Conservation Tillage, Pesticide Use, and Biotech Crops in the U.S.A.

This paper presents the first part of an ongoing project whose objective is to present a long term relationship between conservation tillage, adoption of GE crops and pesticide use for major crops in the United States. In addition, the project aims to provide some innovative tests on causality using a panel data set. This paper presents preliminary results for soybeans.conservation tillage, biotechnology, genetically engineered crops, soybeans, herbicides, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics,

Impact of GE Crop Adoption on Quality-Adjusted Herbicide Use in U.S. Corn Production

This paper presents findings on the use of HT corn and quality-adjusted herbicide use for 12 key corn producing states using a panel data set for 1986-2008. Our preliminary findings indicate an insignificant impact of HT corn on herbicide use, conditioning or accounting for HT corn with other important drivers of corn herbicide use: HT soy, corn output price, glyphoste price, nonherbicide glyponsate price, and percentage of continuous corn and low-till corn. However, we find a positive and significant impact of HT corn on herbicide use in selected states, using regional interaction terms. We use econometric techniques to avoid spurious regression results. Other preliminary runs indicated that the results hold when running the US and regional interactions on 1986-2006 and 1986-2007 data.HT-corn, herbicides, weed resistance, glyphosate, corn, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics,

Evaluating a visual timeline methodology for appraisal and coping research

Theoretical models of stress have become increasingly sophisticated, recognizing the importance of context and history, yet the principal data-gathering method used by researchers remains the self-report questionnaire, a method which is conspicuously ill suited to obtaining data which would allow for exploration of these factors. In this article, we explore the use of visual methods as an alternative to traditional methods, presenting the findings of a study designed to test the utility of a visual timeline technique. A key contribution of this article is the application of an alternative technique for researching stress appraisal and coping. The technique conferred a number of benefits that may not have been provided by more conventional approaches, making it a suitable basis for the exploration of stress appraisal and coping. A further contribution is the identification of a straightforward process for analysing the visual data produced

Analysis of Field Scouting and Insecticide Use

The use of field scouting and insecticide use on Delta cotton farms was investigated. It was found that management and incremental value of scouting increased adoption of scouting. Scouting was not found to be a substitute for insecticide use on these farms. Scouting had a strong effect in increasing the value of the cotton produced

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF COTTON INSECT CONTROL IN NORTH CAROLINA

Insect control practices on North Carolina cotton farms in 1976 were investigated as a basis for estimating the costs and returns to a federally sponsored boll weevil eradication program. The mean number of insecticide applications was 10.9, but most were not directed at boll weevils as a primary target. Comparisons on insecticide use, use of field scouting and other practices are compared for two areas of the state, two farm sizes, counties, and those farmers in and not in spray cooperatives. More years of data are needed for a more complete estimate of the advantages of eradication

Conservation tillage, herbicide use, and genetically engineered crops in the United States : the case of soybeans

This study examines the extent to which adopting herbicide-tolerant (HT) soybeans affects conservation tillage practices and herbicide use. The model is estimated using a state-level panel dataset extending across 12 major soybean-producing states from 1996 to 2006. The results of our analysis suggest that HT adoption induces farmers to adopt conservation tillage practices. Our results also show that HT adoption leads to a decrease in quality-adjusted herbicide use

Impact of GMO Crop Adoption on Quality-Adjusted Pesticide Use in Corn and Soybeans: A Full Picture

Controversies over genetically engineered (henceforth GE or GMO) crops still remain because of uncertainties regarding their long term impact on pesticide use and on the environment if weeds and insects develop resistance to them. Updated USDA data on pesticide use and GMO adoption rates enable us to present a comprehensive analysis that spans 20 years –from 1986 to 2006- for two major crops that have benefited from intensive bioengineering research in the United States: corn and soybeans. After adjusting for the inherent heterogeneity across states and over time in the composition of herbicides and insecticides applied, results suggest that GE crops have lead to a decrease in the use of quality-adjusted pesticides with significant differences between herbicides and insecticides