Judging Farmers' Willingness to Trade Distance and Taxes for Extension Services

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.