IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/uerser/308081.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Agricultural Pesticide Use Trends and Policy Issues

Author

Listed:
  • Osteen, Craig D.
  • Szmedra, Philip I.

Abstract

Pesticides used on major crops increased from 225 million pounds of active ingredient (the material in a pesticide product that controls pests) in 1964 to 558 million pounds in 1982. Rapid growth in the use of herbicides led that dramatic increase. Farmers increased their use of pesticides on corn and soybeans to a greater extent than on other crops during that period. Insecticide use on cotton fell, probably because the pyrethroid insecticides, which are applied at low rates, were introduced in the late 1970's. Since 1980, pesticide use has stabilized or declined. Regulatory decisions that removed pesticides from the market if health or environmental risks outweighed the economic benefits may have reduced the variety of pesticides available to farmers. But, those decisions apparently have not slowed the growth of pesticide use

Suggested Citation

  • Osteen, Craig D. & Szmedra, Philip I., 1989. "Agricultural Pesticide Use Trends and Policy Issues," Agricultural Economic Reports 308081, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uerser:308081
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.308081
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/308081/files/aer622.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.308081?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Craig Osteen & Fred Kuchler, 1987. "Pesticide regulatory decisions: Production efficiency, equity, and interdependence," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 3(3), pages 307-322.
    2. Lee, Jonq-Ying & Langham, Max R., 1973. "A Simultaneous Equation Model Of The Economic-Ecologic System In Citrus Groves," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-6, July.
    3. McDowell, Robert & Marsh, Cleveland & Osteen, Craig, 1982. "Insecticide Use on Cotton in 1979," Staff Reports 333510, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Hanthorn, Michael & Osteen, Craig & McDowell, Robert & Roberson, Larry, 1982. "1980 Pesticide Use On Field Corn In The Lake States," Staff Reports 276733, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    5. William F. Lazarus & Earl R. Swanson, 1983. "Insecticide Use and Crop Rotation under Risk: Rootworm Control in Corn," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(4), pages 738-747.
    6. Liapis, Peter S. & Moffitt, L. Joe, 1983. "Economic Analysis Of Cotton Integrated Pest Management Strategies," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 15(1), pages 1-6, July.
    7. Ferguson, Walter L., 1984. "1979 Pesticide Use On Vegetables In Five Regions," Staff Reports 276786, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Catherine R. Greene & Randall A. Kramer & George W. Norton & Edwin G. Rajotte & McPherson Robert M., 1985. "An Economic Analysis of Soybean Integrated Pest Management," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 67(3), pages 567-572.
    9. Andrilenas, Paul A., 1974. "Farmers' Use of Pesticides in 1971 -- Quantities," Agricultural Economic Reports 307500, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. J. C. Headley, 1968. "Estimating the Productivity of Agricultural Pesticides," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 50(1), pages 13-23.
    11. Osteen, Craig & Suguiyama, Luis, 1988. "Losing Chlordimeform Use in Cotton Production: Its Effects on the Economy and Pest Resistance," Agricultural Economic Reports 308042, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    12. Duffy, Michael & Hanthorn, Michael, 1984. "Returns to Corn and Soybean Tillage Practices," Agricultural Economic Reports 307954, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    13. Liapis, Peter S. & Moffitt, L. Joe, 1983. "Economic Analysis of Cotton Management Strategies Integrated Pest," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 97-102, July.
    14. D. E. Farris & J. M. Sprott, 1971. "Economic and Policy Implications of Pollution from Agricultural Chemicals," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 53(4), pages 661-662.
    15. Gershon Feder, 1979. "Pesticides, Information, and Pest Management under Uncertainty," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 61(1), pages 97-103.
    16. Stan G. Daberkow & Katherine H. Reichelderfer, 1988. "Low-Input Agriculture: Trends, Goals, and Prospects for Input Use," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(5), pages 1159-1166.
    17. Hanthorn, Michael & Osteen, Craig & McDowell, Robert & Robertson, Larry, 1982. "1980 Pesticide Use On Soybeans In The Major Producing States," Staff Reports 276732, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    18. Webb, Shwu-Eng H., 1981. "Preliminary Data: Pesticide Use on Selected Deciduous Fruits in the United States, 1978," Staff Reports 276717, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    19. Parks, John R., 1983. "Pesticide Use on Fall Potatoes in the United States, 1979," Staff Reports 337011, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    20. Richardson, James W., 1973. "Farm Programs, Pesticide Use, And Social Costs," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 5(2), pages 1-9, December.
