Age in the Internet Age: Is the Age of the Farm Operator a Factor in On-Line Business Use?

14 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2012

See all articles by Peter L. Stenberg

Peter L. Stenberg

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Economic Research Service (ERS)

Mitchell J. Morehart

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: August 15, 2007

Abstract

Farm business Internet access as well as its use has become more prevalent, but use is neither universal nor uniform. Our analysis shows that approximately 56 percent of farms had Internet access in 2004. Sixty-nine percent of sole proprietorship non-farm businesses in the same year had Internet access. Access to the Internet, however, does not necessarily mean the Internet is used as a management tool. In 2005 nearly 30 percent of farms, approximately 600 thousand farms, used the Internet as an integral part of the farm operation. In 2000, 24 percent of farms had used it as a management tool. Through the broader e-government initiative many farm programs and services are available to USDA customers on the Internet. For example, Electronic Loan Deficiency Payments (eLDP) service allows producers to request loan deficiency payments (LDPs) online. Yet, nearly one and half million farms still do not use the Internet as a management tool. The 2002 Farm Bill has a number of provisions aimed at encouraging the use of the Internet in farm and rural non-farm businesses.

Suggested Citation

Stenberg, Peter L. and Morehart, Mitchell J., Age in the Internet Age: Is the Age of the Farm Operator a Factor in On-Line Business Use? (August 15, 2007). TPRC 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2110228

Peter L. Stenberg (Contact Author)

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Economic Research Service (ERS) ( email )

355 E Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024-3221
United States

Mitchell J. Morehart

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
29
Abstract Views
381
PlumX Metrics