Farmer Cover Crop Adoption Perceptions in the Southern Great Plains of Texas and Oklahoma

Water conservation practices such as cover crop adoption have been promoted as effective strategies to improve water quality and soil health. However, cover crop adoption rates have remained low in Texas. Concurrently, farmers continue to evaluate their production practices, considering more efficient and sustainable practices. Furthermore, a better understanding of farmer cover crop adoption and rejection drivers can highlight new pathways, encouraging conservation practice adoption across regions of the U.S. Thus, these data were used to examine reasons and barriers to cover crop adoption, including farmers’ demographics and farm characteristics. Using guidance from social cognitive theory and the theory of social normative behavior, we also examined how personal, cognitive, and environmental factors shaped farmers’ behaviors. Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey to describe characteristics of farmer populations (e.g., farmers, ranchers, land managers).