The levels of cellulosic biofuel feedstocks that are being produced continue to fall short of standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Technical feasibility studies have been conducted to determine if the levels of production the EPA has mandated are obtainable; and breakeven farmgate studies have shown the costs of growing cellulosic feedstocks. However, very few studies have been conducted on farmers’ willingness to grow these feedstocks. This study examines farmers’ willingness to harvest crop residue, or grow a dedicated annual or perennial bioenergy crop. A Heckman selection model is used to account for selection bias, estimate the probability of a farmer growing a particular feedstock and to determine how many initial acres farmers would be willing to plant of a dedicated annual or perennial bioenergy crop. We find that, due to the variation in the type of crops and feedstocks considered different variables are significant in the farmers’ decision-making process.

正在生产的纤维素生物燃料原料的水平继续达不到美国环境保护署(EPA)规定的标准。已经进行了技术可行性研究，以确定是否可以获得环境保护署规定的生产水平;对农场盈亏平衡的研究已经表明了种植纤维素原料的成本。然而，关于农民是否愿意种植这些饲料的研究很少。这项研究调查了农民是否愿意收获作物残渣，或者种植专门的一年生或多年生生物能源作物。Heckman选择模型用于考虑选择偏差，估计农民种植特定原料的概率，并确定多少亩农民愿意种植专门的一年生或多年生生物能源作物。我们发现，由于作物和原料种类的不同，不同的变量在农民的决策过程中具有显著性。