The role of the federal government in the provision of agricultural market information: Results from a policy survey

Information technology is perhaps the most pervasive technology in U.S. agriculture. Despite such pervasiveness, the federal government continues to play a crucial role in providing agricultural market information that may be obtained from several sources, including private vendors. Results from a policy survey suggest that seventy-five percent of farmers want the government to continue to play that role. Further results from a logistic regression examine the determinants of that role by examining the influence of several socio-economic variables such as education, membership in agricultural organizations, land tenure and income.