The perennial grain intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium, commercial name Kernza^TM) has been proposed as a diversification crop for producing forage and grain and providing ecosystem services to farmers. Although a few studies have addressed farmers’ interests in the crop, information is lacking about the links between farmers’ goals and crop management, i.e., how farmers aim at integrating this crop in their systems. Closing this gap, this paper analyzes for the first time the introduction of intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) from a farmer perspective, as a set of decision plans and goals. The overarching orientations of the farm and organization of the production system, referred as strategic decisions, interact with short-term crop management (i.e., tactical decisions) and farmers’ goals for IWG. In total, 17 individual semi-structured interviews and 2 collective crop management prototyping workshops in France were used to analyze farmers’ rationales as a function of their farm systems, agronomic constraints, and know-how. The study demonstrates that farmers’ interests in IWG revolved around multiple ecosystem services and financial returns. Three ideal-types of farms testing IWG emerged from the relationships between existing farming systems and goals for IWG. The strategic and tactical decisions regarding the integration and management of IWG were contingent on the farming systems, the goals for IWG, the farmers’ know-how, and their ability to mitigate risks. Implications for the future development of intermediate wheatgrass as a niche innovation are considered based on farmers’ points of view. This study provides insights into the ideas and concerns of French farmers regarding IWG and proposes a framework for discussing the introduction of a new crop in a farm system.

多年生谷物中间小麦草（Thinopyrum intermedium，商业名称 Kernza^TM）已被提议作为生产饲料和谷物并为农民提供生态系统服务的多样化作物。尽管一些研究涉及农民对作物的兴趣，但缺乏关于农民目标与作物管理之间联系的信息，即农民如何将这种作物整合到他们的系统中。为了缩小这一差距，本文首次从农民的角度分析了中间小麦草 （IWG） 的引入，作为一组决策计划和目标。农场的总体方向和生产系统的组织，称为战略决策，与短期作物管理（即战术决策）和 IWG 的农民目标相互作用。总共使用了法国的 17 次个人半结构化访谈和 2 次集体作物管理原型研讨会来分析农民的基本原理，作为其农场系统、农艺限制和专业知识的功能。研究表明，农民对 IWG 的兴趣围绕着多种生态系统服务和财务回报。测试 IWG 的三种理想农场类型来自现有农业系统和 IWG 目标之间的关系。有关 IWG 整合和管理的战略和战术决策取决于农业系统、IWG 的目标、农民的专业知识以及他们降低风险的能力。根据农民的观点，考虑了中间小麦草作为一种利基创新对未来发展的影响。 本研究深入了解了法国农民对 IWG 的想法和担忧，并提出了一个讨论在农场系统中引入新作物的框架。