Excerpt
DEBATE continues in the American agricultural community over policy for achieving soil conservation and the reduction of nonpoint-source pollution. This debate is sharpened by the goals to reduce nonpoint-source pollution expressed in such legislation as Section 208 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, the Clean Water Act of 1977, the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, and the Rural Clean Water Program outlined in the Agricultural Appropriations Act of 1980.
“Best management practice” is a term commonly used to identify a practice or system of practices for controlling agricultural nonpoint-source pollution. Technical information on such practices attests to their effectiveness for improving water quality. But adoption of best management practices by farmers has been hampered by differences in perceptions between public officials and farmers as to what factors influence decisions.
Most economic modeling studies of soil conservation and water quality issues use linear programming. Such studies assume that a farmer's primary motivation is profmaximization. But, there may be other factors involved in a farmer's adoption of best management practices. Personal valuse and beliefs, neighborhood and social pressures, and traditions may have as much or more …
Footnotes
Lee A. Christensen is an agricultural economist in the Water Branch of the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and adjunct professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Georgia, Athens, 30602. Patricia E. Norris was a student intern with ERS in Athens, Georgia, and is currently a graduate student in agricultural economics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg.
- Copyright 1983 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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