About
To address water quality and wildlife issues in the Mississippi River Basin (MRB), a partnership between researchers at the US Geologic Service, Oregon State University, and Purdue University created a project to investigate the barriers and opportunities of adoption of conservation practices by agricultural producers in three sub-watersheds in the MRB. This investigation also gauged rates of adoption of different conservation practices which increase water quality or habitat that qualify for federal cost-share programs. Understanding what factors influence farmers’ management decisions can help researchers understand why practices are adopted or have a high likelihood of adoption now or in the future. Understanding decision making as it relates to adoption can inform water quality and habitat models that predict what may happen to hypoxic areas in the Gulf of Mexico in the future if there are precipitation and temperature changes in the MRB.