    21. Lichtenberg, Erik & Zilberman, David, 1986. "The Welfare Economics of Price Supports in U.S. Agriculture," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1135-1141, December.
    22. Eichers, Theodore R. & Andrelinas, Paul A. & Anderson, Thelma W., 1978. "Farmers' Use of Pesticides in 1976," Agricultural Economic Reports 307695, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    23. Lee, Jonq-Ying & Langham, Max R., 1973. "A Simultaneous Equation Model of the Economic-Ecologic System in Citrus Groves," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 167-174, July.
    24. Delvo, Herman W., 1974. "Economic Impact of Discontinuing Aldrin Use in Corn Production," Miscellaneous Publications 327166, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    25. Nielsen, Elizabeth G. & Lee, Linda K., 1987. "The Magnitude and Costs of Groundwater Contamination from Agricultural Chemicals: A National Perspective," Agricultural Economic Reports 308032, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    26. Rich, Peter R., 1982. "1979 Herbicide, Defoliant, and Desiccant Use on Cotton in the United States," Staff Reports 316799, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    27. Bruce Gardner, 1983. "Efficient Redistribution through Commodity Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(2), pages 225-234.
    28. Nielsen, Elizabeth G. & Lee, Linda K., 1987. "The Magnitude And Costs Of Groundwater Contamination From Agricultural Chemicals: A National Perspective," Staff Reports 277938, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shumway, C. Richard & Chesser, Rayanne R., 1994. "Pesticide Tax, Cropping Patterns, and Water Quality in South Central Texas," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 224-240, July.
    2. Ollinger, Michael & Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge, 1998. "Innovation And Regulation In The Pesticide Industry," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 27(1), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Carlson, Gerald A. & Shui, Shangnan, 1991. "Farm Programs And Pesticide Demand," 1991 Annual Meeting, August 4-7, Manhattan, Kansas 271369, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Ben-Haim, Yakov & Osteen, Craig D. & Moffitt, L. Joe, 2013. "Policy dilemma of innovation: An info-gap approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 130-138.
    5. James S. Shortle & Andrew Laughland, 1994. "Impacts Of Taxes To Reduce Agrichemical Use When Farm Policy Is Endogenous," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 3-14, January.
    6. Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge & Nehring, Richard & Osteen, Craig & Wechsler, Seth James & Martin, Andrew & Vialou, Alex, 2014. "Pesticide Use in U.S. Agriculture: 21 Selected Crops, 1960-2008," Economic Information Bulletin 178462, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Ollinger, Michael & Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge, 1995. "Regulation, Innovation, and Market Structure in the U.S. Pesticide Industry," Agricultural Economic Reports 308425, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Shoemaker, Robbin A. & Malik, Arun S., 1993. "Optimal Cost-Sharing Programs to Reduce Agricultural Pollution," Technical Bulletins 157045, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Whittaker, Gerald W. & Lin, Biing-Hwan & Vasavada, Utpal, 1995. "Restricting Pesticide Use: The Impact On Profitability By Farm Size," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 27(2), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Ribaudo, Marc O. & Shoemaker, Robbin A., 1995. "The Effect of Feedgrain Program Participation on Chemical Use," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 211-220, October.
    11. Knutson, Ronald D., 1990. "External Influences on Agriculture: Societal, Environmental and Global Economy," Policy Issues Papers 257861, Texas A&M University, Agricultural and Food Policy Center.
    12. Swinton, Scott M. & King, Robert P., 1990. "Weedsim: A Bioeconomic Model Of Weed Management In Corn," Staff Papers 14164, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    13. Wilson, Clevo & Tisdell, Clem, 2001. "Why farmers continue to use pesticides despite environmental, health and sustainability costs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 449-462, December.
