Agricultural Production
Management
Production Management
Categories
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Classified into four types of
Production Management
Soil and Crop management
Pest management
Nutrient management
Water management
Types of Farming Systems
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Combination of production management
practices employed to achieve production,
profit, and increasingly, environmental and
sustainability objectives
Conventional, high-synthetic-input
systems
Reduced –synthetic-input systems
Cultural practices
Biological practices
Organic farming systems
Types of Farming Systems
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Other ways of Grouping Systems
Cropping systems
Tillage systems
Irrigation systems
Factors Affecting Farmer’s
Decisions
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Management skills
Economic factors
Environmental pressures
Availability of technology and
technical support
Soil Management and
Conservation
Importance of Soil
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As the key resource in crop
production
It supports the physical, chemical,
and biological processes
Regulates water flow such as
• Infiltration
• Root-zone storage
• Deep percolation
• Run-off
Importance of Soil
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Acts as a buffer between inputs and
environment
Functions as “degrader” or
“immobilizer” of agricultural
chemicals, wastes, or other
pollutants
Soil also sequesters carbon from the
atmosphere
Important Soil attributes
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Texture
Structure
Bulk density and rooting depth
Permeability and water storage capacity
Carbon content
Organic matter and biological activity
pH
Electrical conductivity
Three functions of soil
(from NRC)
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2.
3.
Provides the physical, chemical, and
biological processes for the growth
of plants
To store, regulate, and partition
water flow through the environment
To buffer environmental change by
decomposing organic wastes,
nitrates, pesticides, and other
substances that could become
pollutants
Soil Quality
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Defined: The capacity of soil to function or
the fitness for use
Can be maintained through use of
appropriate crop production technologies
and resource management systems
Two concepts of measuring soil quality
• More traditional: focuses on inherent soil
properties
• More recent: focuses on dynamic properties of
soil
Land capability and suitability
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Two types of measurements:
• Land Capability Classes (LCC’s)
• Prime farmland designation
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Used to measure land capabilities for
a particular purpose:
• Growing crops and trees
• Grazing animals
• Nonagricultural uses
Land Capability Classes (LCC’s)
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Range from I to VIII:
• Class I: no significant limitations for
raising crops; About 7% of US cropland
• Classes II and III: have some
limitations such as poor drainage,
limited root zones, climatic restrictions,
or erosion potential; make up over ¾ of
US cropland
Land Capability Classes (LCC’s)
• Class IV: suitable only under selected
cropping practices
• Classes V, VI, and VII: best suited for
pasture and range
• Class VIII: is only suited for wildlife
habitat, recreation, and other nonagricultural uses
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LCC’s I through III total 337 million
acres, or 82% of US cropland
excluding Alaska
Prime Farmland
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Based on physical and morphological soil
characteristics:
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Depth of water table to the root zone
Moisture-holding capacity
Degree of salinity
Permeability
Frequency of flooding
Soil temperature
Erodibility
Soil acidity
Prime Farmland
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Factors needed to sustain high yields
when treated and managed
• Growing season
• Moisture supply
• Soil quality
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Totals 222 million acres, or 54% of
US cropland excluding Alaska
Productivity
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Measures output per unit input
Often measured as crop yield per
acre
Can reflect soil degradation if yields
decline as soils become degraded
and more inputs are used to
compensate for decline in soil quality
Erodibility
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Highly erodible lands (HEL) is a soil
quality measure that is important to
USDA conservation policy
USDA uses the erodibility index (EI)
to classify erosion potential
Erosion Productivity Loss
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Measure of productivity loss that
converts total erosion from tons per
acre per year to inches per year
3 factors reflected in this measure:
• Erosion rates
• Soil depth
• Rental values of land
Five major concentrations of
vulnerable soils
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Largest: Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri in the
corn belt
Second: eastern North Dakota and
western and south central Minnesota
