The potential for LISA-type nitrogen use adjustments in mainstream U.S. agriculture

Jay Dee Atwood; S. R. Johnson

ABSTRACT:

Concern about environmental impacts of nitrogen (N) fertilizer use is increasing. Mainstream agriculture is dependent on N fertilizer, and use patterns are polluting water resources. A 5-cent tax on N fertilizer is shown to have three benefits. National N fertilizer use is estimated to decline about 10%. Use of legume-produced N increases, and crop use of N declines only 5%. A reduction in wasted legume-produced N equal to 2.5% of N application in the baseline occurs because of increased use of legumes and other crops in rotation. The N tax is not without costs. Soil erosion and pesticide use are estimated to increase 2.2 and 1.7%, respectively, in response to the tax.

Footnotes

Jay Dee Atwood is a collaborator, Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and assistant professor of economics, and S. R. Johnson is director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development and professor of economics, Iowa State University, Ames, 50011. Journal paper no. J-13784 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames; projection no. 2872.
Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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