Environmental Benefits from Reduced Pesticide Use and Returns to Research: An Application to the U.S. Cotton Industry

Cotton production is one of the main pesticide use industries in the U.S. This intensive use has resulted in the disruption of naturally occurring biological control factors that regulate other insect pest populations and “the pesticide treadmill”. The result is resistance to insecticides, high control costs and unacceptable levels of chemical insecticides in the environment. Concerns about the environmental and human health effects from pesticide use thus need to be modeled in evaluation studies.Cotton, pesticide use, environmental effects, supply function, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Environmental Benefits from Reduced Pesticide Use and Returns to Research: An Application to the U.S. Cotton Industry

Cotton production is one of the main pesticide use industries in the U.S. This intensive use has resulted in the disruption of naturally occurring biological control factors that regulate other insect pest populations and “the pesticide treadmill”. The result is resistance to insecticides, high control costs and unacceptable levels of chemical insecticides in the environment. Concerns about the environmental and human health effects from pesticide use thus need to be modeled in evaluation studies

Amenity benefits and public policy: An application to the Georgia Pecan Industry

Most agricultural production results in both marketable and non-marketable products. Most policy decisions however, tend to be made based only on the market value, which ignores the non-marketable value or amenity benefits. One type of amenity benefits is farmland amenities which are attributes of farmland that are uniquely provided by actively farmed land. Examples include the scenic beauty of rolling pasture, orchards and the cultural value of farming as a way of life. Farmland also produces non-farm amenities, such as open space, wildlife habitats, and groundwater recharge. Most amenity benefits are classified as public goods in that they are non-excludable and non-rival in terms of use. Thus, most amenities do not have a market value associated with them so that their value can not be captured by landowners and therefore are subject to market failure. This failure leads to government intervention in an effort to encourage and support agriculture with programs for farmers through various public policies. Failure to include amenity benefits results in under-allocation of resources like land towards pecan production

Amenity benefits and public policy: An application to the Georgia Pecan Industry

Most agricultural production results in both marketable and non-marketable products. Most policy decisions however, tend to be made based only on the market value, which ignores the non-marketable value or amenity benefits. One type of amenity benefits is farmland amenities which are attributes of farmland that are uniquely provided by actively farmed land. Examples include the scenic beauty of rolling pasture, orchards and the cultural value of farming as a way of life. Farmland also produces non-farm amenities, such as open space, wildlife habitats, and groundwater recharge. Most amenity benefits are classified as public goods in that they are non-excludable and non-rival in terms of use. Thus, most amenities do not have a market value associated with them so that their value can not be captured by landowners and therefore are subject to market failure. This failure leads to government intervention in an effort to encourage and support agriculture with programs for farmers through various public policies. Failure to include amenity benefits results in under-allocation of resources like land towards pecan production.Amenity Benefits, Pecans, Supply, Public policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Relationship of Consuming Populations to Meat-Goat Production in the United States

Consumer/Household Economics,