Beliefs and attitudes are a critical component of future behaviors yet remain underexamined when assessing the intentions of agricultural producers to implement conservation practices. We examined the antecedents to agricultural behavior through qualitative interviews analyzed with consensual qualitative research (Hill, Thompson, & Nutt Williams, 1997) methodology. The results indicated complex relationships between stewardship beliefs and economic factors, as well as influences related to science and technology, weather and climate, and threats to family farm identity. Analyzing the findings using tenets of the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), we present implications for interventions with agricultural producers as well as psychological theory and research, and suggest that farmers and ranchers value the land in important ways that extend beyond economic considerations.
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