Determining Farmers’ Willingness-To-Grow Cellulosic Biofuel Feedstocks on Agricultural Land

The levels of cellulosic biofuel feedstocks that are being produced continue to fall short of standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Technical feasibility studies have been conducted to determine if the levels of production the EPA has mandated are obtainable; and breakeven farmgate studies have shown the costs of growing cellulosic feedstocks. However, very few studies have been conducted on farmers’ willingness to grow these feedstocks. This study examines farmers’ willingness to harvest crop residue, or grow a dedicated annual or perennial bioenergy crop. A Heckman selection model is used to account for selection bias, estimate the probability of a farmer growing a particular feedstock and to determine how many initial acres farmers would be willing to plant of a dedicated annual or perennial bioenergy crop. We find that, due to the variation in the type of crops and feedstocks considered different variables are significant in the farmers’ decision-making process.