Purdue Large Commercial Producer research now available

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University’s Large Commercial Producer Project research results are now available.

The project is the flagship research of Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business. It explores how the fundamental attitudes of commercial agricultural producers impact their buying decisions.

“This research is extremely important to agribusiness because producers’ attitudes and resulting behaviors have implications for the way suppliers market and sell to commercial producers,” said Michael Gunderson, associate professor and associate center director.

The research is available for purchase in three formats: a themes report, a data set on crop producers’ purchasing behaviors, and a data set on livestock producers’ purchasing behaviors.

The Large Commercial Producer Project is now conducted every four years. It provides a comprehensive profile of the farms and ranches owned and managed by commercial producers; helps agribusinesses better understand the decision-making processes of commercial producers; obtains up-to-date information on high-priority topics, such as precision agriculture, specialty crop production and contractual relationships; and assesses the implications of the findings for agribusinesses.

In 2017, the project surveyed more than 1,300 U.S. commercial farmers and ranchers representing corn/soybeans, wheat/barley, cotton, fruit/vegetables, dairy and cattle. The covered themes are producer strategies, perceptions of risk, information and salespeople, procurement processes and buying preferences.

The themes report, which is available for $75, provides an overview of the research and outlines key points for each of the five themes. It allows agribusiness managers to apply the research, learn more about customers and identify ways the survey applies to a specific business.

The full data sets – one for livestock and one for crops – are available for $1,000 each. The data is presented in slide format and is segmented by primary commodity produced, farm size, number of farm employees, producer age and producer education.

“The data offers insights into farmer customers that agribusinesses can put to use in a variety of business functions,” Gunderson said. “For example, marketing and sales teams can use this information to benchmark existing market research or serve as a baseline for new market research. Another example is that sales teams can use the insights to improve their offerings to create additional value for farmers.”

Learn more about the Large Commercial Producer Project and access the themes report and data sets at agribusiness.purdue.edu/LCP17. 

Writer: Jennifer Stewart-Burton, 765-496-6032, jsstewar@purdue.edu  

Sources: Michael Gunderson, 765-496-2010, mgunders@purdue.edu 

Masi Keshavarz, Research Project Manager, 765-496-3385, mkeshava@purdue.edu 

Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-8415;
Darrin Pack, Manager/Media Relations and Public Information, dpack@purdue.edu  
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