Third: eastern bluffs of Mississippi River in
western Kentucky, Tennessee, and along
eastern edge of Mississippi Delta
Fourth: eastern edge of Colorado
Fifth: band of land in eastern Washington
and Oregon around Palouse and Central
Plateau
Effects of erosion
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Two types:
• Onsite effects
• Offsite effects
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Major onsite effect is impact on soil
productivity
Offsite damages occur when:
• Sediment enter the streams, rivers, lakes, and
other water bodies and damages municipal
water systems
• Fills reservoirs and streams interfering with
navigation, and contributes to flooding
Inappropriate farming practices
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Lead to:
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Soil degradation
Soil erosion
Loss of organic matter
Soil compaction
Acidification
Loss of nitrates, phosphates, and pesticides
Accumulation of salts and trace elements
Increased run-off of fertilizers and pesticides
to water systems
Soil Degradation
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3 Processes
• Physical
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Wind erosion
Water erosion
Compaction
• Chemical
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Toxification
Salinization
Acidification
• Biological
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Declines in organic matter
Declines in carbon
Declines in the activity and diversity of soil fauna
Rotational Cropping
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Can play significant role in
conserving soil, maintaining soil
fertility, controlling pests, and also
helps break up insect and disease
cycles
Cover Crops
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Cover crop of small grains, meadow,
or hay planted in the fall after
harvest of a row crop provides
vegetative cover to reduce soil loss,
hold nutrients, add organic matter to
the soil, and sequester carbon
Crop Residue Management (CRM)
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CRM leaves crop residues on soil
surface through less intensive tillage
practices.
• Usually cost effective
• Protects soil surface
• Leads to higher farm economic returns
Conservation buffers and
Structures
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Structures and buffers reduce water
erosion caused by rainfall
Very important component of farm
soil management systems
Pest Management
Practices
About pesticide
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One of the first growing agricultural
production inputs since the post
WW2
$8.8 billions spent in the U.S. in
1997
Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides,
and Other pesticides
Herbicides and insecticides account
for most
Herbicides
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Largest pesticide class (62% of total
quality of pesticide active
ingredients)
Weeds compete with crops for water,
nutrients, and sunlight, and cause
reduced yields.
Atrazine,2,4-D, dicamba, and
trifluralin are widely used for more
than 30 years
Insecticides
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Account for 10 percent of the total
quantity of pesticides applied in 1997
Damaging insect populations can
vary annually depending on weather,
pest cycles, cultural practices such as
rotation and destruction of host crop
residues
Preventive treatments and
intervention treatments
Insecticides, cont.
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Corn and cotton account for the
largest shares of insecticide use
Chlorpyrifos and methyl parathion
are the two most widely used
insecticides
Fungicides
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Applied to fewer acres than are
herbicides and insecticides and
account for the smallest shares of
total pesticide use
Mostly used on fruits and vegetables
to control diseases
Other pesticides
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Including soil fumigants, growth
regulators, desiccants, and harvest
aids
Use of these pesticides increases
about 8 percent each year since
1990
About one-fifth of the total pounds of
all active ingredients applied to the
surveyed crops
Pesticide Treatment Trends
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Corn
• Corn is the largest crop in the U.S. in
terms of acreage
• About 30% of the corn acreage in the
10 States received insecticides in 1997
• Corn rootworm was the most frequently
treated insect
Trends, cont.
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Soybeans
• Herbicides account for virtually all the
pesticides used on soybeans
• The number of acres treated and
number of treatments per acre have
increased, partly due to the growth in
no-till soybean systems
• 48% treated both before and after
planting
Trends, cont.
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Wheat
• Wheat , which is one of the largest field
crops in the U.S. is the least pesticideintensive
• Account for 27% of the surveyed crop
acreage in 1997, though only 4% of
total pesticides
• Herbicide used 47%of the winter wheat
and 82% of the spring and durum
sheats
Trends, cont
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Cotton
• One of the most pesticide-intensive field
crops in the U.S.
