In the weeds: distinguishing organic farmers who want information about ecological weed management from those who need it

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug Bessette ◽  
Sarah Zwickle ◽  
Robyn Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Weed Management ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Organic Community ◽  
Ecological Weed Management ◽  
University Scientists

AbstractThe benefits of farming organically in the USA are increasingly known; however, organic farmers also encounter considerable risks, especially from weeds. Without herbicides, organic farmers can rely only on crop rotations, mechanical cultivation, manual weeding, beneficial insects and other cultural practices, termed ecological weed management (EWM), to control weeds. Despite promising results and the many ways in which EWM can be employed, it remains poorly adopted by the organic community. Organic farmers resist research and recommendations from University scientists and Extension, instead preferring to rely on local family and friends and their own experience to guide decisions. Here we investigate factors that may lead organic farmers to recognize that they need additional information about EWM and to seek that information out. Using a national survey of organic farmers (n = 554) and a risk-information seeking and processing model, we show that farmers’ risk and benefit perceptions, worry, social norms encouraging seeking out information, and farmers’ own perceived knowledge gaps, particularly with respect to their most problematic weed, influence information-seeking behavior. Identifying characteristics that may distinguish those organic farmers who need and want additional information, we provide recommendations to Extension and University scientists about how best to communicate, build trust and provide decision support to the organic community with respect to EWM.

scholarly journals Rethinking a Designers’ Rule of Thumb: Influence of Information Seeking and Consumption Goals on Mobile Commerce Interface Design

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1631-1647
Author(s):  
Sooa Hwang ◽  
Hyunah Park ◽  
Kyunghui Oh ◽  
Sangwoong Hwang ◽  
Jaewoo Joo
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Mobile Commerce ◽  
Rule Of Thumb ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Consumption Goals

We investigated whether adding product information in mobile commerce improved consumers’ attitudes toward a product and whether this relationship was moderated by consumption goals. We conducted two field experiments in which we recruited parents in Korea and the USA and asked them how they evaluated two childcare hybrid products (HPs) newly developed by Samsung Electronics designers. The results revealed that participants exposed to additional information about the HPs evaluated them more favorably than those who were not exposed. However, this relationship disappeared when a consumption goal was activated. Our findings establish a dynamic relationship between information seeking and consumption goals, asking designers to rethink their rule of thumb in the mobile commerce context.

An online decision support tool to evaluate ecological weed management strategies

Weed Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-473
Author(s):  
Douglas Bessette ◽  
Robyn Wilson ◽  
Christian Beaudrie ◽  
Clayton Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
The United States ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Ecological Weed Management ◽  
On Farm

AbstractWeeds remain the most commonly cited concern of organic farmers. Without the benefit of synthetic herbicides, organic farmers must rely on a host of ecological weed management (EWM) practices to control weeds. Despite EWM’s ability to improve soil quality, the perceived rate of integrated EWM strategy adoption remains low. This low adoption is likely a result of the complexity in designing and evaluating EWM strategies, the tendency for outreach to focus on the risks of EWM strategies rather than their benefits, and a lack of quantitative measures linking the performance of EWM strategies to farmers’ on-farm objectives and practices. Here we report on the development and deployment of an easy-to-use online decision support tool (DST) that aids organic farmers in identifying their on-farm objectives, characterizing the performance of their practices, and evaluating EWM strategies recommended by an expert advisory panel. Informed by the principles of structured decision making, the DST uses multiple choice tasks to help farmers evaluate the short- and long-term trade-offs of EWM strategies, while also focusing their attention on their most important objectives. We then invited organic farmers across the United States, in particular those whose email addresses were registered on the USDA’s Organic Research Integrity Database, to engage the DST online. Results show considerable movement in participants’ (n = 45) preferences from practices focused on reducing weeding costs and labor in the short term to EWM strategies focused on improving soil quality in the long term. Indeed, nearly half of those farmers (48%) who initially ranked a strategy composed of their current practices highest ultimately preferred a better-performing EWM strategy focused on eliminating the weed seedbank over 5 yr.

Mental models of organic weed management: Comparison of New England US farmer and expert models

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randa Jabbour ◽  
Sarah Zwickle ◽  
Eric R. Gallandt ◽  
Katherine E. McPhee ◽  
Robyn S. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Cost Of Time ◽  
Organic Weed Management ◽  
Ecological Weed Management

AbstractWeeds are a major challenge for organic farmers, yet we know little about the factors influencing organic farmers’ weed management decisions. We hypothesized that farmers and scientist ‘experts’ differ in fundamental areas of knowledge and perceptions regarding weeds and weed management. Moreover, these differences prevent effective communication, outreach programming and research prioritization. An expert mental model, constructed primarily from interviews with research scientists and extension professionals, revealed expert emphasis on knowledge of ecological weed management as crucial for successfully implementing such strategies. We interviewed 23 organic farmers in northern New England, yielding an aggregate farmer mental model to compare with the expert model. Farmers demonstrated knowledge of the major concepts discussed by experts, but differed in emphasis. Farmers placed less emphasis on ecological complexity than experts. One-third of farmers interviewed discussed the potential role of weeds as indicators of soil nutrient status, a concept of which experts were skeptical. Farmer beliefs about the weed seedbank highlighted potential misconceptions regarding seed persistence, with one-fourth of farmers focusing on the concept that seeds can live for an exceptionally long time in the soil, while experts focused on the concept of the seed half-life. Farmers emphasized the role of experience, both their own and that of other farmers, rather than knowledge derived from scientific research. Farmers considered yield and the cost of time and labor as equally at risk because of weeds, whereas experts predominantly discussed yield loss. During discussions of management, both farmers and experts most emphasized risks associated with cultivation and benefits associated with cover cropping. These results have prompted us, first, to develop new educational materials focused on weed seed longevity and management of the weed seedbank, and, second, to conduct regional focus groups with farmers who prioritize fertility management in their efforts to control weeds, especially manipulations of soil calcium and magnesium.

