Changes in farmer practices, especially since the end of World War II, have greatly increased agricultural productivity, but also raise concerns about over-reliance on commercial fertilizers and chemical pesticides.
ERS researches the factors that influence farmers' decisions to use environmentally preferred pest, nutrient, and soil management practices such as crop rotations and crop residue management,
and considers the potential environmental and economic effects of these decisions.
related briefing rooms
- offer an indepth discussion synthesizing ERS research
feature Crop Production Practices—Phase II of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) is USDA’s primary source of information about the current status and trends in crop production practices for major crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton). This survey also obtains data on U.S. farmers' agricultural resource use, as well as data to assess potential environmental impacts associated with crop production practices. The ARMS survey yields annual data summaries for field-level data by crop, including: irrigation technology and water use, nutrient use and nutrient management practices, crop residue management practices, pest management practices and pesticide use, and crop seed variety. Data summaries are available for production years 1996-2000 (1996-98 and 2000 for wheat).(1/03)
web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov updated: January 14, 2003
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