Ex Ante Assessment of Farmers' Likelihood to Adopt Perennial Cropping Systems.

Perennial grain cropping systems (PGCS) provide a potential alternative to annual cropping systems that may confer long-term environmental and economic benefits both on-farm and  across the landscape, such as enhanced soil fertility, soil moisture, soil water holding capacity, and soil carbon storage; higher biomass potential and photosynthetic efficiency; reduced labor and input costs; and reduced soil erosion. However, until recently, PGCS have received minimal scholarly attention. On-farm field trials are in place in a few locations globally, but there is little understanding of how attributes of PGCS may foster or hinder adoption by farmers. Drawing on the literature on the adoption of radically transformative agriculture technologies and the outcome of in-depth interviews conducted with farmers in Michigan and Ohio who were interested in perennial wheat, this qualitative ex ante study attempts to fill this void. The outcome of this study elucidates respondents’ potential uses and perceived attributes of dual-purpose forage perennial grains as well as other factors which may impact farmers’ decisions to adopt or not adopt PGCS.