Downsizing an Agricultural Field Experiment Alters Economic Results: A Case Study

Downsizing the replications of an agricultural experiment altered profit and utility rankings of different cropping systems less than cutting the duration of the experiment. However, failing to plant all crops in a rotation each year altered economic rankings the most. Estimates of system profit variability, and associated economic rankings, were especially sensitive to downsizing experiment length and to failing to plant all crops in a rotation annually. Despite the scientific importance of long full-rotation experiments, short run publication pressures favoring “new data” and methodological innovations might discourage such rich experiments. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.