• 96% of cotton acreage received
herbicides
• 74% received insecticides and 68%
received other types of pesticides
• Much greater insect infestation on
cotton is due to its longer growing
season
Trends, cont.
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Potatoes
• Most pesticide-intensive crops for all
types of pesticides
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Other Vegetable and Fruits
• found it profitable to use insecticides
and fungicides on a higher percentage
of acreage than growers of most field
crops do
Pesticide Expenditures
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Annual pesticide expenditures for all
farm uses increased from $6.3billion
to $8.8 billion over 1991-97 (40%
increase)
Pesticide costs per acre increased for
Corn 20%
Cotton 19%
Soybeans 25%
Wheat 10%
Pesticide Resistance
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Most likely to develop when a pesticide
with a single mode of action is used over
and over in the absence of any other
management measures to control a
specific pest
Herbicide-resistant weeds
Scouting to determine economic
thresholds for treatments, alternating the
use of pesticide families, and several other
management strategies to combat
resistance are in use
Biological Pest Management
Practices
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Include the use of pheromones, plant
regulators, and microbial organisms
Biorational pesticides- microbial
pesticides and pheromones
biologicals are unlikely to replace
pesticides in the foreseeable future,
due to the small market
Beneficial organisms
Cultural Pest Management Practice
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Number of production techniques
and practices, including crop
rotation, tillage, trap crops, and
irrigation scheduling, and such and
such
Controls work by preventing pest
colonization of the crop, reducing
pest populations, reducing crop
injury, and increasing the number of
natural enemies in the cropping
system
Cultural Pest Management
Practice, cont.
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Crop rotation
• One of the most important cultural
techniques
• 82% of the U.S. corn acreage
• 89% of soybeans
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Cultivation for weed control
Field sanitation and water
management
Decision Criteria and Information
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Scouting and Economic thresholds
• To monitor the populations of major
insect and other arthropod pests for
several decades
• Scouting on 70-90% of grape, orange,
apple acreage, and thresholds used on a
significant proportion of that acreage
Decision Criteria and Information,
cont.
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Sources of pest management
information
• Farm supply/chemical dealers
• consultants’/pest control advisors
• Professional scouting services
• Extension advisors
Decision Criteria and Information,
cont.
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Expert system
• Integrate information on pest density,
economic thresholds, application
methods, and other elements of pest
management into a computer software
package
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Precision Farming
• Emerging technology that may allow a
more efficient application of inputs by
using yield monitors, satellite images,
etc.
Factors Affecting Pest Management
Decisions
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Factors should be influenced by pest
infestations, yield and quality losses
caused by those infestations, as well
as by crop prices and the costs of
pesticides and alternative control
methods
• Changes in planted acres
• Weather and other environmental
conditions
Factors Affecting Pest Management
Decisions, cont.
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Pesticide prices
• Increased 17% over 1991-96
• Herbicides 17% increase
• Fungicide almost 14% increase
• Insecticide about 24% increase
Pesticide Regulatory Issues
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EPA regulates pesticides under the
Federal Insecticide Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
Pesticide residues in food under the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act (FFDCA)
The Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act
also contain provisions that affect
pesticide manufacturers
Pesticide Regulatory Issues, cont.
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Important regulatory actions
• Ex.) Stop selling products containing
cyanazine by 1999
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Pesticide registration costs
• The research and development of a new
pesticide averages 11years and cost
manufacturers $50-$70 million
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Regulatory streaming for reducedrisk pesticides
Pesticide Regulatory Issues, cont.
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New pest control products and technology
• The EPA registers new pesticides every year
• Between 22 and 31 new pesticides per year
from 1994 to 1998 are registered
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Genetically Engineered plants
• Seed and chemical companies have expanded
research on plant biotechnology because of the
increasing costs to develop chemical pesticides
Pesticide Regulatory Issues, cont.
