IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/arerjl/10208.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technical Efficiency of U.S. Organic Farmers: The Complementary Roles of Soil Management Techniques and Farm Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Lohr, Luanne
  • Park, Timothy A.

Abstract

Agricultural policymakers place increasing emphasis on developing efficiency measures for organic producers in order to evaluate regulatory strategies and evolving organic market conditions. We develop technical efficiency measures for U.S. organic farmers using a stochastic production frontier. Farm decisions about acquiring and managing organic soil materials from on-farm and local sources are incorporated into the technical efficiency measure. Productivity differences between newer entrants to organic farming and more experienced producers are estimated in order to isolate the impact of learning and management expertise on farm-level technical efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Lohr, Luanne & Park, Timothy A., 2006. "Technical Efficiency of U.S. Organic Farmers: The Complementary Roles of Soil Management Techniques and Farm Experience," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 35(2), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:arerjl:10208
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.10208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/10208/files/35020327.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.10208?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Koeijer, T. J. & Wossink, G. A. A. & Smit, A. B. & Janssens, S. R. M. & Renkema, J. A. & Struik, P. C., 2003. "Assessment of the quality of farmers' environmental management and its effects on resource use efficiency: a Dutch case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 85-103, October.
    2. Lordkipanidze, Nazibrola & Tauer, Loren W., 2000. "Farmer Efficiency and Technology Use with Age," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(1), pages 24-31, April.
    3. Alfons Oude Lansink & Ky–sti Pietola, 2002. "Effciency and productivity of conventional and organic farms in Finland 1994--1997," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 29(1), pages 51-66, March.
    4. Lohr, Luanne & Park, Timothy A., 2002. "Choice of insect management portfolios by organic farmers: lessons and comparative analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 87-99, November.
    5. Foster, Andrew D & Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1995. "Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and Technical Change in Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(6), pages 1176-1209, December.
    6. Catherine J. Morrison Paul & Warren E. Johnston & Gerald A. G. Frengley, 2000. "Efficiency in New Zealand Sheep and Beef Farming: The Impacts of Regulatory Reform," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(2), pages 325-337, May.
    7. I. Fraser & W. Horrace, 2003. "Technical Efficiency of Australian Wool Production: Point and Confidence Interval Estimates," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 169-190, September.
    8. Sunding, David & Zilberman, David, 2001. "The agricultural innovation process: Research and technology adoption in a changing agricultural sector," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 207-261, Elsevier.
    9. Tzouvelekas, Vangelis & Pantzios, Christos J. & Fotopoulos, Christos, 2001. "Economic Efficiency in Organic Farming: Evidence from Cotton Farms in Viotia, Greece," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 35-48, April.
    10. Greene, Catherine R. & Kremen, Amy, 2003. "U.S. Organic Farming In 2000-2001: Adoption Of Certified Systems," Agricultural Information Bulletins 33769, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    11. Fare, Rolf & Zelenyuk, Valentin, 2003. "On aggregate Farrell efficiencies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(3), pages 615-620, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Serra, Teresa & Chambers, Robert G. & Oude Lansink, Alfons, 2014. "Measuring technical and environmental efficiency in a state-contingent technology," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 236(2), pages 706-717.
    2. Lakner, S., 2010. "Einflussfaktoren auf die Effizienz von Ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben – Die Rolle von Agglomerationen und von Agrarpolitischer Förderung," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 45, March.
    3. Djokoto, Justice G., 2015. "Technical efficiency of organic agriculture: a quantitative review," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 117(2), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Bouali Guesmi & Teresa Serra & Allen Featherstone, 2015. "Technical efficiency of Kansas arable crop farms: a local maximum likelihood approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(6), pages 703-713, November.