    14. Feather, Peter & Cooper, Joseph C., 1995. "Voluntary Incentives for Reducing Agricultural Nonpoint Source Water Pollution," Agricultural Information Bulletins 33619, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    15. Ollinger, Michael & Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge, 1998. "Sunk costs and regulation in the U.S. pesticide industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 139-168, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ferguson, Walter L., 1985. "Pesticide Use on Selected Crops: Aggregated Data, 1977-80," Agricultural Information Bulletins 309340, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. David J. Pannell, 1991. "Pests and pesticides, risk and risk aversion," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 5(4), pages 361-383, August.
    3. Lichtenberg, Erik & Zilberman, David & Archibald, Sandra O., 1990. "Economics and Pesticides," Working Papers 197750, University of Maryland, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    4. Swinton, Scott M. & King, Robert P., 1994. "A bioeconomic model for weed management in corn and soybean," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 313-335.
    5. Archer, David Walter, 1995. "Self-insurance and self-protection in weed control: implications for nonpoint source pollution," ISU General Staff Papers 1995010108000012033, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Liu, Shiping & Carlson, Gerald A. & Hoag, Dana L., 1995. "Trade-Off Analysis Of Herbicide Withdrawals On Agricultural Production And Groundwater Quality," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 27(1), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Padgitt, Merritt & Newton, Doris & Penn, Renata & Sandretto, Carmen, 2000. "Production Practices for Major Crops in U.S. Agriculture, 1990-97," Statistical Bulletin 262287, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Regev, Uri, 1990. "The Impact of Risk on Pest Management Strategies," 1990 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Vancouver, Canada 270735, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    9. Lin, Biing-Hwan & Padgitt, Merritt & Bull, Len & Delvo, Herman & Shank, David & Taylor, Harold, 1995. "Pesticide and Fertilizer Use and Trends in U.S. Agriculture," Agricultural Economic Reports 308423, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Hrubovcak, James & Vasavada, Utpal & Aldy, Joseph E., 1999. "Green Technologies for a More Sustainable Agriculture," Agricultural Information Bulletins 33721, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    11. Swinton, Scott M. & King, Robert P. & Lybecker, Donald W., 1992. "The Effect of Triazine Restriction Policies on Recommended Weed Management in Corn," Staff Paper Series 201160, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    12. C.S. Kim & C. Sandretto & N.D. Uri, 1997. "The Implications of the Adoption of Alternative Production Practices on the Estimation of Input Productivity in Agriculture," Energy & Environment, , vol. 8(2), pages 133-150, June.
    13. Ervin, David & Algozin, Kenneth & Carey, Marc & Doering, Otto & Frerichs, Stephen & Heimlich, Ralph & Hrubovcak, Jum & Konyar, Kazim & McCormick, Ian & Osborn, Tim & Ribaudo, Marc & Shoemaker, Robbin, 1991. "Conservation and Environmental Issues in Agriculture: An Economic Evaluation of Policy Options," Staff Reports 278567, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. Oriade, Caleb Adewale, 1995. "A bioeconomic analysis of site-specific management and delayed planting strategies for weed control," Faculty and Alumni Dissertations 307890, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    15. Weaver, Robert D. & Rauniyar, Ganesh, 1993. "The Economics of Adoption of Environmentally Beneficial Agricultural Practices: (EBAPs): An Analytical Review of Evidence," Staff Paper Series 256847, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.
    16. Daberkow, Stan, 1987. "Agricultural Input Industry Indicators in 1974-85: Expansion and Contraction," Agricultural Information Bulletins 309404, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    17. Liapis, Peter S. & Moffitt, L. Joe, 1986. "Economic Analysis Of Cotton Integrated Pest Management Strategies: Reply," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 18(1), pages 1-2, July.
    18. Vasavada, Utpal & Saint-Louis, Robert & Debailleul, Guy, 1990. "The Conflict Between Trade Policy and Environmental Policy in Agriculture," 1990: The Environment, Government Policies, and International Trade Meeting, December 1990, San Diego, CA 50879, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    19. Crutchfield, Stephen R. & Brazee, Richard J., 1990. "An Integrated Model of Surface and Ground Water Quality," 1990 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Vancouver, Canada 271011, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    20. Reichelderfer, Katherine H., 1989. "Water quality legislation affecting agriculture," Agricultural Outlook Forum Archive 1923 - 1997 326615, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Outlook Forum.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:uerser:308081. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ersgvus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.