Sociopsychological factors underlying dairy farmers' intention to adopt succession planning

Family succession is one of the most challenging problems of governance in agricultural systems in Brazil and worldwide. Dairy systems require particular attention in this regard, given their economic and social importance. Family succession necessitates a transfer plan for passing leadership over the dairy farm, usually from parents to their children. In this study, we sought to identify the influence of sociopsychological constructs of the theory of planned behavior on dairy farmers' intention to adopt succession planning. Questionnaires were administered to 160 dairy farmers in Paraná State, Brazil. Data were analyzed using correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. The results showed that social pressure – subjective norms was the construct that most influenced farmers' intention to adopt succession planning, followed by attitude toward the adoption of succession planning. Farmers' perceptions of their ability to carry out succession planning – perceived behavioral control did not influence their intention to adopt this strategy. There was a significant positive correlation of farm size and number of lactating cows with intention to adopt succession planning, indicating that large-scale farmers have a higher probability of practicing succession planning.