Not the average farmer: Heterogeneity in Dutch arable farmers’ intentions to reduce pesticide use

Ambitious environmental policies and regulations in Europe aim to reduce pesticide use, yet their implementation faces significant obstacles. Effective strategies that gain support within the farming community require a deeper understanding of the underlying intentions, considering that farmers are a heterogeneous group with diverse beliefs related to socio-demographic characteristics. Using an existing dataset with theory of planned behaviour data from 359 Dutch arable farmers (Bakker et al., 2021), we examined the heterogeneity in intentions and beliefs regarding pesticide reduction. Expanding the analysis with quantile regression models, we show that the influence of attitude becomes increasingly important as farmers' aspirations to reduce pesticide use grow. Additionally, we observed a small positive effect of injunctive norms at the 25th quantile and a small negative effect at the 75th quantile of intention. These findings indicate that the relative impact of these constructs varies across the intention distribution, emphasising the need for more nuanced quantitative analyses of heterogeneity in TPB studies. Using moderation models, we observed variations in the relative impact of attitude, injunctive and descriptive norms on intention across different segments of the farming community, particularly concerning age, educational level, and farm income dependencies. Younger, higher-educated farmers, and those less reliant on farm income demonstrated greater openness towards reducing pesticide usage and adopting alternative crop protection practices. These findings suggest that different farmer segments may respond differently to interventions and incentives. Policymakers can leverage this knowledge to develop more nuanced and targeted strategies that promote pesticide reduction while aligning with the diverse motivations and beliefs present among farmers.