bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing the economic potential for alternative farming systems: Case analyses in South Dakota
Authors: Dobbs Thomas L. , Leddy Mark G. , Smolik James D. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractResults of calculations on the economic potential for alternative (low input, sustainable) farming systems in a small grain-row crop region of the Northern Plains are reported. Two sets of alternative farming systems, in which no chemical fertilizers or herbicides are used, are compared with various conventional and reduced till systems. In Farming Systems Study I (FSS1), an alternative rotation consisting of oats, alfalfa, soybeans, and corn is compared with conventional and ridge till rotation systems composed of corn, soybeans, and spring wheat. In Farming Systems Study II (FSS2), three systems with an emphasis on small grains are compared. An alternative system rotation consisting of oats, sweet clover, soybeans, and spring wheat is compared with conventional and minimum till rotation systems comprised of soybeans, spring wheat, and barley. Results of baseline economic analyses show that alternative farming systems can be competitive with more conventional systems in at least some situations. The alternative systems entail markedly lower direct costs, and the alternative system in FSS2 has approximately the same net returns as the comparable conventional and minimum till systems. The FSS1 alternative system has positive but somewhat lower net returns than the comparable conventional and ridge till systems. Sensitivity analyses were conducted with alternative system crop yields, chemical fertilizer and herbicide prices, and varying assumptions about future Federal farm program support levels and acreage set aside requirements. The yield sensitivity analyses show that one alternative farming system requires yields about 5–10 percent above those of the comparable conventional system to produce the same net returns. However, the other alternative system is competitive with a conventional system even with yields 5 percent lower. Analyses varying chemical fertilizer and herbicide prices reveal that the alternative farming system in FSS1 becomes competitive with more conventional systems when fertilizer and herbicide prices rise by 50 percent. The alternative farming system in FSS2 is already competitive at current fertilizer and herbicide prices. In some cases, sensitivity analyses with Federal farm program provisions indicate that reductions in farm program benefits increase the economic competitiveness of alternative farming systems. However, important exceptions occur. Results indicate that not only the level of future farm program benefits, but also the form of program provisions and compliance requirements, will affect the relative competitiveness of alternative farming systems.
Use of biological control measures in the intensive management of insect pests in New Jersey
Authors: Lashomb James H. , Metterhouse William , Chianese Robert 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe U.S. public is expressing strong preference for the use of biological control methods in the management of U.S. agricultural, forest, and rangeland insect pests. This follows from a widespread understanding among citizens that synthetic insecticides have potentially harmful side effects on humans and that they are spreading increasingly as pollutants in the environment. Major recent increases in the number of pesticide-resistant insect species also put pressure on the agricultural community toward adoption of alternative non-agchemical plant and animal protection strategies. Movement in the direction of such alternatives has been facilitated by the fact that in the last two decades much progress has been made in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) through an improved understanding of the interactions of pests with their hosts. In that time period, many advances have been made in describing and predicting insect movement, seasonal cycles, and the effects of secondary plant compounds on insect reproduction. Simultaneously, much has been learned about the behavior, physiology, and population dynamics of insect parasitoids, i.e. parasites on insect pests. In the 1990's and subsequently, Biological Control Intensive Pest Management (BCIPM) will require continuing research to attain needed advancement in knowledge of growth and development of host plants, population dynamics of pests and parasitoids, and ecology of secondary pests that may interfere with implementation of BCIPM programs. Extension and research personnel will then be increasingly able to devise useful control methods for pests within selected cropping systems. We describe here examples to illustrate present and potential future use of BCIPM in different practical plant systems in New Jersey.
Implementation of biological control
Authors: van Lenteren Joop C. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe number of species of insect pests, estimated to be maximally 10,000 worldwide, forms only a small part of the millions of species of plant-eating insects. Chemical pest control is becoming increasingly difficult and objectionable in terms of environmental contamination so that other methods of pest control need to be developed. One of the best alternatives is biological control. Natural and inoculative biological control has already proven successful against a variety of pests over large areas. One is inclined to forget, however, how successful a biological control program has been as soon as the pest problem has been solved. Other types of biological control involving the regular introduction or augmentation of natural enemies are better known, although these have been applied on a much smaller scale; a survey of the present-day application of these latter types of biological control is presented here. Phases in the implementation of biological control are illustrated and needed future developments in research are discussed. The main limitation on the development of biological control is not the research, since natural enemies are easier found and with a much lower investment than new chemical pesticides, but rather the attitudes held by growers and disinterest on the part of industry, policy-makers, and politicians. The first priority for those concerned with the development and application of safer pest control should, therefore, be to change the perceptions that these other groups have of biological control.
