Tackling misinformation in agriculture

Summary

This study demonstrates how digital social networks and co-designed field protocols can effectively counter agricultural misinformation by building farmer-scientist partnerships. Through the #WorldWormWeek initiative on Twitter, participating farmers systematically assessed earthworm populations to ecological group level, revealing that anecic earthworms were absent in one in five fields—a finding that directly refuted published misinformation about global soil degradation. However, the work reveals a critical structural problem: whilst the research had positive impacts on farming practice, 42% of the scientific community did not perceive it as advancing science, highlighting a fundamental misalignment between farmer-relevant knowledge co-production and disciplinary science advancement values.

UK applicability

The findings on anecic earthworm presence and management implications are directly applicable to UK farming contexts, particularly for no-tillage adoption strategies. However, the paper's primary contribution concerns governance and knowledge systems rather than UK-specific agronomic data, though the methodology for farmer-scientist digital partnerships could inform UK agricultural knowledge and information system reform.

Key measures

Earthworm population assessments by ecological group; prevalence of anecic earthworms across surveyed fields; farmer and scientist perception ratings of research utility; resilience of social learning network to misinformation

Outcomes reported

The study reported on a Twitter-based farmer-scientist partnership that systematically assessed earthworm populations to ecological group level across multiple fields, revealing that anecic earthworms were absent in approximately 20% of surveyed fields. The research demonstrated both the potential of digital social networks for knowledge co-production and a disconnect between farmer-relevant research outcomes and perceptions of scientific advancement.

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