Alternative Management Systems for Enhancing Water Quality of an Aquifer Underlying Claypan Soils

Background

In 1989, the President's Initiative on Enhancing Water Quality was established to assess the effects of prevailing agricultural management systems on the Nation's surface and ground water resources and to develop improved practices, where necessary, to reduce contamination from agricultural fertilizers and pesticides. The research portion of the initiative established five research sites, called the Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MSEA), in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio. Research has focused on the complex interactions of soils, weather, water, chemicals, socioeconomics, and farming systems.

Objectives

The Missouri MSEA project has seven objectives. CARES has contributed to the following two objectives.

1. Socioeconomics: Establish the relative profitability and farmers' attitudes toward adoption of alternative farming systems. The social sub-objective is to assess farmers' attitudes, perceptions and awareness of water quality issues/problems and use of alternative nitrogen and pesticide management practices as well as personal and social facilitators/barriers to the adoption of alternative farming systems. The economic sub-objective is to evaluate the tradeoffs between farm profitability, water quality and soil erosion for alternative farming systems at the farm and watershed scales.
2. Modeling: Refine and develop socioeconomic and biophysical models which describe the profitability, adoption and water quality effects of alternative farming systems and practices.

Methods

Sociological aspects of alternative farming systems to protect water quality have been evaluated based on four analyses:

• surveys of farm operators in Goodwater Creek watershed in spring 1991 and winter 1992-spring 1993
• surveys in two northeastern Missouri watersheds having biophysical characteristics similar to Goodwater Creek watershed
• assessment of personal readiness, social control and situation/action factors affecting decision making by farm operators; and evaluation of changes in farm operators' perceptions of water quality issues and adoption of improved water quality protection practices
• effects of current and alternative farming systems in Goodwater Creek watershed on farm profitability, soil erosion, reduction in nutrient and sediment contamination of surface water, and reduction in potential nitrate leaching water quality were evaluated using mathematical optimization and biophysical simulation models. Results from these models were used to identify tradeoffs between profitability and environmental improvements at the farm and watershed scales.

Major Findings

• Sociological: Personal surveys in Goodwater Creek watershed indicate that the MSEA project has established a good foundation for encouraging the adoption of sound management practices. Seventy-two percent of the farmers surveyed felt the project provided answers to their water quality concerns and 50 percent said they now use greater caution in handling and using pesticides and fertilizers. One group of farmers indicated that recommendations made by experts are the most important and another group said past experience and local knowledge are the most important determinants of their choice of nitrogen fertilizer management. A substantial group of farmers perceive the need for less pesticide use to protect natural resources, and do not think that farmers can be trusted to self-regulate themselves.

  Many farm operators who adopted banded pesticide application decided to discontinue the practice because of time and labor constraints, custom labor requirements, loss of control over operations and potential risks to yields and profitability. A survey of landlords for farm acreage in Missouri counties that are most susceptible to groundwater contamination indicated limited landlord involvement in farming decisions. Personal surveys of farm operators in eight Missouri counties indicated that operators in Audrain county, where most of Goodwater Creek watershed is located, used integrated pest management (IPM) more than three times as often as operators in the other seven counties. This difference was directly related to the commitment of the Audrain county agent to IPM.

• Economic: Soybeans in a corn-soybean rotation with minimum tillage and high nitrogen and pesticide use gives the highest net return per acre. Corn in a corn-soybean rotation with no till and high nitrogen and pesticide use and wheat in a corn-soybean-wheat rotation with minimum tillage and low nitrogen and pesticide use give the lowest net return per acre. A sorghum-soybean rotation with minimum tillage and high nitrogen and pesticide use is the most profitable farming system and a corn-soybean rotation with no-till and high nitrogen and pesticide use is the least profitable farming system.

  The farm-scale analysis shows that: current farming systems are more profitable but pose a higher risk of water contamination than alternative farming systems; no single farming system is dominant in terms of achieving both economic and environmental objectives; and switching from current to alternative farming systems involves tradeoffs between economic returns and environmental quality, and between different environmental objectives.

