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Managing Nutrient Losses: Some Empirical Results on the Potential Water Quality Effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

C. Edwin Young  and
Bradley M. Crowder
C. Edwin Young
Affiliation:
Natural Resource Economics Division, ERS, USDA
Bradley M. Crowder
Affiliation:
Natural Resource Economics Division, ERS, USDA
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Abstract

Over-application of manure on cropland can cause water quality degradation. This paper reports a modeling approach for assessing tradeoffs among manure storage and handling systems as they relate to the nutrient loadings in cropland runoff, including nitrate losses to groundwater. The CREAMS simulation model provided estimates of nutrient losses. A linear optimization model was used to determine the income-nutrient loss tradeoffs. Six-month storage was profitable for farmers with average-size dairy herds, but compared to daily spreading caused increased nitrate leaching through the soil to groundwater resources. Twelve-month storage systems decreased farm profitability while decreasing the total nitrogen losses from farm fields.

Type
Articles
Information
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , October 1986 , pp. 130 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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Footnotes

The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Arthur Daugherty and Elizabeth Nielsen of NRED, ERS and two anonymous reviewers. Thanks are extended to Jeffrey Alwang, former graduate research assistant in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Pennsylvania State University, for research assistance. The views expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not reflect official policy of the USDA.

References

Crowder, B.M., and Young, C.E. Modeling Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution for Economic Evaluation of the Conestoga Headwaters RCWP Project. ERS Staff Report No. AGES850614, Natural Resource Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., September 1985.Google Scholar
Knisel, W.G., editor. CREAMS: A Field Scale Model for Chemicals, Runoff, and Erosion from Agricultural Management Systems. Conservation Research Report No. 26, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1980.Google Scholar
Partenheimer, E.J., and Knievel, D.P. Forage-Dairy Systems for the Northeast-A Modeling Approach. Bulletin 845, Pennsylvania State University, College of Agriculture, Northeast Region Forage-Dairy Systems Technical Committee (NE-111), University Park, Pa., 1983.Google Scholar
Shortle, J.S., Young, C.E., and Akerman, M.K. “Economic Evaluation.” St. Albans Bay Rural Clean Water Program, Annual Report. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Burlington, Vt., 1986.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. “Conestoga Headwaters Rural Clean Water Program − 1984 Progress Report.” Lancaster County, Pa., January 1985.Google Scholar
Young, C.E., Alwang, J.R., and Crowder, B.M. Alternative for Dairy Manure Management. ERS Staff Report No. AGES860422, Natural Resource Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 1986.Google Scholar