A comparative analysis of recombinant bovine somatotropin adoption across major US dairy regions

Trends and determinants in the adoption of recombinant bovine somatotropin are examined using data from across the United States. The core findings are: (a) moderate adoption rates and relatively small impacts on national milk production; (b) substantial disactoption, farmers who have tried the technology but stopped using it; (c) no significant differences in characteristics between adopters and disadopters; and (d) major differences between nonadopters and farmers who have tried the technology, with the latter group having significantly higher use rates of complementary, productivity-enhancing technologies and larger herd sizes. This last result holds across states with distinctive herd size distributions.