This thesis examines the importance of conversional subsidies in accounting for an increase in organic acreage in the 12 North-Central States in the United States. Monthly time series data that spans from January 2002 to December 2014 was used in the analysis. Empirical evidence suggests that increase in organic acreage is due in part to the availability of conversion subsidies. Without government assistance, most small-scale farmers are not sufficiently motivated to switch to organic production due to the high initial costs involved in transitioning. Further, increased institutional support could facilitate organic adoption and its absence is detrimental to increasing the rate of adopting organic production methods.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis examines the importance of conversional subsidies in accounting for an increase in organic acreage in the 12 North-Central States in the United States. Monthly time series data that spans from January 2002 to December 2014 was used in the analysis. Empirical evidence suggests that increase in organic acreage is due in part to the availability of conversion subsidies. Without government assistance, most small-scale farmers are not sufficiently motivated to switch to organic production due to the high initial costs involved in transitioning. Further, increased institutional support could facilitate organic adoption and its absence is detrimental to increasing the rate of adopting organic production methods.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Adams Inkoom, Sarah"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Economics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Evert Van der Sluis"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:28:43Z","subjects":["acreage","certified farmers","organic","subsidies","transitional cost","USDA","Agricultural Economics","Economics"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1214","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Evert Van der Sluis"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Adams Inkoom, Sarah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Economics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["acreage","certified farmers","organic","subsidies","transitional cost","USDA","Agricultural Economics","Economics"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1214"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis examines the importance of conversional subsidies in accounting for an increase in organic acreage in the 12 North-Central States in the United States. Monthly time series data that spans from January 2002 to December 2014 was used in the analysis. Empirical evidence suggests that increase in organic acreage is due in part to the availability of conversion subsidies. Without government assistance, most small-scale farmers are not sufficiently motivated to switch to organic production due to the high initial costs involved in transitioning. Further, increased institutional support could facilitate organic adoption and its absence is detrimental to increasing the rate of adopting organic production methods.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Encouraging Organic Agriculture: The Effects of Conversion Subsidies"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Evert Van der Sluis"],"dc:creator":["Adams Inkoom, Sarah"],"dc:date.available":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis examines the importance of conversional subsidies in accounting for an increase in organic acreage in the 12 North-Central States in the United States. Monthly time series data that spans from January 2002 to December 2014 was used in the analysis. Empirical evidence suggests that increase in organic acreage is due in part to the availability of conversion subsidies. Without government assistance, most small-scale farmers are not sufficiently motivated to switch to organic production due to the high initial costs involved in transitioning. Further, increased institutional support could facilitate organic adoption and its absence is detrimental to increasing the rate of adopting organic production methods.
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