scholarly journals Weed Management Practice Selection Among Midwest U.S. Organic Growers

Weed Science ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 520-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. DeDecker ◽  
John B. Masiunas ◽  
Adam S. Davis ◽  
Courtney G. Flint
Keyword(s):  
Weed Management ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Integrated Weed Management ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Organic Weed Management ◽  
Selection Of

Organic agricultural systems increase the complexity of weed management, leading organic farmers to cite weeds as one of the greatest barriers to organic production. Integrated Weed Management (IWM) systems have been developed to address the ecological implications of weeds and weed management in cropping systems, but adoption is minimal. Organic agriculture offers a favorable context for application of IWM, as both approaches are motivated by concern for environmental quality and agricultural sustainability. However, adoption of IWM on organic farms is poorly understood due to limited data on weed management practices used, absence of an IWM adoption metric, and insufficient consideration given to the unique farming contexts within which weed management decisions are made. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) characterize organic weed management systems; (2) identify motivations for, and barriers to, selection of weed management practices; and (3) generate guiding principles for effective targeting of weed management outreach. We surveyed Midwestern organic growers to determine how specified psychosocial, demographic, and farm structure factors influence selection of weed management practices. Cluster analysis of the data detected three disparate, yet scaled, approaches to organic weed management. Clusters were distinguished by perspective regarding weeds and the number of weed management practices used. Categorization of individual farms within the identified approaches was influenced by primary farm products as well as farmer education, years farming, and information-seeking behavior. The proposed conceptual model allows weed management educators to target outreach for enhanced compatibility of farming contexts and weed management technologies.

scholarly journals Dogmatism manifests in lowered information search under uncertainty

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (49) ◽  
pp. 31527-31534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lion Schulz ◽  
Max Rollwage ◽  
Raymond J. Dolan ◽  
Stephen M. Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
Perceptual Decision ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Decision Performance ◽  
New Information ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Performance Trial

When knowledge is scarce, it is adaptive to seek further information to resolve uncertainty and obtain a more accurate worldview. Biases in such information-seeking behavior can contribute to the maintenance of inaccurate views. Here, we investigate whether predispositions for uncertainty-guided information seeking relate to individual differences in dogmatism, a phenomenon linked to entrenched beliefs in political, scientific, and religious discourse. We addressed this question in a perceptual decision-making task, allowing us to rule out motivational factors and isolate the role of uncertainty. In two independent general population samples (n= 370 andn= 364), we show that more dogmatic participants are less likely to seek out new information to refine an initial perceptual decision, leading to a reduction in overall belief accuracy despite similar initial decision performance. Trial-by-trial modeling revealed that dogmatic participants placed less reliance on internal signals of uncertainty (confidence) to guide information search, rendering them less likely to seek additional information to update beliefs derived from weak or uncertain initial evidence. Together, our results highlight a cognitive mechanism that may contribute to the formation of dogmatic worldviews.

scholarly journals Reverse-correlation reveals internal error-corrections during information-seeking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenz Weise ◽  
Saskia D. Forster ◽  
Siegfried Gauggel
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Reverse Correlation ◽  
Stimulus Information ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Error Corrections ◽  
Confidence Assessment ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Decision Weights ◽  
Internal Error

AbstractIn the area of metacognition research, different methods have been used to study participants’ subjective sense of confidence in their choices. Among the most often used methods are explicit reports of subjective confidence, post-decision wagering and measuring additional info-seeking behavior. While all three methods are thought to measure confidence, they differ greatly in terms of practical execution and theoretical foundation. The method of reverse correlation has previously been used to determine which aspects of the stimulus influence decisions and confidence judgments. Here we compare the three methods of confidence assessment using reverse correlation analysis. Explicit reports and post-decision wagering revealed a positive association of stimulus information with choices and reduced decision weights for low-confidence trials. When confidence was assessed using the info-seeking method, low-confidence trials showed an inverted association with primary stimulus information. Using modelling of the behavioral data, we show how the reverse correlation results of all three methods can be explained by a simple model of confidence when internal error-corrections are allowed during seeking of additional information.

Weed management by upstate New York organic farmers: Strategies, techniques and research priorities

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 418-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian P. Baker ◽  
Charles L. Mohler
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Natural Herbicides ◽  
Upstate New York ◽  
Organic Farmers

AbstractWeed management is a major concern for organic farmers. Strategies and techniques used by organic farmers vary according to crops, soils, climate and other factors. Organic farmers in upstate New York experienced in weed management were interviewed about what weed–crop complexes they face, how they manage weeds, and what priorities they have for research. The interviews were complemented with an all-day focus group conducted with the farmers who were interviewed. All of the farmers interviewed relied heavily on cultural practices, such as crop rotation, fertility management, high-density planting, transplants and the use of cover crops. Mechanical practices were also important for the farmers interviewed. They emphasized selection of the appropriate tools for the situation and techniques for using tools effectively. Most of the farmers interviewed relied on intensive tillage to control perennial weeds. Differences in practices were notable among the farmers interviewed. Several farmers shared innovations both in practices and equipment modification. Farmers identified soil and nutrient management; tillage and cultivation tools and practices; natural herbicides; flame weeding and no-till systems without herbicides as research priorities. Some of the topics suggested for research have already received substantial research attention; identification of these topics by the farmers indicated a need to disseminate research findings through extension materials and demonstration of viable practices.

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