Many good studies dealing with economics of conservation
have been reported, but some essential
questions remain unanswered. What effect does
planning the farm to achieve conservation goals
have on farm income? How much income could a
farmer earn if he ignored conservation? How would
income differ between farms planned to keep erosion
losses below an acceptable physical level and
the same farms planned to get the most profit? This
article shows how linear programming can be used
to answer questions of this type. The opinions expressed
are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent the views of the Farm Economics
Division, Economic Research Service, or the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