  The watershed-scale analysis shows that: major improvements in water quality would substantially reduce watershed net returns and acreage in farming systems that are detrimental to surface water quality; major reductions in surface water contamination would require changes in tillage practices, crop rotations and idling of cropland acreage; decreases in watershed net returns tend to be higher when restricting soluble nitrogen concentration in runoff than when restricting sediment yield; farming systems that efficiently reduce sediment yield are different than farming systems that efficiently reduce soluble nitrate concentration in runoff; and increasing the reliability of achieving water quality improvements is costly. Based on these results, farmers are unlikely to adopt the alternative farming systems evaluated in the Missouri MSEA project without financial incentives.

Investigators: Tony Prato, Newell Kitchen, Steve Anderson and Sandy Rikoon

Funding Amount: $1,715,898

Funding Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Project Duration: April 1990 - June 1996

Publications

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Are Farmers Using Too Much Commercial Fertilizer? Evidence from Missouri Farmers, Am. J. Agr. Econ. 74(1992):1309.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Short-Run Onsite Erosion Damages in Missouri. J. Agr. and Res. Econ. 18(1993):302.

Prato, Tony and Feng Xu. Regional Assessment of Farming Systems Utilizing Local Research: A Missouri Case Study. Proceedings: Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Ma, Jian C. and Tony Prato. Integrated Economic and Environmental Assessment of Missouri MSEA Farming Systems. Proceedings: Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Evaluation of Risk for Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri. Proceedings: Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Ma, Jian and Tony Prato. Integrated Modeling of Alternative Agricultural Systems. Proceedings: International Symposium on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, ISSARD '93, Beijing, China, May 25-28, 1993.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Onsite Erosion Damages in Missouri Corn Production. Research Report No. 8, Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, University of Missouri-Columbia, July 1993.

Rikoon, J.S., R.J. Vickers, D.H. Constance. Factors Affecting Farmers' Use and Rejection of Banded Pesticide Applications. Proceedings: Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-14, 1993.

Rikoon, J.S. and D.H. Constance. Incorporating Risk Perception, Assessment, and Management in Education Programs on Pesticide Use and Water Quality. Proceedings: Third Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2, 1993.

Vickers, R.J. and J.S. Rikoon. The Impacts of Farm Livelihood and Livestock Dependency on Farmers' Attitudes Toward Selected Risk and Information Topics. Proceedings: Third Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2, 1993.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato and Jian C. Ma. 1994. Integrated Evaluation of Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri MSEA, J. Agr. and Applied Econ. 26(1).

Prato, Tony, Feng Xu and Jian C. Ma. 1994. Estimation of Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs, J. Agr. and Applied Econ. 26(1).

Lin, Cho-Min, Feng Xu and Tony Prato. 1994. Evaluation of Risk for Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri, J. Agr. and Applied Econ. 26(1).

Prato, Tony, Feng Xu and Jian C. Ma. Estimation of Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs for Alternative Farming Systems. Proceedings: Fourth Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 3, 1994.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato and Cho-Min Lin. Evaluation of Risk for Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri. Research Report No. 9, Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, University of Missouri-Columbia, February 1994.

Prato, Tony, Feng Xu and Jian Ma. Estimation of Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs for Alternative Farming Systems. Research Report No. 10, Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, University of Missouri-Columbia, February 1994.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato and Jian C. Ma. A Farm-Level Sustainable Agricultural Production Model. Proceedings: International Symposium of Sustainable Development: Exclusive or Complementary Approaches of Sustainability? Paris, France, March 16-18, 1994.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato and Jian Ma. A Farm-Level Case Study of Sustainable Agricultural Production. Proceedings: Fifth International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Ft. Collins, CO, June 7-10, 1994.

Heidenreich, Lynn and Tony Prato. The Potential Impact of Alternative Atrazine Policies on Surface Water Quality in Goodwater Creek Watershed, Missouri. Proceedings: Protecting Rural America's Water Resources: Partnerships for Pollution Solutions, Washington, D.C., Oct. 23-26, 1994.

Rikoon, J.S. The Adoption of Water Quality Protection Practices. Proceedings: Region 7 Second Annual Nonpoint Source Program Workshop, Region 7, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Kansas City, MO, 1994.

