Duration of usage and farmer reported benefits of conservation tillage

Abstract

This empirical paper investigates how duration of conservation tillage (CT) usage affects farmers’ perceptions on production cost, cash crop yields, and economic returns. This paper was based on the analysis of responses from 708 surveys completed by South Dakota farmers in 2018. Our results suggest that it takes between 5 and 10 years before CT is regarded as profitable by the majority of adopters. The likelihoods of adoption and positive outcomes are higher in areas with less precipitation. Adoption subsidies should account for agro-climatic characteristics and decrease with duration of usage. In areas with relatively high rainfall, monetary incentives may be required to encourage CT adoption. However, such inducements may only need to be offered for the first several years of adoption before the beneficial effects of CT render them unnecessary.