Cultural practices for enhanced growth of young peach trees
Authors: Glenn D. M. , Welker W. V. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractA review of orchard soil management effects on tree growth and soil parameters is presented. It shows the gap between present common practices and results achievable in other systems. An alternative soil management system for newly planted peach trees, termed “killed-sod”, is described. This system has improved soil structure and rainfall infiltration and greatly increased early tree growth and yield. A fertilization study has demonstrated that the addition of a complete fertilizer in four different soil management systems could not account for the increased growth resulting from the improved soil environment in the killed-sod system.
Comparative local economic benefits of conventional and alternative cropping systems
Authors: Lockeretz William 
Published: October 2009

AbstractI reexamined five previously published studies that compared the economics of high input conventional crop production systems in various regions to the economics of lower input alternatives that use green manures, cover crops, and more diversified rotations, but no inorganic fertilizers and little or no synthetic pesticides. The original analyses were extended to include estimates of each production system's contribution to the local economy, both directly through farmers' payments for labor and interest, and indirectly through the payrolls and profits of enterprises serving farmers. A similar comparison was also made for high input irrigated and lower input nonirrigated corn production. On a per acre basis, the high input systems' local economic benefits were equal to or greater than those of the lower input systems. However, they were lower as a fraction of total value of production in all but one case, since production was always higher for the higher input systems. Correspondingly, with all but one of the higher input systems, a greater portion of the value of production left the local economy to pay for purchased inputs. This becomes significant if the production system is not sustainable, so that the total productive potential of the area's agricultural resources is finite when integrated over their entire economic life. In such circumstances, the results imply that under the conventional system the local economy will capture a smaller share of the total productive value of those resources.
Implications of low-input farming systems for the U.S. position in world agriculture
Authors: Lee John E. , Baum Kenneth 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe adoption of sustainable farming system practices by U.S. producers could affect the international competitive position of many agricultural commodities, including livestock. The adoption of such practices over the next several decades will depend on commodity policy legislation, environmental regulation, commodity price and acreage diversion incentives, and the success of ongoing GATT negotiations and trade liberalization. However, the extent and magnitude of these effects are dependent on the internalization and recognition of social costs of agricultural production by farmers and explicit tradeoffs between environmental degradation and agricultural profitability. Environmental externalities include soil loss, surface and ground water contamination by agricultural residuals, loss of wildlife habitat, and diminished aesthetic amenities. In effect, both public and private concerns about the marginal social environmental costs associated with production, when present, will influence the shape and location of commodity supply curves and the U.S. export capability. In turn, these supply curves, which define the production capacity of the U.S. to meet domestic and export demand, will determine our comparative competitive positions for different commodities in world markets.
Energy, water, and economic savings of improved production systems on the Texas High Plains
Authors: Masud Sharif M. , Lacewell Ronald D. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe purpose of this paper was to quantify economic and energy use implications of new improved irrigation and limited tillage production systems for the Texas High Plains. Per hectare uses of natural gas and electricity under alternative irrigation distribution systems for corn, sorghum, wheat, cotton, and soybeans were utilized to estimate total amounts of natural gas and electricity used in the production of these crops on the High Plains of Texas. The amount of diesel fuel used was estimated for conventional and limited tillage systems under dryland and irrigation production. Total amounts of water used for the five crops under the improved and conventional irrigation systems were also estimated for the High Plains. Results indicated improved irrigation and limited tillage systems reduced energy and water use on the High Plains. Total natural gas and electricity were estimated to decline over 20 percent, diesel fuel declined 32 percent, and water use for irrigation declined about 23 percent. Use of the improved irrigation and limited tillage production systems was also shown to significantly increase annual net returns to farmers ($40.0 million or 13.3 percent).
Farm program impacts on incentives for green manure rotations
Authors: Young Douglas L. , Painter Kathleen M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractFarm programs influence the profitability of a crop rotation through five effects: (1) a deficiency payment (DP) effect, (2) an acreage reduction (ARP) effect, (3) a base effect, (4) a crop price effect, and (5) a risk reduction effect. This study initially examines ARP and DP effects of the 1985 Farm Bill on the relative profitability of a low-input rotation and a grain-intensive conventional rotation in Washington state over 1986–1990. In years of low deficiency payments or high foregone returns from ARP land, the low-input green manure rotation was competitive with the conventional rotation but lost its advantage in years of low ARP costs or high deficiency payments. Long-runincentives to maintain wheat base introduced a consistent bias against the low-input green manure rotation. Planting flexibility options proposed during the 1990 Farm Bill debate could reduce farm program barriers to green manure and other low-input rotations. The Bush Administration's Normal Crop Acreage (NCA) proposal, which was not accepted in the 1990 legislation, would have largely eliminated base erosion for the green manure rotation in this study. More importantly, non-ARP green manure acreage would have qualified for deficiency payments under the NCA, thereby sharply increasing the low-input rotation's relative profitability. Proposals like the NCA might receive further attention in the future due to environmental concerns, fiscal pressures, or possible trade agreements requiring multilateral phaseout of agricultural subsidies coupled to commodities.
