Converting to pesticide-free farming: Coping with institutions

Excerpt

THE obstacles a producer faces in converting to pesticide-free farming are varied. I have come to appreciate that certain agronomic factors may be the greatest impediment to that conversion in many cases. Hence, some of these factors should be identified and discussed.

The federal farm program

The federal farm program that emerged from the 1985 Food Security Act provides an opportunity for, and an extraordinary obstacle to, conversion to pesticide-free farming. The obstacle is the notorious “use or lose” feature of crop subsidy program participation.¹ When a farmer plants less than his or her permitted acreage of program crops, a formula comes into play that can reduce permitted acreage—the basis for program benefits—in subsequent years. Acreage base for the next year equals one-fifth of the sum of acreage planted or considered planted over the last five years. A year of rotation to a non-program crop, such as clover, could result in the loss of up to 20 percent of a farm's base. It would be difficult to overstate the problem. Added to the challenges of adopting a new way of farming is that of reduced revenue from the federal …