Section 3, Commercial Fertilizer Management, presents the information pertaining to commercial fertilizer use and nutrient management and Section 4, Pesticide Management presents the information concerning pesticide use. The analysis goes through each of the questions related to inputs management, highlighting similarities and variations among the various ecozones. Where it is pertinent, the data are also subdivided by farm type to indicate different management practices that may exist among the different sectors within ecozones. The farms are broken down by a number of financial, physical and demographic variables. Financial variables relate to farm revenues and primary commodities produced.
Physical variables relate to farm size and the number of farms within an ecozone.
Demographic variables include age and education level of the operator responding to the survey. These types of variables are useful for categorizing farms within each ecozone so that further analysis can reveal trends and practices in inputs management. The first survey result to consider is the farm land area within each ecozone. Farm land area becomes important when discussing results such as manure application and fertilizer use. Farm land area is calculated on the basis of the farms that make up the FIMS sample.