public policy, which might be necessary at some level,
would certainly not address the total problem and is likely only to treat a symptom
of the problem (i.e. subsidies for one use, farming, far outweigh subsidies for all
Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models
123
other uses), not its root cause (i.e. land use decision making is made in a complex
environment of interrelated factors none of which can be easily separated).
There are limitations to this study. The interview sample size (26) could be
expanded with additional interviewees to help corroborate these conclusions. The
focus group meeting, although insightful and beneficial, was not long enough for
participants to go into enough detail about each factor more precisely or to delve
into the similarities or differences among the factors and mental models described.
It was clear that more time was needed to have a more complete response from the
participants. Also, interviewees and focus group participants were all from South
Dakota, which might exclude some cultural and historical factors important in other
states. However, based on the strength of the interviewee follow-ups and the focus
group discussion, we believe these findings to be accurate and precise, demon-
strating that the mental models described are common across the region and exert
powerful influences on land use decisions.
Conclusion
Based on the expressed mental models and land ethics of the producers and given
the massive shift in conversion toward more farming acres, we conclude that there
has been a large shift in land ethics away from ecosystem integrity toward
maintenance of production. This can visibly be seen on the landscape in areas that
had historically remained in grasslands that are now being converted for farming
enterprises, as individual producers shift their paradigm. In spite of this, there are a
number of ranching stakeholders who consciously have retained a contrary mental
model—that of ecosystem integrity—and who refuse to shift their paradigm to a
maintenance-based approach to land management. Policy makers must recognize
the diversity of the landscape on which their decisions have consequences, but even
more importantly, how their policy decisions dramatically change the land ethics of
producers. Although it may be argued that that is the purpose of policy (i.e. to
provide incentives for individuals to alter their behaviors), history has shown that
‘one size fits all’ approaches can have negative long-term consequences (e.g., the
Dust Bowl, wildlife losses of the 1970s, etc.) which affect not only the producers on
the ground, but those in urban and political centers as well. Incentivizing one mental
model or land ethic over another simply reinforces the misunderstood, misused
paradigms of production enhancement and policy interventions. Continuing to
implement solutions that address only one or two factors, runs the risk of
exacerbating systemic problems, causing further long-term conflict. Truly systemic
solutions will require examining not just the rates and levels (e.g., payment levels
for conservation, rate of support for commodity production) we use within
agricultural systems, but how producers and influencers view the land.
Systemic solutions will require education of stakeholders in a thoughtful
engaging way. Agricultural landscapes are complex systems. Knowledge of and
responsibility for the complex nature of ecosystem goods and services and how
these are altered due to major disturbances such as land use changes need to be
addressed in locally appropriate ways depending on the individual producer and
B. L. Turner et al.
123
community values and goals. Few people are aware of the scale and scope of land
use change and even fewer understand the complex nature of ecosystems and what
they provides (e.g., water cycling, nutrient cycling, food production, wildlife
habitat, recreation, carbon sequestration, etc.) to society. Knowledge of the issue
makes one equally responsible for it. Therefore, education about alarming land use
change is essential for informing, challenging and improving mental models about
the NGP system and its status.
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