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Limited Access to Conservation: Limited-Resource Farmer Participation in the Conservation Security Program in the Southeast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Jason S. Bergtold
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
Joseph J. Molnar
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University, AL

Abstract

The paper examines the joint adoption of conservation tillage, crop rotations, and soil testing by small and limited-resource farmers in the Southeast. The objectives are to determine the potential eligibility of small farmers for the Conservation Security Program, examine socioeconomic factors affecting adoption, and assess the interdependence between adopting different conservation practices. Results indicate that conservation management, ethnicity, and farm characteristics affect practice adoption. Of the producers surveyed in the study, 7% meet Conservation Security Program eligibility requirements, while the other 93% have less than a 20% likelihood of adopting the needed practices to qualify.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2010

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