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Growing demand for soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] creates pressure to expand soybean production onto marginal lands and grow soybean continuously. Experiments comparing continuous soybean with soybean–corn (Zea mays L.) rotation, cereal rye [Secale cereale (L.)] cover crop with no cover crop, and flue‐gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum surface‐applied at 0, 1.1, and 2.2 Mg ha−1 were conducted at Shorter, AL, Farmland, IN, Hoytville, OH, and Piketon, OH, for 5 yr. The objective was to evaluate soybean yield response to these practices across a range of soil types and climatic conditions. Response to continuous soybean and cover crop varied by site (soil drainage class) with no interaction effects. Continuous soybean reduced yield only on well‐ and moderately well‐drained soil types. Cover crop reduced yield on the very poorly drained soil type and increased yield on the well‐drained soil type. Crop production practices that promote soil health and sustainability may not provide yield improvement.

This research examines consumer preference and compares their willingness‐to‐pay for a host of value‐added attributes of processed blackberry jam, and focuses on various organic and local production location designations. Instead of being treated as a binary attribute, three levels of USDA organic are considered: 100% organic, at least 95% organic, and made with organic ingredients (at least 70% organic). For local production, three levels are also included in the analysis: cross‐state region (the Ohio Valley), state boundary (state‐proud logos), as well as sub‐state regions. Stated‐preference data collected from a choice experiment in a mail survey in Kentucky and Ohio are used. Results from the study confirm positive willingness‐to‐pay for both organic and local attributes. However, consumers were willing to pay comparatively more for jam produced locally in regions smaller than the border of a state compared to organic jam. Furthermore, substitution and complementary effects between food attributes were investigated. The study found strong substitution effects between organic and local production claims, an issue that has thus far received minimal treatment in the existing literature on organic and local food willingness‐to‐pay studies. The results indicate a large degree of overlapping values in the willingness‐to‐pay for these two food attributes. In addition, the “small farm” attribute considered in the study also appears to be a substitute for organic and local attributes, which confirms the previous belief that one of the many reasons consumers purchase organic or local products is to support small or family‐owned farms.

We analyze recent and intended transactions of used farm equipment and find the quality of buyers' relationships with local equipment dealers influences whether their most recent purchase came from an Internet source and whether they will consider future purchases from Internet sources. We find local dealers who provide excellent parts and repair service face a double-edged sword: customers are less likely to have purchased from Internet sources during their last transaction but express stronger absolute interest in future Internet purchases. Also, customers who view their dealer as having treated them fairly during past price negotiations are less likely to express interest in transacting on the Internet in the future. Finally, buyers sort across channels based on several personal characteristics, including risk tolerance, trust attitudes, and negotiation style, but seller sorting is primarily based on risk tolerance. Specifically, buyers and sellers with greater risk tolerance sort to online markets. [JEL Descriptors: L81, Q12].

Is it necessary for the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service system to maintain an extension office in every county? Using stated choice data from a conjoint analysis experimental design, we examine the tradeoffs that farmers are willing to make when choosing between local offices based on differences in educational programs offered, expertise level of staffing educators, distance to the local office, and the level of local taxation required to support an extension office. Our results show farmers' willingness to travel further and/or pay higher taxes in support of their 'local' extension office depends on access to specialized expertise, crop, economics/finance, and 4-H programs, and shared facilities with USDA agencies. However, farmers may not be willing to pay enough for local offices to actually cover their costs. Copyright 2012, Oxford University Press.

Using stated preference data from Kentucky and Ohio, USA, we estimate consumer willingness-to-pay for varieties of a processed food product (blackberry jam) that are differentiated with respect to their local production labelling and a series of other value-added claims. Results show that consumers were willing to pay more for the product indicating locally produced, produced in their state or in a well-identified multi-state region. Consumers were willing to purchase organic products, although there might be some confusion as to the meaning of the organic logo. Our results also supported the notion that consumers are willing to support small family farms. , Oxford University Press.

Site Specific Management (SSM), which also variously referred to as Variable Rate Technology (VRT), is an emerging technology that enables producers to make more precise input application decisions based on soil and field characteristics. This study analyzes factors influencing the adoption of VRT for fertilizer application for cash grain production in Ohio. Results show that producer and field characteristics might influence the adoption decision on various SSM components differently. It also provides insight as to the sequence of adoption of SSM component technologies and how this sequence might differ for producers of differing characteristics.

