Economic analysis of sustainable agricultural cropping systems for Mid-Atlantic states
1999
Lu, Y.C. | Watkins, B. | Teasdale, J.
This paper evaluates the profitability and economic risks associated with four cropping systems for the Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration site at Beltsville, Maryland, for the 1994-97 period. Each system follows a 2-year rotation of corn in the first year and winter wheat and soybean in the second year. The four systems are (1) a no-tillage system with recommended fertilizer and herbicide inputs, (2) a no-tillage system with crownvetch living mulch, (3) a no-tillage system with winter annual cover crop, and (4) a reduced tillage manure-based system without chemical inputs. The cover crop system is the most profitable ($238 in gross margin), closely followed by the no-tillage ($233) and the manure-based system ($217). Even though farmers desire a cropping system that maximizes profits, the variability of profits, or risks, can influence the desirability of the cropping system. In terms of risks, no-tillage is the most preferred rotation with the smallest coefficient of variation (1.14) followed by the cover crop system (1.24), the manure-based system (1.58), and the crownvetch system (5.45). The same ranking can be obtained using a "safety-first" criterion for risk-averse farmers, in which the gross margin of the no-tillage system would exceed $53 ha(-1) in three out of four years, while the gross margin of the cover crop system would exceed $39 ha(-1) in three out of four years. The manure-based system is an organic system and it was not profitable in 1996 and 1997 because of weed infestations. However, the manure-based system shows potential to be the most profitable if some methods can be found to control weeds without resorting to herbicides and its crops can be certified as organic and sold at premium prices.
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