Farm Information Use: An Analysis of Production and Weather Information for Midwestern Cash Grain Farmers

Agricultural production occurs in an environment of substantial uncertainty. Weather, diseases, and pests can have substantial impacts on production levels. Farm program legislation, trade policies, and other legal or social constraints on the firm may greatly affect the economic outcome of farm decisions. Information about the probability of future events or forecasts of the likely economic outcomes of decision alternatives can be of substantial help as farmers face risky decisions. The objective of this research is to better understand the use of information by cash grain farmers. In particular, this paper reports the results of research designed to determine those factors that influence whether weather and other production information derived from these sources is adequate for the farmer's needs. Statistical analyses of a random survey of Ohio cash grain farmers were employed in these evaluations. Logit analysis was used to determine factors associated withmanager preceptions of the adequacy of marketing information sources currently used by farmers.