The Adoption and Disadoption of Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin in the U.S. Dairy Industry

The use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) has been a source of much controversy ever since its commercial introduction in 1993. In spite of initial predictions that it would revolutionize the dairy industry, the reality is that more and more producers are choosing to discontinue using rbST. This paper contributes to the existing literature by addressing the disadoption decision. Using data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. dairy producers, this paper examines the reasons dairy producers have disadopted rbST and identifies the key variables that are correlated with adoption and disadoption. The results show that the use of complementary dairy technologies is associated with a higher probability of adopting rbST, a higher intensity of adoption and a lower probability of disadopting rbST