The exponential rise of information available means we can now, in theory, access knowledge on almost any question we ask. However, as the amount of unverified information increases, so too does the challenge in deciding which information to trust. Farmers, when learning about agricultural innovations, have historically relied on in-person advice from traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, such as agricultural advisers, to inform farm management. As more farmers go online for information, it is not clear whether they are now using digital information to corroborate in-person advice from traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, or if they are foregoing \uffe2\uff80\uff98expert\uffe2\uff80\uff99 advice in preference for peer-generated information. To fill this knowledge gap, we sought to understand how farmers in two contrasting European countries (Hungary and the UK) learnt about sustainable soil innovations and who influenced them to innovate. Through interviews with 82 respondents, we found farmers in both countries regularly used online sources to access soil information; some were prompted to change their soil management by farmer social media \uffe2\uff80\uff98influencers\uffe2\uff80\uff99. However, online information and interactions were not usually the main factor influencing farmers to change their practices. Farmers placed most trust in other farmers to learn about new soil practices and were less trusting of traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, particularly agricultural researchers from academic and government institutions, who they believed were not empathetic towards farmers\uffe2\uff80\uff99 needs. We suggest that some farmers may indeed have had enough of traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, instead relying more on their own peer networks to learn and innovate. We discuss ways to improve trustworthy knowledge exchange between agricultural stakeholders to increase uptake of sustainable soil management practices, while acknowledging the value of peer influence and online interactions for innovation and trust building.Growing sustainability demands on land have a high knowledge requirement across multiple scientific domains. Exploring networks can expose opportunities for targeting. Using mixed-methods combining social network analysis (SNA) and surveys, networks for key soil functions in case studies in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands are explored. We find a diversity of contrasting networks that reflect local conditions, sustainability challenges and governance structure. Farmers were found to occupy a central role in the agri-environmental governance network. A comparison of the SNA and survey results indicate low acceptance of messages from many central actors indicating scope to better harness the network for sustainable land management. The source of the messages was important when it came to the implementation of farm management actions. Two pathways for enhanced farmer uptake of multi-functionality are proposed that have wider application are; to increase trust between farmers and actors that are agents of multi-functional messages and/or to increase the bundling or multi-functionality of messages (mandate) of actors trusted by farmers.10% of people on Earth) will experience severe food deficiencies by 2050. Increased production is urgently needed, but high costs and volatile prices are driving farmers into debt. Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a grassroots movement that aims to improve farm viability by reducing costs. In Andhra Pradesh alone, 523,000 farmers have converted 13% of productive agricultural area to ZBNF. However, sustainability of ZBNF is questioned because external nutrient inputs are limited, which could cause a crash in food production. Here, we show that ZBNF is likely to reduce soil degradation and could provide yield benefits for low-input farmers. Nitrogen fixation, either by free-living nitrogen fixers in soil or symbiotic nitrogen fixers in legumes, is likely to provide the major portion of nitrogen available to crops. However, even with maximum potential nitrogen fixation and release, only 52-80% of the national average nitrogen applied as fertilizer is expected to be supplied. Therefore, in higher-input systems, yield penalties are likely. Since biological fixation from the atmosphere is possible only with nitrogen, ZBNF could limit the supply of other nutrients. Further research is needed in higher-input systems to ensure that mass conversion to ZBNF does not limit India's capacity to feed itself.", "keywords": ["Monitoring", "IEAS/POO2501/1", "NE/S009019/1", "330", "Supplementary Data", "QH301 Biology", "NE/P004830/1", "WHEAT", "01 natural sciences", "630", "12. Responsible consumption", "QH301", "NE/M021327/1", "SOIL PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES", "SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy", "FERTILIZER", "Renewable Energy", "Wellcome Trust", "SDG 2 - Zero Hunger", "Nature and Landscape Conservation", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Planning and Development", "2. Zero hunger", "Global and Planetary Change", "Geography", "Policy and Law", "Ecology", "Sustainability and the Environment", "Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)", "Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS)", "NE/P019455/1", "1. No poverty", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "Management", "NITROGEN", "Urban Studies", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "INDIA", "Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)", "Food Science"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0469-x.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0469-x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Nature%20Sustainability", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/s41893-019-0469-x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/s41893-019-0469-x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/s41893-019-0469-x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-01-20T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10072/409703", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:25:42Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-10-11", "title": "Have farmers had enough of experts?", "description": "Abstract
