Agronomic research and extension personnel generally recognize the benefits of integrated pest management (IPM) but IPM practices have not been rapidly adopted by farmers. In order for applied research and extension programs to be as influential as possible, strategies and tactics must be evaluated in the context of the real-world constraints experienced by farmers. We investigated the linkage between farmers' pest management behaviors, attitudes, and constraints by analyzing an extensive corn pest management survey distributed throughout Wisconsin in 2002. Our objectives were to (1) create a benchmark against which future changes in pest management practices could be detected and (2) explore potential associations between practices and farm characteristics, e.g., farm size or commodity produced. A total of 213 farmers responded with descriptions of their operations; weed, insect, and disease pest management practices; crop consultant usage; interactions with their local agrichemical dealer; and attitudes regarding pest management decision-making. We compared the relative responses of cash-grain and dairy farmers as well as managers of large and small farms. Larger farm size and percentage of operation in cash-grain production were associated with an increased frequency of rotating crops, rotating herbicide families, and use of a broadcast herbicide application. Managers of large farms and/or cash-grain crops also more frequently indicated considering the level of pest control, price, carryover potential, weed resistance management, environmental safety, and risk to the applicator than did dairy or small-sized operations. Cash-grain farmers had significantly higher scores on a calculated IPM index than did dairy farmers (P < 0.0001). We also found a significant positive relationship between farm size and IPM score (P < 0.0001). Our results provide a benchmark for future comparisons of IPM adoption rates in Wisconsin and highlight the association between IPM research/extension and farmers' management behavior.

Researchers interested in describing or understanding agroecological systems have many reasons to consider on-farm research. Yet, despite the inherent realism and pedagogical value of on-farm studies, recruiting cooperators can be difficult and this difficulty can result in so-called “convenience samples” containing a potentially large and unknown bias. There is often no formal justification for claiming that on-farm research results can be extrapolated to farms beyond those participating in the study. In some sufficiently well-understood research areas, models may be able to correct for potential bias; however, no theoretical argument is as persuasive as a direct comparison between a randomized and a convenience sample. In a 30-cooperator on-farm study investigating weed community dynamics across the state of Wisconsin, we distributed a written survey probing farmer weed management behaviors and attitudes. The survey contained 59 questions that overlapped a large, randomized survey of farmer corn pest management behavior. We compared 187 respondents from the larger survey with the 18 respondents from our on-farm study. For dichotomous response questions, we found no difference in response rate for 80% of the questions (α = 0.2, β > 0.5). Differences between the two groups were logically connected to the selection criteria used to recruit cooperators in the on-farm study. Similarly, comparisons of nondichotomous response questions did not differ for 80% of the questions (α = 0.05, β > 0.9). Exploratory multivariate analyses failed to reveal differences that might have been hidden from the marginal analyses. We argue that our findings support the notion that the convenience samples often associated with on-farm research may be representative of the more general class of farms, despite lack of bias protection provided by truly randomized designs.