Livestock producers’ needs and willingness to pay for extension services in Adana province of Turkey

There is an ongoing argument about user fees in public agricultural extension services. In Turkey, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Farmers Education Division provides agricultural extension services free of charge to increase farmers’ living conditions. In this study, the livestock producers’ information needs and willingness to pay for extension service was analyzed with using a survey data of producers in Adana province, Turkey, 2005. Contingent valuation method was used to measure livestock producers’ willingness to pay for agricultural extension service. First, producers’ needs toward agricultural extension service were determined, then, the respondents were asked if they were willing to pay a price for a well designed and directed extension service. It was found that producers’ most needed information was marketing of their products. It was determined that, 52.5% of producers were willing to pay for extension service. Producers’ education had no effect on their willingness to pay for extension service, while the number of herd size had a positive relation with willingness to pay.