Cropland Cash Rental Rates in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

The report documents the creation of estimates for cropland cash rental rates in the Upper Mississippi River Basin in 1997. Although the basic data come from disparate sources, we employ a unifying estimation procedure based on the presumption that the cropland cash rental rate is an increasing function of corn yield potential. The rates are estimated at some 42,000 National Resources Inventory data points representing cropland in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin

Comparison of Land Use Area Estimates from Three Different Data Sources for the Upper Mississippi River Basin

This study presents the results of comparing land use estimates between three different data sets for the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). The comparisons were performed between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) National Resource Inventory (NRI), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Land Cover Data (NLCD) database, and a combined USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Agricultural Census – NLCD dataset created to support applications of the Hydrologic Unit Model for the U.S. (HUMUS). The comparison was performed for 1992 versions of the datasets because that was the only consistent year available among all three data sources. The results show that differences in land use area estimates increased as comparisons shifted from the entire UMRB to smaller 4- and 8-digit watershed regions (as expected). However, the area estimates for the major land use categories remained generally consistent among all three data sets across each level of spatial comparison. Differences in specific crop and grass/forage land use categories were magnified with increasing refinement of the spatial unit of comparison, especially for close-grown crops, pasture, and alfalfa/hayland. The NLCD close-grown crop area estimates appear very weak relative to the NRI and HUMUS, and the lack of specific crop land use estimates limits its viability for UMRB agricultural-based modeling scenarios. However, the NLCD is a key source of non-agricultural land use data for HUMUS and supplemental wetland land use area estimates for the NRI. We conclude that comparisons between more recent versions of the data sets (i.e., 1997 NRI, 1997 or 2002 Agricultural Census, and 2001 NLCD) would not result in significant additional insights and that the 1997 NRI is a viable land use data source for current CARD UMRB water quality modeling studies. However, adoption of other land use data such as USDA-NASS remote sensing data should be investigated

Managing the Risk of European Corn Borer Resistance to Transgenic Corn: An Assessment of Refuge Recommendations

The use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in agriculture has been on the rise since 1995. Scientists have been working to develop a high-dose refuge management plan that can effectively delay European corn borer resistance to pesticidal GMO corn. This paper develops a stochastic agricultural production model to assess and provide insight into the reasons why refuge recommendations remain controversial

Impact of High Corn Prices on Conservation Reserve Program Acreage

Growing demand for corn due to the expansion of ethanol has increased concerns that environmentally sensitive lands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will return to crop production. Most of the land currently in the CRP was enrolled because of the potential for environmental damage if it were farmed. A return of this land to crop production would likely lead to lower environmental quality. Iowa has a large number of CRP acres, it produces more ethanol than any other state, and it produces the most corn. Thus, an examination of the impacts of higher crop prices on Iowa land moving out of the CRP and the resulting effects on soil erosion, nutrient losses, and carbon sequestration will give insight into what we might expect nationally in the years ahead if crop prices remain high.</p

Cropland Cash Rental Rates in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

The report documents the creation of estimates for cropland cash rental rates in the Upper Mississippi River Basin in 1997. Although the basic data come from disparate sources, we employ a unifying estimation procedure based on the presumption that the cropland cash rental rate is an increasing function of corn yield potential. The rates are estimated at some 42,000 National Resources Inventory data points representing cropland in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.</p