ABSTRACT:
Previous estimates of the off-site damages of wind erosion indicate the off-site benefits of wind erosion control in the western United States could be large. Comparing of-site benefits with illustrative wind erosion control costs in New Mexico indicates there is the potential that practices to reduce wind erosion will generate net benefits. Factors that affect the economic efficiency of reducing off-site wind erosion damages include population of a region, the potential wind erosion reduction in a region, and the rate of wind erosion before treatment.
Footnotes
Steven Piper is an agricultural economist, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20005. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of ERS or USDA.
- Copyright 1989 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society