Variable Rate Technology (VRT) offers an opportunity to improve production efficiency by allowing input applications to fluctuate in response to spatial variations in soil characteristics and nutrient levels. Society may also benefit from reduced negative externalities, such as surface and groundwater contamination, from input applications. Using a dynamic spatial model, this study examines how the interaction among variability, spatial autocorrelation, and mean level of soil fertility affects optimal sampling density and the economic gains from VRT. VRT was found to be profitable under selected conditions, and the optimal grid size will vary with these conditions. In the case where variability and mean fertility levels are significantly high associated with low spatial autocorrelation, VRT produces greater net returns than Uniform Rate Technology (URT), even with the smallest grid size to base the input application decisions. Results also demonstrate that optimal grid size increases with increased spatial autocorrelation.

The U.S. farming industry is evolving quickly. It is therefore important that state Extension services be prepared to evolve as well. This study uses data collected in a 2007 survey of Ohio farmers to evaluate likelihood and frequency of use of various services offered by Extension as well as overall satisfaction with Extension services. Results indicate that tailoring of topics and communication methods to type of farm and/or farmer informational needs could improve the use of Extension resources. This implies that targeting of information products and methods may improve the performance of Extension education programs and customer satisfaction.

Information-seeking behavior is one of the most enduring subjects in the marketing and agribusiness literature. Based on a mail survey of 3,000 randomly selected farmers in Ohio, this study contributes empirical evidence about differences in farmers' information strategies regarding type, amount, and sources of information, and identifies factors that explain the variation in farmers' information search behavior. Farmers split into four distinct search typologies. Farmers' attitudes toward search, farm sales, years farming, Internet access, and farm type were good predictors of search strategies, underscoring the value of the clustering approach for farmer segmentation. Copyright 2009 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Consumer behavior is often driven by the extent to which consumers feel confident regarding their decisions, which frequently hinge, especially in high-stakes situations, on their information search. This article examines a multidimensional self-confidence concept to explore how consumer self-confidence influences information search. Findings of a mail survey document that high-confidence consumers engage in more intensive search activities and that demographic patterns shape consumer self-confidence scores. The findings empirically support a multidimensional measurement of self-confidence to predict search behavior and suggest avenues to enhance the self-confidence needed to produce positive marketplace experiences. ********** The decisions that matter most in life are often the ones that we are least confident about making. While we may comfortably be choosing brands from supermarket shelves and finding the least-expensive gas station, the comfort level drops fast when decisions need to be made where consequences of a poor choice are large and, once made, difficult to reverse (Kunreuther et al. 2002). Trading off the ownership of a home versus debt repayment in mortgage decisions, quality of life versus longevity in complex health-care decisions, or high-quality private schooling versus student loan burdens in education decisions are complex and often stressful. Self-help books, talk shows, and magazine articles make a living from people's timidity in facing these decisions by identifying how these important decisions affect our future well-being and by offering solutions about how we should approach these high-stakes decisions in order to feel confident making these choices in the marketplace. Although consumer confidence in the economy has been measured since 1967 in the U.S. Consumer Confidence Index, far less study has been devoted to consumers' perception of their own confidence in the marketplace, and further, whether their marketplace experiences are, by and large, positive. The academic literature supports the notion that CSC is closely related to positive experiences in the marketplace. Analyses of consumer behavior associate self-confidence, for example, with peoples' perceptions of their product knowledge (Park, Mothersbaugh, and Feick 1994), attention to product labeling (Barber, Almanza, and Donovan 2006; Barber, Ismail, and Taylor 2007), skepticism toward market claims (Brown and Krishna 2004; Tan and Tan 2007), market expertise and individualism (Chelminski and Coulter 2007a, 2007b), consumer utilitarian value, and hedonic orientation (Paridon 2006). Among this research, the relationship between consumers' self-confidence and their efforts to acquire marketplace information assumes a significant role. The literature is divided on whether CSC, generally defined, encourages or inhibits consumers to acquire information; yet, this act has been hypothesized as a key predictor of high-quality decisions, and, presumably, positive marketplace experiences (Guo 2001; Payne, Bettman, and Johnson 1993; Payne, Bettman, and Schkade 1999). Thus, in the current research, we examine a multidimensional concept of CSC to determine its influence on acquiring information as measured by information search. By extension, our goal is to further understanding of those factors that enhance the ability of consumers to make high-quality, well-informed decisions, especially in high-stakes situations, to produce positive results. Thus, we also focus on the role of demographic predictors of the relationship between CSC and information search. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Consumer Self-Confidence What makes a consumer a self-confident actor in the marketplace? Early research in consumer behavior and public policy addressed this question by resorting to measures of self-esteem developed in the psychological literature (Bearden, Hardesty, and Rose 2001). Among the most popular and well-utilized measures of self-esteem were the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg 1965) and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventories (Coopersmith 1981). …

