Grassland conversion and social identity: Evidence from Western Canadian cattle producers

CONTEXTConversion of perennial grasslands to cropland or urban areas results in significant losses of ecosystem services and wildlife habitat. There has been limited research on producer motivations and preferences surrounding land conversion decision-making.OBJECTIVEThis research aims to identify the underlying motivations of western Canadian cattle producers and understand how these differing motivations impact grassland conversion decisions.METHODSWe conducted a producer survey that included a social identity framework and discrete choice experiment to quantify factors driving grassland conversion. 339 producers completed our survey, and identity profiles were developed using confirmatory factor analysis. The results of the discrete choice experiment were analyzed using a binomial logit and latent class model. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSWe find that the decision to convert native grassland is impacted by the availability of crop insurance and respondent attributes like risk attitude, identity classification, and previous land conversion. Our latent class model revealed two categories of producers, “Conversion Cautious” and “Insurance Oriented”, who differ in their risk attitudes, levels of previous land conversion, and farm attributes. SIGNIFICANCEThe results of this research identify that the timing of insurance availability and producer characteristics play an important role in land-use decisions. Our work demonstrates that understanding producer preferences (including social identity) may aid in designing policies that balance agricultural productivity with land conservation.