Three essays on conservation practice adoption and cropland allocation

This dissertation explores the effects of enrollment restrictions and information messengers on farmers’ adoption of conservation practices in the United States, as well as the role of the Chinese government in influencing cropland allocation decisions. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 focus on the adoption of conservation practices. Chapter 2 studies the impact of enrollment restrictions on farmers’ adoption of conservation practices, using a survey of Iowa farmers. The results indicate that enrollment restrictions significantly decrease their willingness-to-accept for key conservation practices, such as cover crops, no-till, and split nitrogen application. Chapter 3 shows that less-experienced farmers are more responsive to information from peer messengers than from Extension professionals, with early farmer adopters notably enhancing adoption rates of edge-of-field practices. Chapter 4 utilizes data from China’s major corn belt to demonstrate that crop allocation models which integrate both economic incentives and government pressures yield more accurate forecasts than traditional models. In summary, this dissertation provides valuable insights into the fields of agri-environmental policy design, behavioral economics, and land allocation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics

Department dc:contributor.department

Department of Economics (LAS)

Grantor

Iowa State University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Wan, Xiaolan

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Zhang, Wendong
• Hayes, Dermot
• Feng, Hongli
• Plastina, Alejandro
• Kreider, Brent
• Arbuckle, J. Gordon
• Niemi, Jarad

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31274/td-20251215-99

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dr.lib.iastate.edu:20.500.12876/7vdX6Y8v