Overview
Farmers combine land, water, commercial inputs, labor,
and their management skills into practices and systems
to produce food and fiber. To sustain production over
time, farmers must make a profit and preserve their resource
and financial assets. Society wants food and fiber products
that are low-cost, safe to consume, and aesthetically
pleasing, and wants production systems that preserve or
enhance the environment. These often competing goals and
pressures are reflected not only in the inputs made available
for production, but also in how the inputs are selected,
combined, and managed at the farm level.
Increasingly, farmers are facing pressures to change
from conventional production practices to more environmentally
friendly practices that encompass critical aspects of
crop production, including pest management, nutrient management,
soil management, and sustainable production systems. ERS
research examines the critical role of economic and environmental
factors in the adoption of management practices and technologies,
including the use of conservation tillage, integrated
pest management, precision farming, nutrient testing,
organic farming, and biotechnology.
Features
The
Value of Plant Disease Early Warning Systems: A Case
Study of USDA's Soybean Rust Coordinated Framework examines USDA's system to provide real-time, county-level
forecasts of soybean rust in the United States. The study
estimates that the information provided by federal, state,
industry and academic partners increased U.S. soybean
producers' profits by between $11 million and $299 million
in 2005, or between 16 cents and $4.12 per acre depending
on assumptions, especially those particularly concerning
the accuracy of rust infection forecasts.
The First Decade of Genetically Engineered
Crops in the United States—Over the past ten years, farmers
have adopted genetically engineered (GE) varieties
of corn, soybeans, and cotton
widely and at rapid rate
and benefited from such adoption. While the level of
consumer concerns about foods that contain GE ingredients
varies by country, with European
consumers being most concerned, these concerns have
not had a large impact on the market for these foods
in the United States.
Economic and Policy
Implications of Wind-Borne Entry of Asian Soybean Rust into the
United States—American soybean producers and
the research, regulatory, and extension institutions
supporting
them are
preparing for the potential wind-borne entry of Asian
soybean rust into
the United States. This report examines how the economic
impacts of
soybean rust establishment will depend on the timing,
location, spread, and severity of rust infestation and
on how soybean
and other crop producers, livestock producers, and consumers
of agricultural
commodities respond to this new pathogen.
U.S.
Agriculture
Depends Increasingly on Imported Fertilizer—U.S. farmers
use about 21 million tons of the nutrients nitrogen, phosphate,
and potash each year in the form of chemical fertilizers, helping
to sustain high U.S. crop yields. But the sources of these nutrients
have changed markedly in recent years from domestic to foreign
suppliers, making the U.S. increasingly dependent on fertilizer
imports. Increasingly depending on the import would result in changing
of the current fertilizer distribution and storage system, which
was constructed around the U.S. supply base, to supply fertilizers
to meet farmer demand.
Managing
Manure:New Clean Water Act Regulations Create Imperative
for Livestock Producers—New Clean Water Act
Regulations Create Imperative for Livestock Producers-Nutrients
from livestock and poultry manure are key sources of
water pollution. Ever-growing numbers of livestock and
poultry per farm and per acre have increased the risk
of water pollution, with manure being disposed of in
ways not adequately addressed in the original 1972 regulations.
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA signed new regulations on December 15, 2002 that
would compel operations with the largest number of animals
to manage their manure according to a nutrient management
plan.
ARMS
Data Highlight Trends in Cropping Practices—Since 1996,
U.S. farmers have responded to a number of industry-altering changes,
including lower crop prices, the availability of genetically engineered
seed, and environmental incentives embodied in farm legislation.
How have these shocks affected farming and conservation practices
used by farmers?
Recommended Readings
Adoption of Biogenetically Engineered Crops—This
report uses USDA survey data to examine the extent to which US farmers
have adopted bio engineered crops, factors affecting adoption of
these crops, and the impacts of bio engineered crops on input use
and farm-level net returns.
Pest Management in U.S. Agriculture—Describes
the use of pest management practices, including integrated pest
management (IPM), for major field crops and selected fruits and
vegetables.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Adoption of Genetically Engineered
Crops in the U.S.—This data product summarizes the extent of adoption of herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant genetically engineered crops in the United States. Data cover GE varieties of corn, cotton, and soybeans over the 2000-2007 period, by State.
Crop Production
Practices—This web-based delivery tool allows
the user to create customized data summaries based on
information collected through a series of field-level
commodity surveys. Also known as Phase II of the Agricultural
Resource Management Survey (ARMS), this series is USDA's
primary source of information about the current status
and trends in crop production practices for several large-acreage
crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton). This survey
also obtains data on U.S. farmers' agricultural resource
use, as well as data to assess potential environmental
impacts associated with crop production practices. The
ARMS survey yields annual data summaries for field-level
data by crop, including: chemicals and seeds, equipment,
previous crops, highly erodible land, irrigation, and
pest, nutrient and crop residue management practices.
Customized data summaries can be generated for production
years beginning in 1996.
Organic Production—In 2005, for
the first time, all 50 States in the U.S. had some certified
organic farmland. This data set surveys organic operations and acreage
for crops and livestock (over 40 commodities), with some tables dating
back to 1992. Data for 2000-2005 include the number of
certified operations, by State.
See all recommended data...
Related Briefing Rooms
Related Links
Environmental Protection
Agency—Information on pesticides.
USDA's Agricultural Research
Service—Programs related to soil, water, and the environment
Glossary
Crop residue management and tillage definitions.
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