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The study presented in this article tests the hypothesis that the social organization and culture of locality groups are major factors that are influencing adoption of new farm practices. Recent analyses of the adoption of new farm practices have emphasized individual differences in the characteristics of early and late adopters. Theoretical considerations and also some empirical evidence suggest that the kind of social structure in which a farmer lives should be at least as important as individual differences. It is opined that a farmer with a high level of education, on a large farm, and with a high net worth, but residing in a township with a low level of adoption of new farm practices, will probably adopt fewer improved practices than he would if he farmed in a township where the average adoption level is high. It is concluded that difference in the adoption of new farm practices between the townships of Alto and Deerfield can only be partly explained by differences in individual characteristics or by values directly affecting farming. There is always a risk involved in the adoption of new farm practices, and farmers of Dutch Calvinistic origin seem less willing to undertake this risk than other American farmers.