An Investigation of Conditional Cash Payments in Agricultural Extension: Evidence from Beef Discussion Groups in Ireland

Financially rewarding farmers is an unconventional approach to agricultural extension. We evaluate an extension program, primarily delivered through farmer discussion groups, which rewarded farmers with conditional payments. Combining a matching model with a difference-in-difference estimator to data from the Irish National Farm Survey, we found that there was no significant impact on farm performance from the extension program over a four year period. The results align with previous research and would suggest that financial incentives in the form of conditional payments are not an ideal strategy for agricultural extension or technology adoption