ABSTRACT:
Reasons for differences in rates of adoption of conservation tillage were investigated. Investment requirements for acquisition of management skills are larger per unit produced on smaller farms. The transition from conventional to no-till practices requires relatively more investment in management skills for some crops. Least-cost machinery complements were estimated for two wheat production systems and four farm sizes. If the machinery complement must be adjusted, adoption of conservation tillage will be slower on smaller farms on which machinery is replaced less frequently. Differences in rates of adoption by farm size occur because of differences in start-up costs rather than differences in post-adoption costs.
Footnotes
Francis M. Epplin is an associate professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, 74078. Thomas F. Tice is a senior economist at Chase Econometrics, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania 19004. Journal Article No. J-5052 of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Project H-1948.
- Copyright 1986 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
