Cattle Producers East of the 100th Meridian: A Study of Afforestation Adoption and Use of Pasture Management Practices

This thesis explores two topics related to cattle producers: the adoption of afforestation on pastureland and the use of pasture management practices. Chapter 1 uses a triple hurdle model to analyze a decision process related to the adoption and acreage enrollment of afforestation in a hypothetical program. The results suggest that producers interested in afforestation are more likely to have a college degree, own woodland, attend extension workshops, and have previous experience with afforestation. Producers who were offered a lower incentive enrolled more acres in the hypothetical program. Producers who were offered a higher incentive enrolled fewer acres.

Chapter 2 analyzes the use of ten pasture management practices. These practices were then categorized into three subgroups based on the type of practice: riparian health, soil fertility management, and other types of practices. Adoption of these practices were compared with univariate statistics and analyzed using a trivariate probit regression. The results of the trivariate probit regression revealed that ownership of woodland, extension workshop attendance, and average annual precipitation were significant predictors of adoption. As the results demonstrate, extension workshops have a large positive effect on the conservation behavior of cattle producers. Producers who are most interested and willing to adopt and use these practices are those who are most likely to attend to attend extension workshops. Therefore, extension workshops as a way to reach out to those who are interested could be a way to increase producer participation.