Extension Commercialization: How Much to Charge for Extension Services

As public agricultural extension organizations around the world examine the possibility of privatizing or commercializing part or all their services, several issues arise. In this paper I address the question of how to price the services provided. Using available data from Israel, a supply (marginal cost) function is estimated for the Israel Extension Service, and a demand function for extension services is estimated. The derived number of visits and the per visit price are calculated. Several general extension‐related policy issues that may also be applicable to other countries are discussed.