Estimating the Costs of Conservation Compliance

The conservation compliance provision of the 1985 Food Security Act requires farmer to implement conservation plans on highly erodible croplan as a prerequisite for elegibility in agricultural commodity programs Reducing erosion to the soil loss tolerance level on about 46 million highly erodible cropland acres needing treatment would cost almost $700 million annually, an average of$15 per acr

ESTIMATING THE DERIVED DEMAND FOR SEWAGE SLUDGE IN CROP PRODUCTION

One option for the disposal of sewage sludge is land spreading, including application to private croplands. Land spreading may allow some of the sewage treatment costs to the municipality or county to be offset by farmers' payments for sludge as a crop producing resource. This study investigates the conditions under which a market for sludge will emerge. A linear programming model of a profit maximizing corn for gain farm is formulated and the quantity of sludge available is parametrically varied to trace out marginal productivity curves under various situations. The results for Anne Arundel county, Maryland sludge show a range in value from 0-35 $/ton at application rates from 0-20 tons/acre/year for three years