Rikoon, J.S. Current Public Policy Issues Related to Water Quality Protection in Rural Areas. Rural Policy Research Institute Working Paper Series, Number 94-1. Columbia: RUPRI, 1994.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato and Jian C. Ma. A Farm-Level Case Study of Sustainable Agricultural Production, J. Soil and Water Cons. 50(1995):39-44.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Onsite Erosion Damages in Missouri Corn Production J. Soil and Water Cons. 50(1995):312-316.

Anderson, S.H., N.R. Kitchen, A.A. Prato, and E.E. Alberts. MSEA Project Background and Goals. Proceedings, Fifth Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2-3, 1995.

Fulcher, Chris, Tony Prato and Yan Zhou. Decision Support System for Enhancing Water Quality in an Agricultural Watershed. Proceedings, Fifth Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2-3, 1995.

Prato, Tony, Jian Ma, and Shunxiang Wu. Summary of Economic and Water Quality Impacts of Missouri MSEA Farming Systems. Proceedings, Fifth Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2-3, 1995.

Prato, Tony, and Shunxiang Wu. A Stochastic Programming Analysis of Economic Impacts of Improving Water Quality at the Watershed Scale. Research Report No. 13, Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, University of Missouri-Columbia, February 1995.

Prato, T., F. Xu, S.X. Wu and J.C. Ma. Costs and Returns of Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri MSEA Project. Proceedings: Clean Water-Clean Environment-21st Century, Volume III: Practices, Systems and Adoption, Kansas City, MO, March 5-8, 1995.

Prato, Tony, Jian Ma and Shunxiang Wu. Summary of Economic and Water Quality Impacts of Missouri MSEA Farming Systems. Research Report No. 15, Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, University of Missouri-Columbia, March 1995.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato and Minkang Zhu. Effects of Different Distributional Assumptions for Sediment Yields on Farming System Returns in a Chance-Constrained Programming Model. Research Report No. 16, Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, University of Missouri-Columbia, March 1995.

Rikoon, J.S., D.H. Constance, and W.D. Heffernan. Landlord Involvement in Decision-Making on Rented Cropland: A Preliminary Assessment. Proceedings: Fifth Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2-3, 1995.

Constance, D.H., J.S. Rikoon, and W.D. Heffernan. Separation of Ownership and Environmental Decision-Making on Rented Farmland. Proceedings: Clean Water - Clean Environment - 21st Century, Volume III: Practices, Systems, and Adoption, pp. 66-69. St. Joseph: American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1995.

Constance, D.H., J.S. Rikoon, and W.D. Heffernan. Integrated Pest Management in a Missouri Claypan Soil. Proceedings: Fifth Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2, 1995.

Rikoon, J.S., D.H. Constance, and S. Galetta. Factors Affecting Farmers' Use and Rejection of Banded Pesticide Applications. J. Soil and Water Cons. (forthcoming).

Constance, D.H., J.G. Gilles, J.S. Rikoon, and E.H. Perry. Missouri Farmers and Pesticide Use: A Diversity of Viewpoints. In Harry Schwarzweller and Tom Lyson (eds.) _Sustaining_Agriculture_and_Rural_Development_, Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press (forthcoming).

Raedeke A. and J.S. Rikoon. Competing Knowledge Systems: The Case of Nitrogen Fertilizer Management. Agriculture and Human Values, forthcoming.

Qiu, Zeyuan, Tony Prato and Michael Kaylen. "Watershed-scale Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs Incorporating Yield Uncertainty and Environmental Risk." Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 29(1):210. 1997.

Qiu, Zeyuan, Tony Prato and Chris Fulcher. "The Impacts of Data Resolution on Simulation of Water Quality Using the Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Model and a Geographic Information System". The Proceedings of the 1997 ESRI Users Conference. San Diego, California. July 7-11 1997.

Qiu, Zeyuan and Tony Prato. "Economic Evaluation of Riparian Buffers in an Agricultural Watershed." Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 52(4):283. 1997.

