Consideration of risk in soil conservation analysis

Farm-level soil conservation decisions with uncertain income are examined. Results from a stochastic economics model show that the variability in farm income due to crop prices, crop yield, weather and farmers' risk attitudes influence the selection of a soil conservation management system. Public conservation programs can be more effective if they are based on analyses considering uncertainty. Two decision criteria, expected utility maximization and safety-first, were selected to compare the ranking of certain management systems under each criterion.