The University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Bureau of Sociological Research (BOSR) is playing a pivotal role in shaping agricultural research and policy. With years of experience gathering insights from producers across diverse geographies, BOSR is helping inform state and federal policymaking.

Recent research conducted in partnership with BOSR has delved into various agricultural topics, including women in agriculture, grazing, soil health, precision agriculture practices, social networks, and grain marketing. Simanti Banerjee, a professor of agricultural economics, has collaborated with BOSR on several projects, including a survey funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. This survey gathered information from ranchers in Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota about new policies regarding grassland conservation in the Conservation Reserve Program.

"Once published, this is going to be one of the very first studies to look at the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program, because this is a relatively new program under the Conservation Reserve Program," Banerjee said. "The nuanced information is very valuable, both from a research perspective, but also from a practical contract design perspective for the policymaker."

Banerjee emphasized the importance of understanding producers' attitudes toward policy and their willingness to adapt their operations. "We want to make sure we’re reducing barriers to behavior change for those producers in the context of new policies," she said.

The BOSR's expertise in survey methodology has been crucial in obtaining suitable data sets from agricultural producers, which Banerjee noted can be more challenging than surveying the general public. "They bring their own survey methodological expertise to the table, and they will guide us," she said. "Their openness to impart that knowledge to us also builds my own capacity and helps me deploy projects in a timely fashion."

In the 2024-25 project year, BOSR employed various modes to reach four agricultural producer populations, including American farmers and ranchers, to gather data on topics such as grain marketing, grazing, soil health and digital agriculture technologies.

Since 1964, BOSR has been a "one-stop research shop," developing and managing surveys with academic rigor for faculty, departments, administrative units, students, government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Source - https://nebraska.tv