Qiu, Zeyuan and Tony Prato. "Economic Evaluation of Riparian Buffers in an Agricultural Watershed." Journal of the American Water Resources Association (the former Water Resources Bulletin) 34(4). August 1998.

Qiu, Zeyuan, Tony Prato and Michael Kaylen. "Watershed-scale Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs Incorporating Risks: A Target MOTAD Approach." Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 27(2). October 1998.

Presentations

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. An Economic Analysis of the Effect of Reducing Fertilizer on Missouri Corn Farms. 28th Annual Conference of the Missouri Valley Economics Association, St. Louis, MO, February 27-29, 1992.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Are Farmers Using Too Much Fertilizer? Evidence from Missouri. American Agricultural Economics Association, Baltimore, MD, August 9-12, 1992.

Killpack, S., N.R. Kitchen, E.E. Alberts, and A.A. Prato. Missouri's MSEA. Food for the 21st Century/Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station Poster Session, Columbia, MO, month day, 1992.

Prato, Tony. Evaluation of Alternative Policy Criteria for Reducing Cropland Erosion in the United States. Center for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, October 6, 1992.

Rikoon, J.S. 1992. Farmer Awareness of Pesticide and Groundwater Issues. Missouri's Environment: Priority Setting for the 1990s, Columbia, MO, March 8-11, 1992.

Rikoon, J.S. 1993. Risk Perception and Educational Efforts Directed at the Adoption of Groundwater Quality Protection Practices. Third Annual Conference on Water Quality, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 2, 1993.

Prato, Tony and Feng Xu. Regional Assessment of Farming Systems Utilizing Local Research: A Missouri Case Study. Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Ma, Jian C. and Tony Prato. Integrated Economic and Environmental Assessment of Missouri MSEA Farming Systems. Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Rikoon, J.S. Merging Research Adoption Models and Farm-Level Decision-Making on Alternative Management Practices: Lessons from the Case of Banded Pesticide Applications. Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality; Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Rikoon, J.S. Perception of Risk and the Adoption of Strategies to Protect Groundwater: The Impacts of Production and Livelihood Orientations. Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Evaluation of Risk for Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri. Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, MN, February 21-24, 1993.

Xu, Feng and Tony Prato. Short-run Onsite Erosion Damages in Missouri. Western Agricultural Economics Association, Edmonton, Alberta, July 1993.

Constance, D.H., E.B. Perry, and J.S. Rikoon. A Factor Analysis of Missouri Farmers' Attitudes Regarding Reduced Pesticide Use. Rural Sociological Society, Madison, WI, August 7-10, 1993.

Rikoon, J.S. and P.J. Owsley. 1993. Adoption Models and Water Quality Protection: Lessons from Rural Sociology Research. EPA Region VII Non-point Source Pollution Program Workshop, Kansas City, MO., December 4, 1993.

Raedeke, A. and J.S. Rikoon. A Qualitative Examination of the Decision-Making Process in Nitrogen Fertilizer Management. Southern Rural Sociological Association, Nashville, TN, February 2-3, 1994.

Prato, Tony, Feng Xu and Jian C. Ma. Estimation of Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs for Alternative Farming Systems. Fourth Annual Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, February 3, 1994.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato and Jian Ma. Integrated Evaluation of Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri MSEA. Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Nashville, TN, February 7-9, 1994.

Prato, T., Feng Xu and J.C. Ma. Estimation of Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs. Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Nashville, TN, February 7-9, 1994.

Lin, Cho-Min, Feng Xu and Tony Prato. Evaluation of Risk for Alternative Farming Systems in Missouri. Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Nashville, TN, February 7-9, 1994.

Raedeke, A. and J.S. Rikoon. Competing Knowledge Systems: The Case of Nitrogen Fertilizer Management, Rural Sociological Society, Portland, OR, August 12-15, 1994.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato and Elizabeth Dunn. A Watershed Level Sustainable Production System Model. Third International Meeting of the International Society of Ecological Economics, San Jose, Costa Rica, October 24-28, 1994.

