Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
growers draw on a long history of cooperative organization, more so
than growers who grow annual crops. Growers who produce high value
commodities in spatially concentrated districts seem predisposed toward
high levels of cooperation. Examples in perennial crop production
include pears and winegrapes. Rice, strawberries, and artichokes are
grown in concentrated regions and demonstrate a high degree of cooper-
ation as well. Agroecological partnerships build on this tradition.
Commodity organizations exist at the pleasure of a majority of growers,
and have to continually prove their worth to their members to justify the
assessments they collect from growers on each pound of crop.
Growers' Farm-Management Styles and Partnership Participation
Many researchers have described farmer (socio-economic) characteristics
and the adoption of innovative techniques, following the “diffusion
of innovation” tradition that started with rural sociological studies of
hybrid corn adoption.
12
This approach has helped reinforce the “transfer
of technology” extension pedagogy because it biases social-science
research toward the novel technology, and away from the decision
making process on the part of the grower. One particularly important
exception is a recent study by Sonja Brodt and her colleagues investigat-
ing the role of farm-management style on grower learning about
agroecological strategies and practices. Their studies of Lodi winegrape
and almond growers demonstrated that management styles differ
substantially among growers, that these differences affect how and why
they access knowledge sources, and that growers selectively adopt
knowledge about partnership practices consistent with their manage-
ment style.
13
This work identified three distinct clusters of management
styles: Environmental Stewards, Production Maximizers, and Social
Networkers. This typology is fully consistent with my own depth inter-
views with participating growers. I will summarize their categories
before adding my own observations.
Environmental Stewards place a higher priority on environmental
stewardship than on getting the highest possible yields. Brodt and her
colleagues describe them as wanting to “work in cooperation with
nature and decreasing pesticide use as a way to improving living and
working conditions.” They are willing to invest time and money learn-