The exponential rise of information available means we can now, in theory, access knowledge on almost any question we ask. However, as the amount of unverified information increases, so too does the challenge in deciding which information to trust. Farmers, when learning about agricultural innovations, have historically relied on in-person advice from traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, such as agricultural advisers, to inform farm management. As more farmers go online for information, it is not clear whether they are now using digital information to corroborate in-person advice from traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, or if they are foregoing \uffe2\uff80\uff98expert\uffe2\uff80\uff99 advice in preference for peer-generated information. To fill this knowledge gap, we sought to understand how farmers in two contrasting European countries (Hungary and the UK) learnt about sustainable soil innovations and who influenced them to innovate. Through interviews with 82 respondents, we found farmers in both countries regularly used online sources to access soil information; some were prompted to change their soil management by farmer social media \uffe2\uff80\uff98influencers\uffe2\uff80\uff99. However, online information and interactions were not usually the main factor influencing farmers to change their practices. Farmers placed most trust in other farmers to learn about new soil practices and were less trusting of traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, particularly agricultural researchers from academic and government institutions, who they believed were not empathetic towards farmers\uffe2\uff80\uff99 needs. We suggest that some farmers may indeed have had enough of traditional \uffe2\uff80\uff98experts\uffe2\uff80\uff99, instead relying more on their own peer networks to learn and innovate. We discuss ways to improve trustworthy knowledge exchange between agricultural stakeholders to increase uptake of sustainable soil management practices, while acknowledging the value of peer influence and online interactions for innovation and trust building.10% of people on Earth) will experience severe food deficiencies by 2050. Increased production is urgently needed, but high costs and volatile prices are driving farmers into debt. Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a grassroots movement that aims to improve farm viability by reducing costs. In Andhra Pradesh alone, 523,000 farmers have converted 13% of productive agricultural area to ZBNF. However, sustainability of ZBNF is questioned because external nutrient inputs are limited, which could cause a crash in food production. Here, we show that ZBNF is likely to reduce soil degradation and could provide yield benefits for low-input farmers. Nitrogen fixation, either by free-living nitrogen fixers in soil or symbiotic nitrogen fixers in legumes, is likely to provide the major portion of nitrogen available to crops. However, even with maximum potential nitrogen fixation and release, only 52-80% of the national average nitrogen applied as fertilizer is expected to be supplied. Therefore, in higher-input systems, yield penalties are likely. Since biological fixation from the atmosphere is possible only with nitrogen, ZBNF could limit the supply of other nutrients. Further research is needed in higher-input systems to ensure that mass conversion to ZBNF does not limit India's capacity to feed itself.", "keywords": ["Monitoring", "IEAS/POO2501/1", "NE/S009019/1", "330", "Supplementary Data", "QH301 Biology", "NE/P004830/1", "WHEAT", "01 natural sciences", "630", "12. Responsible consumption", "QH301", "NE/M021327/1", "SOIL PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES", "SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy", "FERTILIZER", "Renewable Energy", "Wellcome Trust", "SDG 2 - Zero Hunger", "Nature and Landscape Conservation", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Planning and Development", "2. Zero hunger", "Global and Planetary Change", "Geography", "Policy and Law", "Ecology", "Sustainability and the Environment", "Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)", "Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS)", "NE/P019455/1", "1. No poverty", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "Management", "NITROGEN", "Urban Studies", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "INDIA", "Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)", "Food Science"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0469-x.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/2164/14738"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Nature%20Sustainability", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2164/14738", "name": "item", "description": "2164/14738", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2164/14738"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-01-20T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "PMC9079025", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:29:55Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-04-22", "title": "Trust Versus Content in Multi-functional Land Management: Assessing Soil Function Messaging in Agricultural Networks", "description": "Abstract
Growing sustainability demands on land have a high knowledge requirement across multiple scientific domains. Exploring networks can expose opportunities for targeting. Using mixed-methods combining social network analysis (SNA) and surveys, networks for key soil functions in case studies in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands are explored. We find a diversity of contrasting networks that reflect local conditions, sustainability challenges and governance structure. Farmers were found to occupy a central role in the agri-environmental governance network. A comparison of the SNA and survey results indicate low acceptance of messages from many central actors indicating scope to better harness the network for sustainable land management. The source of the messages was important when it came to the implementation of farm management actions. Two pathways for enhanced farmer uptake of multi-functionality are proposed that have wider application are; to increase trust between farmers and actors that are agents of multi-functional messages and/or to increase the bundling or multi-functionality of messages (mandate) of actors trusted by farmers.