Internet auction platforms are changing the face of transactions in many business sectors, including agriculture. We provide one of the first systematic examinations of the differences between internet and in-person auctions in agricultural input markets. A hedonic model estimated with used tractor transactions from Midwestern sellers pooled between eBay and in-person auctions reveals statistically distinct price surfaces for the two auction venues and predicts significantly lower prices for comparable equipment sold on eBay, though this difference is attenuated for tractors fully covered by eBay's buyer protection program and is fully absent for the most frequently traded tractor. An endogenous venue-selection model reveals that larger, more-valuable tractors are less likely to be offered on eBay, a choice that should enhance seller revenues. Furthermore, sellers in states with more valuable stocks of machinery, more frequent tractor sales, and a lower propensity to use the internet for agricultural marketing are more likely to offer tractors for sale via in-person auctions than on eBay.

Increasingly, foods are marketed as “locally grown.” We use stated preference data from a choice-based conjoint instrument to address two issues surrounding consumer demand for locally produced goods: (1) what is the geographical extent of “local,” and (2) is the value consumers place on “local” production distinct from other factors that are often confounded with locally produced foods such as farm size and product freshness? We find our subjects place similar value on products produced “in state” and “nearby” and that consumers' willingness to pay for local production is independent from values associated with product freshness and farm size. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

E-commerce represents both threats to and opportunities for rural communities. This study addresses one element of the issue: farmers’ willingness to substitute online merchants or national farm input stores for local businesses. Results of a conjoint analysis of contingent choice experiments suggest that farmers are willing to purchase from online or national stores outside their communities if compensated with lower prices or greater services. Results also demonstrate that the context of the input purchase, such as time constraints, was very important not only in valuing these services, but, more broadly, in terms of the farmer's loyalty to a local merchant.

Farmers are continuing to expand their use of computers. This article reports analyses for a 2003 random sample of Ohio, USA farmers. Computer adoption by Ohio farmers currently stands at 44 percent, up from 32 percent in 1991. Financial accounting remains the most often used task of farm computers, with 89 percent of farmers reporting such usage. However, the use of the Internet for communication, for transactions processing, or for information retrieval more broadly, is an application that was largely unavailable in 1991, and which is now used by about 80 percent of the farmers sampled. A binomial Probit model was formulated to determine those farm and farmer characteristics that influence farmers' decisions to adopt an office computer. Likelihood of computer adoption was found to increase with increased farm size (annual sales) and higher operator education. Younger farmers were significantly more like to adopt the computer. Adoption percent was higher on farms that were more reliant on leased land, and was lower for livestock farmers. Farmers who worked year-around away from the farm were more likely to adopt a computer for the farm business. A second binomial Probit model was formulated to identify those farmer characteristics associated with higher manager evaluations of the computer as a management tool. Likelihood of above average computer usefulness evaluations rose with increased farm annual gross sales, diminished with increased age of the operator, and were higher for farmers who used the computer for financial or production recordkeeping or who gathered information from the Internet.

This paper summarizes the debate concerning the value of distance education, reports distance education experiences in agricultural economics courses at The Ohio State University, and analyzes the effects of “distance” on student performance in and acceptance of the distance course. Results suggest that distance and “live” students performed equally in the same course, and they evaluated the course experience in a similar manner. These results provide some assurance that distance education, at least using the two-way interactive synchronous learning model of the courses in this study, does not place the distant student in jeopardy. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.

Farmer perceptions of extension program delivery methods and an analysis of the relationships of method and farmer characteristics to evaluation scores are presented. Evaluation scores tend to increase with written, interactive and variable-scheduled methods and methods where users determine the agenda. Evaluations tend to be lower for high user cost and “high-tech” methods. Substantial similarity of results exists across groups of farmers differing by age, education levels, farm size and farm type. There are differences, however, in absolute valuation of the method characteristics across the groups.

