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Weeds and Organic Weed Management: Investigating Farmer Decisions with a Mental Models Approach

Zwickle, Sarah Lynn
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1316453516

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
Weeds are one of the biggest financial, environmental, and social risks in organic farm operations. Experts acknowledge that inherent diversity and site specificity in organic farm systems deter standardization and diffusion of weed management knowledge and long term, preventive strategies. Our data, collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with weed scientists, USDA researchers, extension personnel, and 29 farmers in Ohio and Indiana suggests that in the absence of the chemical silver bullet, organic weed management must include a deeper understanding of human decision making systems and agroecosystems. Using the mental models approach, we created conceptual influence diagrams, or mental models, of weeds and weed management from both perspectives. The models provide a qualitative foundation to understand what organic farmers know about weed management, and, more importantly, how they use their knowledge, experience, risk perception, and emotion to process information and make weed management decisions. This research has both theoretical and practical implications for understanding why farmers, both conventional and organic, make decisions that are beneficial in the short term, but environmentally and economically damaging in the long term. Results show that outreach materials will be more successful if they help a farmer optimize their experiential/intuitive judgments alongside more analytical processing for efficient and successful long term weed management strategies. Such decisions will help to reduce the immense emotional, ecological, economic, and physical impacts of weeds.
Robyn Wilson, PhD (Advisor)
Doug Doohan, PhD (Committee Member)
Koontz Tom, PhD (Committee Member)
Hitzhusen Greg, PhD (Committee Member)
171 p.
Agriculture; Environmental Management; Psychology; Social Research; Sustainability
weeds; organic weed management; organic farming; mental models; decision making; affect; emotion; dual processing; risk perception

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zwickle, S. L. (2011). Weeds and Organic Weed Management: Investigating Farmer Decisions with a Mental Models Approach [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1316453516

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zwickle, Sarah. Weeds and Organic Weed Management: Investigating Farmer Decisions with a Mental Models Approach. 2011. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1316453516.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zwickle, Sarah. "Weeds and Organic Weed Management: Investigating Farmer Decisions with a Mental Models Approach." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1316453516

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1316453516
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© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.