The Iowa Soil Conservation Districts Program was initiated in 1939. Since that time, about 22 percent of the farms in Iowa have plans developed with soil conservation districts. But 78 percent of the farms have not been planned as yet, and satisfactory adoption of land-use practices has been achieved on only part of the land in the planned farms.

In this investigation various factors were identified and analyzed. in terms of their association with farmers' acceptance of district plans and application of district recommendations. The data obtained indicate that district progress was impeded significantly by (1) small size of farm, (2) tenant operatorship, (3) cash and crop-share leasing arrangements and (4) high inherent productivity of the land. Other factors tested were (1) the length of the operators' planning horizons, (2) the ages of the operators and (3) the types of livestock programs being pursued. However, statistical tests of significance of these latter factors were inconclusive.