    5. Jorge Andres, Perdomo Calvo & Darrell Lee, Hueth & Jorge Andres, Perdomo Calvo, 2011. "Funciones de producción, análisis de economías a escala y eficiencia técnica en el eje cafetero colombiano: una aproximación con frontera estocástica [Estimation of the Production Functional Form, ," MPRA Paper 37179, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Lakner, Sebastian, 2009. "Technical efficiency of organic milk-farms in Germany - the role of subsidies and of regional factors," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51301, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Lakner, Sebastian & Breustedt, Gunnar, 2015. "Efficiency analysis of organic farming systems- a review of methods, topics, results, and conclusions," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212025, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lim, Krisha & Wichmann, Bruno & Luckert, Martin, 2021. "Adaptation, spatial effects, and targeting: Evidence from Africa and Asia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. Awudu Abdulai, 2023. "Information acquisition and the adoption of improved crop varieties," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(4), pages 1049-1062, August.
    3. B Kelsey Jack, "undated". "Market Inefficiencies and the Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Developing Countries," CID Working Papers 50, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    4. Sauer, Johannes & Zilberman, David, 2009. "Innovation Behaviour At Farm Level – Selection And Identification," 83rd Annual Conference, March 30 - April 1, 2009, Dublin, Ireland 51073, Agricultural Economics Society.
    5. Ghadir Asadi & Mohammad H. Mostafavi-Dehzooei, 2022. "The Role of Learning in Adaptation to Technology: The Case of Groundwater Extraction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-37, June.
    6. Moritz Flubacher & George Sheldon & Adrian Müller, 2015. "Comparison of the Economic Performance between Organic and Conventional Dairy Farms in the Swiss Mountain Region Using Matching and Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Journal of Socio-Economics in Agriculture (Until 2015: Yearbook of Socioeconomics in Agriculture), Swiss Society for Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, vol. 7(1), pages 76-84.
    7. Fang, Di & Richards, Timothy, 2016. "New Maize Variety Adoption in Mozambique: A Spatial Approach," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235388, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Coronese, Matteo & Occelli, Martina & Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea, 2023. "AgriLOVE: Agriculture, land-use and technical change in an evolutionary, agent-based model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    9. Michelson, Hope & Fairbairn, Anna & Ellison, Brenna & Maertens, Annemie & Manyong, Victor, 2021. "Misperceived quality: Fertilizer in Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    10. Sylvain Dessy & Jacques Ewoudou & Isabelle Ouellet, 2006. "Understanding the Persistent Low Performance of African Agriculture," Cahiers de recherche 0622, CIRPEE.
    11. Madau, Fabio A., 2005. "Technical Efficiency in Organic Farming: An Application on Italian Cereal Farms Using a Parametric Approach," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24545, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Raju Ghimire & Wen-Chi Huang, 2015. "Household wealth and adoption of improved maize varieties in Nepal: a double-hurdle approach," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 7(6), pages 1321-1335, December.
    13. Franz Sinabell & Klaus Salhofer & Giannis Karagiannis, 2006. "Das Programm der ländlichen Entwicklung 2000-2006. Ausgewählte ökonomische Konsequenzen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 27158.
    14. Steven C. Blank & Gary D. Thompson, 2004. "Can/Should/Will A Niche Become the Norm? Organic Agriculture's Short Past and Long Future," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(4), pages 483-503, October.
    15. Jia, Xiangping, 2009. "Synergistic Green and White Revolution: Evidence from Kenya and Uganda," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51367, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Liang Lu & Thomas Reardon & David Zilberman, 2016. "Supply Chain Design and Adoption of Indivisible Technology," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1419-1431.
    17. Shon M. Ferguson & M. Rose Olfert, 2016. "Competitive Pressure and Technology Adoption: Evidence from a Policy Reform in Western Canada," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(2), pages 422-446.
    18. Tavneet Suri, 2006. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Working Papers 944, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    19. Sauer, Johannes & Zilberman, David D., 2009. "Innovation behaviour at micro level - selection and identification," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt6t49r0fh, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    20. Argiles, Josep M. & Brown, Nestor Duch, 2011. "A comparison of the economic and environmental performances of conventional and organic farming: evidence from financial statements," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Farm Management;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:arerjl:10208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nareaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.