Strategies for integrating grain legumes into cereal-based rotations: Evidence from a discrete choice experiment in Sweden

CONTEXT: Crop diversification is a central pillar of European agricultural sustainability strategies, yet its implementation remains limited due to technological and institutional lock-in around cereal-dominated production systems. Integrating grain legumes into cereal rotations has been identified as a promising diversification option, but uptake by farmers in Europe and Nordic countries remains low.,OBJECTIVE: This study conceptualizes grain legume integration as alternative diversification strategy within existing cereal-based rotations and examines farmers’ preferences for such strategies. Specifically, we consider two hypothetical scenarios for integrating faba beans into cereal-based rotations dominated by winter wheat, oats, and spring barley: (i) a substitution-based rotational pattern change scenario, in which one season of winter wheat is replaced by faba beans within existing rotations; ii) an extensification-based land use change scenario, in which faba beans are cultivated on additional fallow land. We investigate how farm and farmer characteristics and behavioral factors shape scenario-specific preferences.,METHODS: We employed a survey-based discrete choice experiment among 514 Swedish cereal farmers in 2025. Farmers evaluated hypothetical faba bean integration scenarios characterised by economic profits, environmental benefits, contractual settings, and payments. Preference data were analysed using mixed logit and latent class models to capture both average scenario-specific preferences and preference heterogeneity across farmer segments.,RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:,The results show a strong average preference for maintaining the status quo, indicating a generally low willingness among Swedish cereal farmers to integrate faba beans into cereal-based rotations even when alternative integration strategies are suggested. However, latent class analysis reveals substantial heterogeneity in how farmers evaluate alternative strategies to legume integration. Three distinct farmer segments are identified, differing substantially in their acceptance of substitution versus extensification strategies and in their values to economic profits, environmental benefits, contractual settings, and payments attributes. While economic profits emerge as the primary determinant of scenario-specific choice across all segments, environmental benefits and contractual settings influence preferences mainly among specific groups.,SIGNIFICANCE:,This study provides new insights into the strategies of integration of grain legumes in existing cereal-based systems by highlighting farmers’ differentiated responses to alternative, system-compatible integration scenarios. The findings demonstrate that reluctance toward legume integration at the aggregate level masks substantial heterogeneity in farmers’ preferences and decision-making. This underscores the need for practical, scenario-specific and targeted policy instruments that align with diverse farmer preferences, thereby supporting more effective strategies for legume expansion and sustainable crop diversification in European cereal-based systems.