The ‘good farmer’ and nature conservation through the eyes of agricultural advisors

As nature conservation objectives are becoming increasingly integrated in the management of farming systems, agricultural advisors play a crucial role in facilitating this transition. However, although the literature on farmers’ values and social norms is well established, the role of advisors’ perspectives and how these shape farmers’ engagement with nature conservation remains under-explored. To address this gap, this study applies the “good farmer” conceptual tool, grounded in Bourdieu’s ideas of habitus, capital, and field, to analyse in-depth interviews with 20 Slovenian agricultural advisors. The findings reveal advisors’ embeddedness in a production-oriented habitus, which, together with their institutional role as policy intermediaries, appears to limit their capacity to act as facilitators of change. Advisors often adopt pragmatic strategies to reconcile tensions between top-down nature conservation policies and their position within closely-knit farming communities, where conservation practices are frequently perceived as external to the dominant cultural framework. This study advances the “good farmer” literature by introducing a novel actor group and geographical context – Central and Eastern Europe. We highlight the importance of aligning conservation strategies with locally embedded values, strengthening participatory approaches, and supporting advisors through education and collaboration to foster meaningful sustainability transitions in agriculture.