Intuition guides farmers towards better decision-making, but remains a taboo

In Finland, farmers who have transitioned to regenerative agriculture perceive intuition as something that leads to better decision-making, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. However, intuition also remains a taboo; a topic that is avoided and rarely discussed.

Published in Journal of Rural Studies, the new study explores the role and manifestations of intuition in regenerative farmers’ decision-making processes. The study involved 84 farmers involved in the Carbon Action Project implemented by the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Baltic Sea Action Group.

Regenerative agriculture is a food production method that revitalises ecosystems and increases profitability. It also enhances the overall well-being of the farm in a changing climate and operating environment. Previous studies have shown that experienced farmers utilise intuition as their primary decision-making process. Intuition also plays a significant role in the decision-making of successful experts, including researchers, business managers and athletes.

“Decisions taken by farmers are crucial for our future, as it is farmers that feed our citizens and ultimately keep our communities alive. At the same time, farming practices have an impact, either positive or negative, on our environment,” says Doctoral Researcher Soja Sädeharju of the University of Eastern Finland, the author of the study.

Intuition is a future-oriented “personal assistant”

Farmers participating in the study described intuition as certain and reliable, and relevant to the person experiencing it. Intuition is future-oriented, always prompting action or inaction. However, many factors, such as stress, haste, fatigue, strong emotions, over-analysis and too much factual information, can interfere with the interpretation of intuition, leading to intuitive cues being easily overlooked or misinterpreted.

“In the analytical process, intuition acts as a summarising and guiding ‘decision-making assistant’. It is constantly present in decision-making, particularly at the beginning and end stages. Since intuition was perceived as leading to the right and good outcome, it may be linked to what is generally known as the ‘voice of reason’.”

Farmers participating in the study felt that intuition stemmed from both internal and external sources. In particular, input from nature influenced farming decisions. According to Sädeharju, the relationship between intuition and nature should be studied in more detail, as should the role of intuition in regenerative dynamics and within the framework of planetary social pedagogy.

“Addressing and acknowledging intuition can enhance our understanding of the role of internal processes in decision-making, thus promoting the sustainability transformation. In addition, intuition can provide novel tools for socio-ecological decision-making. This study also offers a new approach to examining and developing decision-making in a changing world.”

Empirical research into the role of intuition in decision-making remains scarce and conceptually fragmented. The present study highlights the role of intuition in farmers’ decision-making and verbalises their experiences of intuition. The study was funded by the Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation and by the Research Council of Finland.