Multinomial logit models were used to examine farmers' information preferences for marketing, production, and financial decisions. Dependent variables represented the preferred information source category: Cooperative Extension Service, printed, broadcast, specialist, and other sources. Independent variables included farm and business characteristics. In general, farmers preferred information from printed sources, and the Cooperative Extension Service ranked highly as an information source. Results did not support the contention that farmers are substituting specialist services for information received from the Cooperative Extension Service.

mation sources, producers are expected to select Farm producers attempt to mitigate risk and uncer- those sources that yield the highest marginal tainty by utilizing accurate and reliable information. benefits. Hence, the objectives of this research were This research attempts to identify sources of infor- to (1) identify sources of information used by Ohio mation used by Ohio fruit producers and then deter- fruit producers and (2) determine which of these mine which of these sources are best meeting their sources are best meeting the information needs of information needs. Results are based on a logit these producers. These objectives were pursued analysis of Ohio fruit producers and several factors while controlling for differences in socioeconomic are shown to influence producers' evaluation of the factors among producers. These factors were con"adequacy" of their marketing information. Among trolled because they are likely to influence the usethese factors are age, business size, education, type fulness of information to respective users. Relevant of enterprise, and types of information sources. socioeconomic characteristics of information users Reported findings have implications for marketing are expected to include educational attainment, farm efficiency, particularly if producers' evaluation of size, attitudes toward growth and expansion, and information as adequate is positively related to its perception of the value of information. This latter efficient use. factor, user perception of the value of information, is a major focal point of this paper.

Although computer technologies have evolved rapidly, farmers have been slow to adopt these technologies. This research identifies factors influencing farmers' adoption of computers and the number and type of applications for which the computer is used. Ohio commercial farmers were randomly sampled and analyzed using multinomial logit techniques. Results suggest that older farmers are less likely to adopt computers, less likely to find them useful, and make fewer applications of the computer in their business. Education level is positively associated with computer adoption and with increased numbers of applications made of the computer.

In response to dramatically increasing adoption in consumer markets, the National Organic Program (NOP) initiated novel labeling standards for food products in the U.S. in 2002. This program is a particularly relevant standardization effort for multi-ingredient processed foods. Rather than a simple binary message (organic or not), gradations of organic content are now codified. No existing published study evaluates consumer willingness to pay or motivation to purchase in response to such a rich organic label. This article presents evidence of the impact of the NOP through analysis of data collected in seven central Ohio, USA grocery stores. Results suggest that consumers are willing to pay premium prices for organic foods, even those with less than 100 percent organic ingredients. The magnitudes of WTP premia varied significantly among consumer groups, suggesting that targeted marketing may be effective for organic merchandisers.

Precision guidance and precision sprayer control have substantial promise to reduce input application overlap, thus saving chemicals, fuel, and time during the application process. In this manuscript we provide preliminary estimates of the magnitude of the private benefits for a precision guidance system combined with auto-boom control for agricultural sprayers (precision spraying). Hypothetical farm fields are analyzed, allowing comparison of the performance of the precision system to a traditional, non-precision system for different field shapes. An analysis of the impact of size of farm on system profitability also is explored. Our analyses suggest that, even when considering only private benefits of input savings, the value derived from a precision spraying system can be substantial. This is especially true when the sprayer patterns become more complex due to non-rectangular fields and due to the presence of waterways, drainage ditches or similar obstructions. Economic benefits of the precision spraying system increase proportionally to the cost of the spray material being applied and with the number of annual applications. Benefits also increase with increases in driver error rates for non-precision systems. Because most of the costs of the precision spraying system relate to the fixed investment, these costs are largely constant regardless of farm size. This translates to net benefits of precision spraying that increase with increased farm size.

The risk: reward for a transition to organic vegetable farming near urban areas and changes in soil, crop, and economic parameters during transition are poorly understood. A 4-year study was initiated in 2003 at the Ohio State Univ.–OARDC to document the relative advantages of four transition strategies and their effects on major cropping system variables. Soil previously in a vegetable-agronomic crop rotation has been maintained fallow, planted to a mixed-species hay, used in open field vegetable production, or used in vegetable production under high tunnels, transition strategies with a range of management intensity and expected financial return. Each strategy was replicated four times within the overall experimental area. Half of the soil in each strategy unit was amended with composted dairy manure while the remaining soil was unamended. Field vegetable plots have been planted to potato, butternut squash, and green bean. High tunnels have been planted to potato, zucchini, and a fall–spring rotation of beet, swiss chard, mixed lettuce, radish, and spinach. Data describing the outcomes of the strategies in terms of farm economics, crop yield and quality, weed ecology, plant pest and disease levels, and soil characteristics (physical, chemical, biological) have been recorded. Inputs in the high tunnels have exceeded inputs in all other strategies; however, high tunnel production has widened planting and harvesting windows and increased potato yield, relative to open field production. To date, compost application has increased crop yield 30% to 230% and influenced crop quality, based on analytical and human panelist measures. Weed (emerged seedlings, seedbank) and nematode populations also continue to vary among the transition strategies.

