ABSTRACT:
The nitrogen management practices of irrigated corn producers in the Central Platte Valley of Nebraska were analyzed to explain why many producers apply more then recommended levels of nitrogen. The factors considered included environmental attitudes, demographic characteristics, economic circumstances, and farm location parameters. Recommended nitrogen level was the dominant explanatory factor, because extremely low recommendations were not followed by most producers. However, environmentally concerned, well educated, well informed, and younger producers who farmed smaller acreages were more likely to apply nitrogen near recommended levels. These findings imply that educational efforts to change behavior should address the linkages between nitrogen management practices and deteriorating water quality. Educational programs should also explain how fertilizer recommendations are developed, with emphasis on explanations for seemingly low recommendations.
Footnotes
Raymond Supalla is a professor and Roger A. Selley an associate professor of agricultural economics, and Sally Bredeweg is a graduate research assistant and Darrell Watts a professor of biological systems engineering, all at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Research support was provided by MSEA, a component of the USDA Water Quality Program, and by the Agricultural Research Division, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Published as ARD Journal Series No. 10177.
- Copyright 1995 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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