Participatory research: A farmer's perspective
Authors: Watkins Gordon 
Published: October 2009

AbstractU.S. land grant institutions currently follow? “top-down” model of research and extension in which farmers are the passive recipients of research results based on perceived needs which have been identified, prioritized, and investigated by scientists with little input from the end users. This exclusionary approach was designed to meet the needs of large scale, mono-cultural farming systems. However small scale, diversified, integrated systems are better served by a more participatory approach to research and extension in which farmers are actively involved as peers of researchers and extensionists in identifying research needs, designing and implementing experimental protocols, and delivering research results. This paper provides a brief outline of an alternative to the top-down approach termed “Farmers-First-and-Last”, developed and tested by Robert Chambers of the Institute of Developmental Studies, which has been effective in working with diversified farmers in developing countries.
The on-farm research program of Practical Farmers of Iowa
Authors: Richard  , Thompson Sharon 
Published: October 2009

AbstractPractical Farmers of Iowa is a grassroots organization whose members conduct research on profitable, environmentally sound alternative production methods on their own farms. The experimental design uses randomized, replicated side-by-side machine-harvested strips running the length of the field. Production techniques investigated include ridge tillage with and without herbicides, ridge tillage and conventional tillage without herbicides, with cover crops, and with late spring soil nitrate tests to determine efficient N application rates. This work has led to effective cooperation among farmers, extension personnel, and university researchers, and has inspired similar activities in other states.
Raised field agriculture in Tlaxcala, Mexico: An ecosystem perspective on maintenance of soil fertility
Authors: Crews Timothy E. , Gliessman Stephen R. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractRaised field agriculture in southwest Tlaxcala, Mexico, is a sophisticated, intensive traditional system of wetland cultivation that dates back to as early as 300 B. C. It provides an exceptional example of how farming practices can fit into and even take advantage of ecosystem processes. The raised fields appear to be largely self-reliant in energy and nutrients. Tlaxcalan farmers use canals, aquatic plants, polycultures, alder(Alnus firmifolia)and other trees to intensify the nutrient input into their fields and minimize nutrient losses through leaching and runoff Although the raised field system is an impressive, functioning example of a historically sustainable farming system, it is endangered by modern pressures to increase production through higher use of inputs and alteration of agroecosystem design.
An economic assessment of maintaining high phosphorus and potassium soil test levels
Authors: Chase Craig , Duffy Michael , Webb John , Voss Regis 
Published: October 2009

AbstractPhosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilization costs, yields, and economic returns associated with various P and K fertilization levels were evaluated on corn and soybeans in rotation in northeastern Iowa from 1979 to 1989. The treatments were 0, 20, and 40 lb P/acre and 0, 60, and 120 lb K/acre, in all nine combinations, plus the high rate (40+120) applied on alternate years. (The latter treatment applied, respectively, in odd or even years was averaged into one treatment.) The initial soil test levels averaged 57 pounds of P and 355 pounds ofK. The P-K treatments did not significantly explain the variation in corn or soybean yields. Net returns were found directly related to the cost of the treatment, so that the control treatment (0+0) achieved the highest returns. The cost of using the 20+60 treatment to maintain soil test levels in the high to very high range was $24/acre per year. Annual application of 40+120 cost $45/acre. A sufficiency approach to applying P and K could drastically reduce fertilizer costs for high-testing soils. Further research is needed to determine if recommendations from this approach can be lowered in some cases. Extension workers must continue to develop ways to aid farmers in realizing the usefulness of soil testing. Farmers must carefully evaluate their fertilization needs in conjunction with soil test results. Together, a more sustainable approach to P and K fertilization for corn and soybeans may be attained.
Information requirements of reduced-chemical production methods
Authors: Lockeretz William 
Published: October 2009

AbstractSystems that reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides are commonly said to do so by greater use of information and ecological understanding. However, this plausible proposition has not received much empirical examination. Different possible roles of information have not been clearly differentiated: in the development of new methods, in the farmer's decision whether to adopt them, and in their continued use. Also, the additional work that might be needed to handle information in reducedchemical systems often is not distinguished from the need for greater management ability. Typical procedures for evaluating the performance of alternative systems do not give enough attention to farmers' management ability and use of information. This is also true for research on conventional systems, even though in such systems information and management are not usually considered to have such a critical role.