The objective of this research is to better understand farmers' perceptions of the importance of various farm management educational topics. A technique for identifying interested clientele for educational programs is also presented. Topics rated most highly by farmers include income tax management, agricultural input prices, year-end financial analysis, and U.S.—world agricultural outlook. A multivariate logit analysis was used to examine the relationships between the farmers' evaluations of three education topic categories and various farm business and information source characteristics. Operator age, tenancy, size of farm business, and farm enterprise type were important predictors of topic preference.

Multinominal logit regressions were used to analyze differences in farmer's accounting methods. Accounting methods differed by farm types, farm size, farmer education level, and accounting report uses. Farms using accounting reports for decisionmaking tended to have more complex accounting systems and produced more reports.

The objective of this research is to better understand the use of marketing information by cash grain farmers. In particular, factors which influence farmers' perceptions of the "adequacy" of their marketing information supply are examined. Statistical analyses of a random sample of Ohio cash grain farmers were employed in these evaluations. Radio broadcasts and general farm magazines were the two marketing information sources most frequently cited as useful. Highly formalized and marketing specific sources such as marketing consultants, commercial advisory newsletters and computerized information sources were cited relatively infrequently. Radio and television broadcasts were more frequently cited as the ‘most useful’ source of marketing information by older farmers and operators of small farms than by their counterparts. Marketing professionals were cited as ‘most useful’ more frequently by operators of larger farms and operators with at least some college education. A multivariate logit analysis was used to examine the joint effect of operator, farm and information source characteristics on information adequacy evaluations. The probability of an "adequate" evaluation was positively influenced by total farm information expenditure, the use of time-diversified marketing of grain from storage facilities, and the use of marketing consultants, brokers or commercial advisory newsletters as the primary source of marketing information.

This article reports the degree to which economies of farm size exist for commercial Illinois cash grain agriculture, both on a before- and after-tax basis. Receipt, expense, and investment data are from the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association records, 1975–79. Analysis of covariance techniques were used in the examination of the five-year time series of cross-sectional data. Results indicate statistically significant evidence of economies of size, both on a before- and after-tax basis. There was no significant evidence of diseconomies of size for this sample.

Several economic and socioeconomic factors are identified which influence farmers' demand for information. Many information sources are identified and categorized into general and specialized classes. Relevant economic and socioeconomic factors which impact these classes of information demands are: (1) farm size, (2) farm ownership, (3) off-farm employment, (4) education, (5) innovativeness, (6) farm plans, and (7) farm enterprise type. A logit model is specified and estimated for each class of information and the results show major differences in the determinants of demand for general and specialized information. Results also show that information sources are generally ranked higher by larger farmers than by smaller farmers.

The problem of estimating the mean average total cost of each output for multiproduct firms in an industry is addressed. The identity that defines total cost for each firm as the product of output levels multiplied by their respective average total costs is viewed as a random-coefficients model. A random coefficients regression estimator is used to estimate mean average total output costs. Solutions to problems arising with this method in empirical studies are discussed. An application of the approach to data from cash grain farms in Illinois shows that the method gives reliable estimates for per-unit output production costs with considerably fewer data requirements than current methods of cost estimation.

The issue of nonfarm equity is inherently a structural issue. This relationship has long been understood. However, the older view generally concentrated on the potentially negative consequences of nonfarm equity capital for the structure of agriculture (Ottoson and Vollmar), while the emerging view, shaped by recent events that have highlighted the vulnerability of that structure, suggests the potential for nonfarm equity capital as a solution to financial stress (Brake and Boehlje). The structural characteristics of agriculture imply the existence of barriers to the flow of equity capital between the farm and nonfarm sectors as well as inducements to that flow. Most important, these characteristics have hampered the development of an efficient equity market in agriculture. Thus, the most significant flows of nonfarm equity capital have largely circumvented existing farm businesses, flowing instead into direct ownership of farm assets or shared ownership of newer and generally larger and more technologically innovative farm businesses.