Some researchers have found that farmers’ participation in social and commercial networks is an important driver of innovation in rural areas. The present article extends this traditional research with the objective of determining whether this result also holds in turbulent market conditions (i.e. dynamic business environments) caused by policy reforms. A probit analysis based on a proposed model of innovation revealed that in these environments, variables other than network participation (e.g. psychological variables) are involved in farmers’ capacity to innovate.