Empirical Setting
This study utilizes a mail survey of farmers
in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana to provide a
relatively broad geographic base, a sizeable
farm population, and a cost effective data
collection approach. Three thousand farmers,
each of whom operate at least 160 acres,
were randomly selected to receive the survey
from a mailing list maintained by Progressive
Farmer, a company that communicates extensively
with farmers through farm magazines,
surveys, and personal interviews. Survey development
was aided by discussions with two
focus groups of farmers, extensive pretesting,