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Genetically engineered plants
• Reduces the time required to identify
desirable traits
• Allows a precise alteration of a plant’s
traits
• Development of genetically modified
plants takes about 6 years and cost
about $10 million
• U.S. consumer acceptance
Alternative Pest Management
Programs and Initiatives
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Integrated pest management (IPM)
programs research and promote a
combination of cultural, biological
and pesticide efficiency tools
Areawide pest management systems
implements IPM and biological
approaches on an areawide basis
Alternative Pest Management
Programs and Initiatives, cont.
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Biologically based pest management
• Intended to complement IPM programs
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USDA incentive payments
• Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP) provides assistance to
eligible farmers and ranchers to address
natural resource concerns on their lands
in an environmentally beneficial and
cost-effective manner
Alternative Pest Management
Programs and Initiatives, cont.
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Voluntary environmental standards
• Initiated by the private sector
• Enforced by firms themselves
• Use sanctions such as peer pressure for
compliance
• Focus on life-cycle impacts
• Emphasize management systems
Nutrient Use and
Management
Role of Plant Nutrients
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Major nutrients:
• Nitrogen (N)
• Phosphorus (P)
• Potassium (K)
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Other required nutrients:
• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Sulphur
Role of Plant Nutrients
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If no nutrients applied, crops would
deplete the soil’s store of nutrients
and yields would decline
Why manage nutrients?
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According to the EPA, nutrient
pollution is leading cause of water
quality impairment in lakes and
estuaries and third leading cause in
rivers.
This usually occurs because of
leaching and run-off.
Nutrient Sources
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Commercial fertilizer
• Anhydrous ammonia is source of nearly
all nitrogen fertilizer
• Phosphate fertilizer produced by
treating phosphate rock
• Potash is used for potassium. Canada
supplies US with 95% of their potash
Animal manure
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Transportation costs limits using
animal waste as fertilizer
Among major field crops share of
acres treated with manure:
• Corn: 15%
• Soybeans: 10%
• Wheat: < 3%
Municipal and Industrial Wastes
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Municipal Solid Waste (MSW):
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Paper and paperboard
Glass
Metals
Plastics
Rubber
Leather
Textile
Wood
Food wastes
Yard trimmings
And others
Municipal and Industrial Wastes
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Three major methods for MSW
disposal
• Land filling (61%)
• Recoveries for recycle (17%)
• Incineration (12%)
Commercial fertilizer use
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Was 7.5 million nutrient tons in 1960
Rose to 23.7 million nutrient tons in
1981
Dropped to 21.3 million nutrient tons
in 1995
Rose again to 22 million nutrient tons
in 1999
Factors Affecting Fertilizer use
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Principal factors:
• Level and mix of planted cropland
• Fertilizer prices
• Commodity prices and programs
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Other factors
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Soil characteristics
Climate and weather
Crop rotations
Application technology
Nutrient management practices
Nutrient Balance
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Nutrient mass calculates the residual
nitrogen or phosphorus that may remain
in the soil or be lost to the environment
Categorized as:
• High: nutrient input exceeded output in
harvested crop by more than 25%
• Moderate: nutrient input exceeded output by
less than 25%
• Negative: total nutrient input was less than the
output
Nutrient management practices
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Effective management can help
reduce nutrient losses to the
environment while sustaining longterm productivity and profitability
Includes:
• Assessing nutrient needs
• Timing nutrient application
• Placing nutrients close to crop roots
Assessing nutrient needs
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Improved management requires
more information about the nutrients
and the use of balances to better
assess needs
Timing nutrient application
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Timing applications leaves less
nutrients available for loss and can
reduce total amount applied
Times vary by crop, texture of soil,
climate, and stability of the fertilizer
Irrigation management
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Irrigation management is important
because:
• Too much water promotes leaching,
affects nutrient concentration, and
affects the rate of nutrient movement
• Too little water can stunt plant growth,
and reduce crop yield.
Improving nutrient management
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Societies through government can:
• Adjust the anticipated costs or benefits
of production practices
• Regulate certain production practices
• Establish markets for animal wastes
• Research develop and demonstrate
production practices less
environmentally damaging