Farmers’ Interest in Agricultural Technology and Organic Farming: Implications for AD Adoption and Sustainable Agriculture in the UK

Abstract

We identify the factors that attract UK farmers towards a given technology, their interest in agricultural technology and their practice of organic farming. The implications of this on the adoption of anaerobic digestion (AD) in the UK and sustainable agriculture are also discussed. Farmers were contacted by means of online survey, aided by yellow pages directory, Natural England directory, Twitter and electronic mail. A total of 283 farmers participated in the survey. The Chi square test was used to check for relationships between the variables measured at 95% confidence level (p<.05). Relationship strength was measured by means of Cramer’s V and Phi values. The results showed several significant relationships among variables, including relationship between interests in agricultural technology and gender, level of education, and farm size; between knowledge of what AD is and gender, level of education and farm size; between interest in AD and age; between willingness to invest in AD if it improved soil properties and farm ownership; and between organic farming practice and age, farm type and farm size. Results also showed a significant presence of female farmers, young farmers (< 30 years old), high level of education among UK farmers, and low level of organic farming practice. Areas for future research and recommendations based on the results are presented in the conclusion.