•This is the first time that cultural capital has become quantified.•Cultural capital was used to test farmers’ intention toward water conservation.•Cultural capital was equally good at illumination intention and behavior.•Cultural capital could be a serious competitor to the current behavioral models. The objective of this paper is to empirically test the explanatory ability of cultural capital, which is generally considered more qualitatively and rarely quantified, for farmers’ water conservation behavior. In applying this approach, we reflect the growing interest in the role of culture and identity in influencing farmer’s decision-making. The study design involved a cross-sectional survey of growers in the Aleshtar county in Western Iran. The sample consisted of 360 farmers. The results of person correlation test showed significant relationships between all forms of cultural capital and both intention to behave and behavior. Furthermore, Structural Equation Model analysis revealed that the embodied and objective forms of capital predicted about 43% of the variance in farmers’ intention. Moreover, the institutionalised, objective, intension and family experiences predicted about 45% of the variance in farmers’ behavior. Based on the research results, recommendations for water conservation were provided.