Cropping systems and conservation policy: The roles of agrichemical dealers and independent crop consultants

Excerpt

Agricultural input supply dealers and crop consultants substantially shape farmers' fertilizer and pesticide management. In specific parts of the country it may not be an overstatement to say that information and technology transfer in agriculture is largely a privatized process. While the Cooperative Extension Service (CES) remains a primary information source for a limited number of farmers and plays a secondary role through activities such as Certified Pesticide Applicator training and occasional validation of private sector recommendations, it is the fertilizer and pesticide dealers and crop consultants who have consistent access to farmers and consequently exercise greater influence on cropping systems (Contant and Young; Center for Agricultural Business). These private sector firms contribute to, constrain, and in some production systems define the sophistication of farmer's management and rates and accuracy of adoption of practices such as those associated with Integrated Crop Management (ICM) and Site-Specific Agriculture (SSA).

Agroenvironmental policy and management initiatives as well as academic analysis of agriculture have until quite recently insufficiently accounted for the influence of dealers and consultants in farming systems. While these relationships are complex and not well understood (Zilberman et al …