Farmers' Perceptions of Soil Health Management Practices on the Texas High Plains.

Adoption of soil health management practices by farmers is important for sustainable agricultural production on the Texas High Plains.  Climatic characteristics coupled with limited quality and quantity of irrigation water from the Ogallala aquifer poses special problems for developing soil health management practices.  Numerous projects have been conducted on the Texas High Plains to identify management practices effective for region.  However, limited research has been conducted on farmers’ perceptions of and willingness to adopt soil health management practices.  In this project, farmers were surveyed to identify (i) soil health management practices they were currently using, (ii) soil health management practices they were willing to adopt in the future, and (iii) concerns they have regarding implementation of soil health management practices.  To study these objectives an online survey was developed using Qualtrics and distributed to farmers in the counties of the Texas High Plains (n=50).  Thirteen (13) participants were surveyed from each county for a total of n=650 participants.  Discussion will include current soil health management practices already adopted by farmers, willingness to adopt future soil health management practices, and concerns with implementing soil health management practices in the future.