Prato, Tony, Feng Xu and Jian Ma. Estimation of Erosion and Water Quality Tradeoffs for Alternative Farming Systems. 30th Annual Conference of American Water Resources Association, National Symposium on Water Quality, Chicago, IL, Nov. 6-10, 1994.

Heidenreich, Lynn and Tony Prato. The Potential Impact of Alternative Atrazine Policies on Surface Water Quality in Goodwater Creek Watershed, Missouri. Protecting Rural America's Water Resources: Partnerships for Pollution Solutions, Washington, D.C., October 23-26, 1994.

Prato, Tony, Feng Xu and Minkang Zhu. Economic and Water Quality Tradeoffs of Alternative Farming Systems: A Chance-Constrained Programming Approach. Southern Agricultural Economics Association, New Orleans, LA, February 1-2, 1995.

Rikoon, J.S. Environmental Decision Making on Rented Land. Southern Rural Sociological Association, New Orleans, LA, February 1-2, 1995.

Constance, D., J.S. Rikoon, and W.D. Heffernan. Integrated Pest Management in a Missouri Claypan Soil. Fifth Annual Missouri Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, February 2-3, 1995.

Rikoon, J.S. and D. Constance. Landlord Involvement in Decision Making Regarding Water Quality Practices on Rented Land. Fifth Annual Missouri Water Quality Conference, Center for Water Quality, University of Missouri-Columbia, February 2-3, 1995.

Xu, Feng, Tony Prato, Minkang Zhu. Distributional Assumptions in Chance-Constrained Programming: An Application to Economic and Water Quality Tradeoffs in the Midwest. Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, February, day 1995.

Constance, D.H., J.S. Rikoon, and W.D. Heffernan. Separation of Ownership and Environmental Decision-Making on Rented Farmland. Clean Water - Clean Environment - 21st Century, Kansas City, MO, March 13-15, 1995.

Zhou, Yan, Lynn Heidenreich, Tony Prato, Christopher Fulcher, Steven Vance, and Christopher Barnett. Environmental Impacts of Alternative Management Strategies in Goodwater Creek Watershed, Missouri. ESRI Annual Meeting, Palm Springs, CA, May 22-26, 1995.

Prato, T., C. Fulcher and F. Xu. Decision Support System for Total Watershed Management. Interdisciplinary Conference on Animal Waste Resources Association and the Land-Water Interface, Fayetteville, AR, July 16-19, 1995.

Prato, Tony and Chris Fulcher. Protecting Soil and Water Resources Through Multi-Objective Decision Making. First International Conference on Multiple Objective Decision Support for Land, Water and Environmental Management: Concepts, Approaches and Applications, Honolulu, HI, July 23-28, 1995.

Prato, Tony and Chris Fulcher. Multiple-Objective Decision Making for Soil and Water Conservation. Soil and Water Conservation Society of America, Des Moines, IA, August 5-8, 1995.

Qiu, Zeyuan, Tony Prato and Michael Kaylen. "Watershed-scale Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs Incorporating Yield Uncertainty and Environmental Risk." The Annual Meeting of Southern Agricultural Economics Association. Birmingham, Alabama. February 2-5, 1997.

Qiu, Zeyuan, Tony Prato and Chris Fulcher. "The Impacts of Data Resolution on Simulation of Water Quality Using the Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Model and a Geographic Information System". The 1997 ESRI Users Conference. San Diego, California. July 7-11, 1997.

Qiu, Zeyuan and Tony Prato. "Economic Evaluation of Riparian Buffers in an Agricultural Watershed." The 52nd Annual Conference of Soil and Water Conservation Society. Toronto, Canada. July 22-25, 1997.

Qiu, Zeyuan and Tony Prato. "Stochastic Economic and Environmental Risk Assessment of Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution in an Agricultural Watershed." The Conference of Watershed Management: Moving From Theory to Implementation, Denver, Colorado, May 3-6, 1998.

Qiu, Zeyuan, Tony Prato, Chris Fulcher and Yan Barnett. "WAMADSS – An Agricultural Resource Management Tool for Evaluating Sustainable Agriculture" The 53rd Annual Conference of Soil and Water Conservation Society, San Diego, California, July 5-9, 1998.