The ecological and social impacts of conventional farming have prompted European policy initiatives to regulate and encourage farming practices. Yet, the ways in which farmers develop their own ecological and social practices are not well understood. Building on practice theory, this study advances a new framework to examine how some conventional farmers develop social and ecological objectives. Employing this framework in Lincolnshire, England revealed three common pathways for the development of new practices. These pathways were modelled to visualize how farming practices transform gradually and cyclically. The model depicts how some farmers disentangle from convention and engage in new objectives on their own terms.