Impact of Extension Education on Kansas Producers’ 2014 Farm Bill Enrollment Decisions

The 2014 Farm Bill offered producers a choice of programs to assist in risk management. Helping producers understand their choices among three programs, all with uncertain payouts determined by different factors, was a sizable challenge to extension economists tasked with providing Farm Bill education. Survey data collected at extension meetings were analyzed, and findings suggest that in-person extension education influences people’s decisions, especially with regard to uncertain outcomes like commodity prices, yields, and program payments. The finding that more experienced producers consistently chose one of the programs may have implications for policy impacts that differ across producer demographic groups.