Use of Weather Information for Agricultural Decision Making

AbstractThis study uses data from a special subsample of the National Agricultural, Food, and Public Policy Preference Survey to assess use of weather data for agricultural decision making. Responses from 284 Arizona farmers and ranchers were used to examine (i) the importance producers placed on different types of weather data for production and marketing decisions; (ii) which producer characteristics accounted for differences in the importance they placed on weather data; (iii) producer use of weather data for specific production and marketing decisions; and (iv) which factors distinguish weather data users from nonusers. A model of demand for weather information was developed and used to specify count data and discrete choice multivariate regression models. The intensity of weather data use was greater among producers with diversified agricultural production. Diversified producers were more likely to use data for timing of planting, cultivation, and harvest. Weather data use was lower among producers w...

[1]  Ikrom Artikov,et al.  Climate Change and Farm Use of Weather Information , 2005 .

[2]  Hayley H. Chouinard,et al.  Will Farmers Trade Profits for Stewardship? Heterogeneous Motivations for Farm Practice Selection , 2008, Land Economics.

[3]  David A. Belsley,et al.  Conditioning Diagnostics: Collinearity and Weak Data in Regression , 1991 .

[4]  W. Shaw,et al.  Why environmental and resource economists should care about non-expected utility models , 2008 .

[5]  John R. Christy,et al.  Test for harmful collinearity among predictor variables used in modeling global temperature , 2003 .

[6]  William J. Waltman,et al.  Understanding Farmers’ Forecast Use from Their Beliefs, Values, Social Norms, and Perceived Obstacles* , 2006 .

[7]  W. Easterling.  Subscribers to the NOAA Monthly and Seasonal Weather Outlook , 1986 .

[8]  K. Rollins,et al.  Using willingness‐to‐pay to assess the economic value of weather forecasts for multiple commercial sectors , 2003 .

[9]  C. Shumway,et al.  Agent Heterogeneity in Adoption of Anaerobic Digestion Technology: Integrating Economic, Diffusion, and Behavioral Innovation Theories , 2010, Land Economics.

[10]  Gary W. Yohe,et al.  Economic Value of Weather and Climate Forecasts , 1998 .

[11]  J. T. Wulu,et al.  Regression analysis of count data , 2002 .

[12]  David R. Just,et al.  Between data and decisions: the organization of agricultural economic information systems , 2001 .

[13]  David Zilberman,et al.  Consumption of Economic Information in Agriculture , 2002 .

[14]  J. Zillman,et al.  Economic benefits of meteorological services , 2002 .

[15]  D. Zilberman,et al.  Principles of risk management service relations in agriculture , 2003 .

[16]  Daniel S. Wilks,et al.  Economic Value of Weather And Climate Forecasts: Forecast value: prescriptive decision studies , 1997 .

[17]  G. Podestá,et al.  User perspectives of climate forecasts: crop producers in Pergamino, Argentina , 2001 .

[18]  William J. Waltman,et al.  Understanding the Influence of Climate Forecasts on Farmer Decisions as Planned Behavior , 2006 .

[19]  Robert E Chapman.  Benefit-cost analysis for the modernization and associated restructuring of the National Weather Service , 1992 .

[20]  R. O’Brien,et al.  A Caution Regarding Rules of Thumb for Variance Inflation Factors , 2007 .

[21]  K. Anaman,et al.  CONTINGENT VALUATION STUDY OF THE PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICE IN THE SYDNEY METROPOLITAN AREA , 1996 .

[22]  W. W. Muir,et al.  Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity , 1980 .

[23]  L. Pettit,et al.  Conditioning Diagnostics: Collinearity and Weak Data in Regression , 1992 .

[24]  The impact of economic and socioeconomic factors on the demand for information: A case study of Ohio commercial farmers , 1989 .

[25]  Robert A. Hoppe,et al.  Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: Family Farm Report, 2014 Edition , 2007 .

[26]  Manfred Kochen,et al.  On the economics of information , 1972, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[27]  G. Lynne,et al.  Empathy-Conditioned Conservation: “Walking in the Shoes of Others” as a Conservation Farmer , 2009, Land Economics.

[28]  Ashok K. Mishra,et al.  OFF-FARM INCOME, TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, AND FARM ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE , 2007 .

[29]  Peter E. Hildebrand,et al.  AgClimate: a case study in participatory decision support system development , 2008 .

[30]  P. Schmidt,et al.  Limited-Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics. , 1984 .

[31]  Allan Leck Jensen,et al.  Pl@nteInfo® : a web-based system for personalised decision support in crop management , 2000 .

[32]  E. Mulvey,et al.  Regression analyses of counts and rates: Poisson, overdispersed Poisson, and negative binomial models. , 1995, Psychological bulletin.

[33]  R. Pope,et al.  Diversification in relation to farm size and other socioeconomic characteristics. , 1980 .

[34]  Kwabena A. Anaman,et al.  Assessment of the benefits of an enhanced weather information service for the cotton industry in Australia , 2007 .

[35]  Stanley R. Johnson,et al.  Economic Value of Weather And Climate Forecasts: The value of weather information , 1997 .

[36]  J. A. Calvin.  Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables , 1998 .

[37]  B. Lubben,et al.  The 2007 Farm Bill: U.S. Producer Preferences for Agricultural, Food, and Public Policy , 2007 .

[38]  Gershon Feder,et al.  The Acquisition of Information and the Adoption of New Technology , 1984 .

[39]  Darrell J. Bosch,et al.  Valuing Information When Risk Preferences Are Nonneutral: An Application to Irrigation Scheduling , 1987 .