PhD Studentship: Exploring farmers’ attitudes to on-farm control measures of water pollution

The research in this PhD will explore farm business structures and management decisions and their evolution in response to the CSF programme, with a strong emphasis on farmer attitudes to a range of on-farm measures including those that are less popular with farmers. What informs the attitudes of farmers to these measures and what might allow or encourage attitudinal shift? This requires more in-depth research with farmers than standard interview surveys. So it is anticipated that the student will spend time on farms in observation and conversation (an ethnographic approach) and/or conduct farmer focus groups with the study areas.

The studentship is part of a major new research programme, commissioned by the Environment Agency and led by Professor Adrian Collins at Rothamsted Research, exploring the landscape scale impacts of on-farm measures for controlling diffuse water pollution from agriculture (DWPA) funded and delivered by the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) initiative. There are data from previous research projects on general farmer attitudes to the uptake of on-farm control measures for DWPA. We have a good idea of what measures appeal to famers and those that do not. In the main, and not surprisingly, the more attractive measures are those that fit better with existing farming systems and have cost benefits to farmers (either through lower input costs or grant aid).

The studentship will be co-supervised by Professors Michael Winter (University of Exeter) and Adrian Collins (Rothamsted Research).

Visit our website for further details: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=2601