Farmer response to lift.

• Main Author: Winchell, Robert Leslie
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: Wheat > Canada.; Surplus agricultural commodities.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/33134

The LIFT Program was introduced by the Canadian Wheat Board and the Federal Cabinet in March of 1970. The program was designed to reduce the number of acres seeded to wheat in the spring of 1970 and thereby reduce the size of wheat stocks in Canada. The objectives of this study of the LIFT Program were; 1. to determine which factors were important in predicting the extent of participation by individual farmers in the LIFT Program; 2. to determine how effective the LIFT Program was in reducing wheat acreage. Data for the study was collected by means of interviewing a random sample of farm operators in the grain growing areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the factors which were most important in predicting the extent of participation in the LIFT Program. The importance of qualitative variables was analysed by chi-square and analysis of variance techniques. The following eight variables were found to be important in predicting the extent of participation in the LIFT Program. 1. number of bushels of wheat on hand per cultivated acre 2. age of operator 3. knowledge of the LIFT Program 4, acres of wheat in 1969 5. grade completed in school by operator's wife 6. "attitude towards change" score 7. attitude towards the LIFT Program, and 8. percentage of summer fallow in the normal crop rotation. These eight variables explained 61.94% of the variation in the extent of participation in the LIFT Program. It was concluded that knowledge of the LIFT Program, attitude towards the LIFT Program, dissemination of information about the program by group methods and by government sources all had an important influence on the extent of participation. It was further concluded that the LIFT Program either directly or indirectly influenced about two thirds of the wheat acreage reduction that occurred in 1970. === Land and Food Systems, Faculty of === Graduate