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Measurement and causal characteristics of technical efficiency between conventional and alternative corn production systems in eastern Nebraska
Abstract
Sustainability in agriculture is a goal being pursued through federal and state legislation, university research and extension efforts, and numerous non-profit organizations established for the purpose of researching and extending sustainable agricultural concepts and practices. One of the elements of sustainability is economics. Economic sustainability includes equity and efficiency. Within efficiency, the general equilibrium theory of economics provides a framework for testing hypotheses of economic efficiency. The efficiency-substitution-redesign (ESR) framework further segregates economic efficiency into component parts. This research evaluates the first stage of the ESR framework (technical efficiency) with respect to corn production systems in eastern Nebraska. Systems range from irrigated monocropping to near organic. Technical efficiency is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for economic efficiency, which, in-turn, is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for economic sustainability. Two questions are specifically addressed, (1) are alternative corn production systems equally technically efficient, and (2) what are the potential reasons for technical efficiency differences (other than type of production system). Five conventional and alternative production systems are classified through cluster analyzing 59 crop production characteristics. In addition to mail survey data, on-farm interviews were conducted and field level production practices, yields, and physical land characteristics were collected for the years 1992-94. The Farrell measure of technical efficiency was used with a translog and Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function to estimate technical efficiency. Technical efficiency estimates were then regressed on various socioeconomic and physical land characteristics to determine potential causes of technical efficiency differences. Seventy-eight percent of the total variability of corn production was explained by technical efficiency which ranged from 52% to 96% and 76% to 95% at the field- and farm-level respectively. While crop scouting, age, and the type of production system used had some affect on technical efficiency, by far the vast majority of technical efficiency differences were explained by the productivity of the soil, a factor not in the producers control.
Subject Area
Agricultural economics|Agronomy
Recommended Citation
Bernhardt, Kevin J, "Measurement and causal characteristics of technical efficiency between conventional and alternative corn production systems in eastern Nebraska" (1996). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9637062.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9637062