The Study of Performance Persistency and Experience Effects on Hybrid and Variety Adoption Rates in Illinois

Abstract

Profitability of new cultivars is unknown at the time of seed purchase. One way to learn about profitability is through observation and experience. The effects of learning-from-own-experience on new cultivar and biotech seed adoption rates on individual farms are empirically estimated. Learning-from-own-experience is only useful if that experience persists over time. That is, if the performance of a seed type on a farm is not related to future performance of that seed type on that farm, then experience is not useful from an economic perspective. This study empirically measures the performance persistency of biotech seed and seed cultivars, in general, on a subset of Illinois farms.