Demand for Extension Education and Perceived Farm Risks

Abstract

Objectives of this thesis are two-fold: one is to examine the determinants of demand for extension education in the rural Southwest, and other one is to examine the determinants of perceived farm risks in the rural Southwest. In doing so, I provide new insights in the determinants of both demand for extension education and perceived farm risks in the West, which in turn, provide useful information for the effective delivery of extension education. Using representative survey data of small farms in Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming, in chapter 1, I examine the demand or participation in extension education. In this case, the dependent variable is participation in extension education that takes the value of 1 if small farm operators have ever received education from University outreach program; otherwise it takes the value 0. Thus, the dependent variable is a binary variable. Therefore, we estimate a probit regression model for the demand for extension education. The results show that supplementing family income is the primary motive for farm activities. Gender, educational achievements, the residency of farm operators, their access to internet, level of income diversification, and total acres of land managed are the main determinants of demand for extension education. In chapter 2, using the same survey data I examine the determinants of perceived farms risks. I also study the role of Extension Education in agricultural risk managements. I clarify the relationships between perceived production, financial, marketing, legal/institutional, and human risks and various socioeconomic, institutional,environmental, demographic, and farm structure variables. I find that extension education has a significant role in household’s evaluation of agricultural risks.