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Interviewees were narrowed down primarily by those who responded to the call for participation, as well as first-come-first-serve by geographical region, allowing for a widespread set of responses throughout the province. Also, this allowed for multiple sources for referrals. To help overcome these limitations, over 40 individual farms and organizations were contacted, and interviews were completed with less than half, thus maintaining a level of anonymity. A methodological weakness of snowballing might limit the views of the participants to one side of the discussion (Taylor et al. Further, using the snowball method proved effective in identifying participants (Taylor et al.

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The main empirical sources for this study were gathered through a series of interviews with farmers across Alberta and participant observation that involved joining farmers in their fields and pastures, and вЂgetting our boots muddyвЂ™ (Syse 2009). Rather than maximizing production for short-term gains in yield outputs, farmers concern themselves with the longevity of the whole farm. In light of these trends, we ask why certain farmers in Alberta adopted management-intensive grazing (MIG) practices in raising beef cattle and show how these farmers differ from the conventional agricultural ideal and argue that through this practice, they demonstrate autonomy that increases their sustainability. The disappearance of family farms in this part of Canada and across North America is a social concern. However, less than 1.5% of the Alberta population work as farm operators today (Statistics Canada 2017a). Alberta has the largest average headcount per beef farm in Canada at 235 animals and is home to almost 42% of the Canadian beef population (Statistics Canada 2017a). These farms housed 5.2 million cattle in 2016. Of these farms, 12,282 raise beef cattle (Statistics Canada 2017a). There are over 40,600 farms in Alberta, covering more than 20 million hectares of the land. It is the second most western province in Canada. The Alberta contextДЄlberta spans almost 662,000В km 2 with a population of just over 4.3 million (Statistics Canada 2017b). Van der Ploeg ( 2008) puts forth the idea that farmer adaptations are a response to the culmination of the factors listed above. Studies show that socio-economic status, concern for the environment, and вЂturning pointsвЂ™ such as market or environmental crisis create situations favourable for farmer adaptation.

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While profitability is often considered a main driver for agricultural transitions such as the one studied here, it does not explain why this change is only made by some farmers and not all. Different events, geographies, and socio-economic and socio-cultural contexts have been examined to find examples of what drives farmers to innovate. 2003 Mundel 2007 Rogers 2010 Sutherland and Darnhofer 2012). Research on the motivations for transition and innovation in agriculture is extensive, putting forth various arguments for how and why farmers change their practices (Anderson and McLachlan 2012 Davidson et al.

Alternatives within beef production have been growing slowly around the world, with producers turning toward lower impact practices and methods to raise their cattle. Beef production is problematic in terms of its energy use, emissions, and extensive land use.

The global population is growing and the need for food is too, but the strain that agricultural production puts on the environment and the imbalance between industrial production and small-scale farming put the future of these practices into question. Agriculture is one of the most controversial industries in the world.