We examined whether showing farmers before-and-after photos of BMPs would increase farmer interest in adoption.
Authors: Dan Read, Erika Blair, and Lisa Wainger
Other contributors: Matt Royer, Matt Ehrhart, Lamonte Garber, Matt Read, Nancy Nunn, Anil Kumar Chaudhary, and Kate Everts
1a. Example of study treatment ad
1b. Example of the control ad. Credits: Ad by Dan Read; Photos by Matt Royer, PSU AEC. Used with permission.
What is the issue?
To address water quality concerns in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW), many groups are working to increase adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs) on farms. Technical assistance providers and other practitioners use a wide variety of methods to influence farmers; however, many methods have not been studied. Further, some methods that highly effective practitioners use are not well known.
Through multiple studies, we generated evidence of actions/techniques that are effective at encouraging adoption of practices. In this study, we examined whether showing farmers before-and-after photos of BMPs would increase farmer interest in adoption.
What did we find and why does it matter?
We tested the effectiveness of before-and-after photos of selected BMPs in an advertisement in an online farming magazine. We compared the click-through rate (for more information) for ads with and without pictures (Figure 1). Results showed that including before-and-after pictures significantly increased click-through rates (information seeking), indicating the approach was cost-effective for generating initial interest. However, the pictures did not have a significant effect on viewers going to the next available step of setting up contact with a practitioner.
What did we do?
The primary question that we tested was, Can photos influence farmer interest in BMP adoption?
Building on a technique mentioned by conservation practitioners of driving farmers to nearby farms to view installed BMPs, we conducted an online experiment to see if pictures could influence adoption. We designed ads that had identical text and format, except that the treatment version showed before and after pictures of a management practice and the control version used a blue background instead of pictures. The practices tested were riparian forest buffers, grassed waterways, or stream crossings with livestock exclusion fencing. We used photos of farms within the CBW watershed or that had features consistent with such farms. To control for the influence of photograph color and contrast, we color-matched the shadows and highlights of all photos in Adobe Photoshop. The entirety of the advertisements was clickable and a “contact us” prompt in the ads invited clicks. The ad text was modified from pamphlets used by CPs at the Stroud Water Research Center, a non-profit organization, and stated each practice’s farm and water quality benefits.
We placed the ads in LancasterFarming.com, an online agricultural magazine whose viewership is about two-thirds farmers. The ads were viewable online from August 30 to October 26, 2022, and randomly circulated between treatment and control versions for the three different conservation practices. We arranged to have the ads viewed a total of approximately 300,000 times to promote adequate statistical power.
Publications completed for this work
Read, D. J., Blair, E., & Wainger, L. (2024). Effective engagement techniques across the agricultural conservation practice adoption process. Environmental Management, 74, 1173–1189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-024-02043-8
Read, D. J., & Wainger, L. (2025). Before and after photos of agricultural best management practices.
