Effect of Conservation Practice Adoption on Perceived Changes in Farm Outcomes in South Dakota

This paper uses farm survey data from the western margin of the Corn Belt to estimate the causal effects of adopting different conservation practices---conservation tillage (CT), cover cropping (CC), and diversified crop rotation (DCR)---on perceived changes in yield, production cost, and profit among farmers in South Dakota. We use propensity score kernel matching to correct the sample selection bias induced by nonrandom adoption of different conservation practices. We find that compared with non-adopters, farmers who adopt CT and DCR are more likely to perceive an increase in profit and yield and CC adopters are less likely to perceive a production cost increase.