| The impacts of agricultural structure, farm operators' environmental attitudes, farm operators' age and education on farmers' environmental practices have been of concern to all who perceive agricultural practices to be at least partly responsible for the degradation of soil and water resources. This study examines the effects of agricultural structure, environmental attitudes, and farm operators' personal characteristics on farm operators' environmental practices.;Data from 1,111 U.S. farm operators in 22 states are analyzed. The data are part of the 1990 evaluation of the federal Rural Clean Water Program, which provided incentives for farm operators to perform contracted services designed to improve water runoff conditions in watershed areas chosen as most needing improvement. Two environmental behavior dimensions are derived by factor analysis of the Best Management Practices (BMPs). Five agricultural structure factors, two environmental attitude factors--all derived by factor analysis--and farm operators' personal characteristics are used as independent variables. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the hypothesized relationships.;The findings support some of the hypothesized relationships. Analysis supports the hypothesized relationships between environmental behavior and agricultural structure. One structural dimension, the large-scale commercial type of operation, is characterized by large farm size, high annual farm sales, full-time operators, high real estate value, high machinery and equipment value, and high expenditures for hired labor. These farms were significantly and positively related with pro-environmental behaviors. The analysis supports also the hypotheses that pro-environmental attitudes are related to farmers' behaviors and that younger and better educated farm operators are more likely to use environmentally-favorable practices.;These findings come from individual farm unit data and represent a variety of farm operations from many regions of the United States. This study provides current knowledge that can help guide farm resource conservation policy. The implications of these findings for policy and further research are discussed. They include promoting recommended practices among large-scale commercial agricultural operations, while suggesting appropriately modified practices for adoption by other types of farm operations.;Comparing the significant effects of agricultural structure, environmental attitudes, and personal characteristics on environmental behavior, this study finds that agricultural structure has the greatest impact; education has less impact; and age and environmental attitudes have the least impact. |