The need for a soil quality index: Local and regional perspectives
Authors: Granatstein D. , Bezdicek D.F. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractOur knowledge of soil is based primarily on quantitative analysis of isolated physical, chemical, and biological properties. However, the interaction of these quantitative aspects determines soil quality. Integrative tools are needed by researchers, farmers, regulators, and others to evaluate changes in soil quality from human activity at a local and global level. An index needs to be adaptable to local or regional conditions. For example, the parameters needed to determine changes in soil quality may differ between a semi-arid wheat field and a rice paddy. Suitable reference points and optimum ranges are needed for soil quality attributes. The present challenge is to integrate a suite of soiltests into a meaningful index that correlates with productivity, environmental, and health goals.
Integrated resource management for sustained crop production in arid regions of India
Authors: Gupta J. P. , Aggarwal R. K. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractIn arid areas of western Rajasthan, major constraints responsible for low plant production include low and erratic rainfall, high evaporation, and low soil fertility, particularly with respect to organic carbon and nitrogen. These problems lead to acute shortages of grain, fodder and fuelwood. Sustainable crop and biomass production can be achieved through adoption of agroforestry, silvipastoral and agrihorticultural systems. Integrated nutrient and moisture management practices can help in controlling pathogens and in improving the soil environment for higher sustained production.
Effect of row width on herbicide and cultivation requirements in row crops
Authors: Forcella Frank , Westgate Mark E. , Warnes Dennis D. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractCrops grown in narrow rows (NR, 0.25 to 0.38 m) shade weed seedlings more than do those grown in traditional wide rows (WR, 0.76 m). NR crops may require less herbicide and interrow cultivation than WR crops for equally effective weed control. This hypothesis was tested by comparing weed control and crop yield in NR and WR crops when the following percentages of recommended application rates (RAR) of standard herbicides were applied: soybean, 0, 50 and 100%; sunflower, 0, 25, 50, and 100%; and corn, 0, 33, and 100% in three separate sets of experiments conducted over 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively. In all treatments with 100% RAR, excellent weed control prevented reductions in crop yield. When only 25 to 50% RAR was applied, weed control was consistently high in NR (82 to 99% control), but variable in WR (42 to 99% control). Weed control and crop yields typically were lowest in NR without herbicides. Interrow cultivation controlled 0 to 81% of weeds in WR crops. In reduced herbicide treatments (25 to 50% RAR), yields of NR soybean and sunflower typically were about equal to those in WR with 100% RAR, but NR corn yields were about 10% less. Considering the reduced herbicide use and lower weed control costs, planting corn, soybean, and sunflower in narrow rows may represent a practical form of low-input production of these important crops.
Reduced chemical input cropping systems in the southeastern United States. I. Effect of rotations, green manure crops and nitrogen fertilizer on crop yields
Authors: King Larry D. , Buchanan Marc 
Published: October 2009

AbstractInterest in reducing purchased chemical inputs to reduce production costs and avoid possible environmental damage prompted this 7-year study. Two management systems, current management practices (CMP) and reduced chemical inputs (RCI), were evaluated for four crop sequences from 1985 through 1992: continuous grain sorghum; continuous corn; a 2-year rotation of corn and double-cropped winter wheat and soybean; and a 4-year rotation of corn, winter wheat/soybean, corn, and red clover hay (changed in 1989 to a 3-year rotation of corn, red clover hay, and wheat/soybean). No-till planting and recommended rates of fertilizer and pesticides were used in the CMP system. In the RCI system, N was supplied by a crimson clover green manure crop or the red clover in the rotation. Weed control was by chisel plowing, disking, and cultivation.Crimson clover top growth accumulated from 70 to 180 kgN/ha, red clover from 77 to 130 kg N/ha. Rotating crops increased corn yield with CMP but not with RCI. lndry years, corn yields were low (less than 3000 kg/ha), corn did not respond to fertilizer N, and yields generally were higher with CMP than with RCI. With adequate rain, yield of all RCI treatments were the same as yield in CMP continuous corn receiving no fertilizer N. Johnsongrass competition was the main reason for low yields in the RCI treatments. Soybean yields were higher with CMP in 4 years and higher with RCI one year. Wheat and grain sorghum yields were higher with CMP than with RCI. A dramatic decline in johnsongrass in sorghum was noted in 1989, and several plots remained relatively free of johnsongrass through 1992.Management decisions made during the experiment included the degree of input reduction in RCI; whether to either end or modify unproductive treatments; whether to use newly available varieties and pesticides; whether to suspend the experiment to eliminate johnsongrass; and how to add new treatments while retaining the original treatments.