Government Policy Options: Implications for Weed Management

Government farm programs directly and indirectly affect the economic viability of alternative systems of farming, and thus affect farmers' choices among alternative weed management strategies. The primary objective of farm policy since the 1930s has been to increase agricultural productivity, both for the short run benefit of farmers and the long run benefit of food and fiber consumers. Past policies have supported and subsidized highly specialized systems of farming that are inherently dependent on commercial chemicals for weed control. A shift in public priorities toward agricultural sustain-ability, which balances the goals of productivity with resource conservation and environmental protection, is changing government farm programs. Future farm policies are likely to support more diverse systems of farming and more integrated systems of weed management. Research QuestionWhat impact do government policies have on weed management alternatives? How might future changes in government policies affect farmers’ weed management strategies? Government programs provide economic incentives for farmers to plant or not plant specific crops and to use or not use specific farming methods. Policy impacts on farming methods may be a reflection of a prevailing political philosophy rather than of any single policy or manageable set of policies that might be modeled and simulated. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of past changes in agricultural policies on farming methods in general, and on weed management strategies in particular, and to draw some conclusions regarding potential changes in both policies and weed management strategies in the future. Literature SummaryThe mechanization of U.S. agriculture following World War II was accompanied by development and widespread use of herbicides. Herbicide costs per acre of harvested cropland increased from less than $0.30/acre in 1950 to more than $2.50/acre in 1985. Total pesticide use, in terms of total pounds of active ingredients, nearly tripled between 1964 and 1980 alone. Much of the increased reliance on herbicides to control weeds can be attributed to falling costs of herbicides relative to other means of weed control. Pesticide costs were only about one-third as high, relative to machinery, labor, or fuel costs in 1980 as in 1965. Herbicide costs rose from less than one-third to more than two-thirds of total expenditures on pesticide between 1960 and 1985. Commercial herbicides have become the American farmer's major defense against losses of crops to weeds. Study DescriptionMajor developments and trends in U.S. agricultural policy are correlated with concurrent changes in predominant methods for managing weeds on U.S. farms. Simultaneous changes in other factors, including availability, costs, and effectiveness of commercial herbicides, are taken into consideration. The trend toward industrialization in the general economy was matched with the trend toward larger, more specialized farming operations, and with increased reliance on commercial herbicides as the predominant means of managing weeds. The concept of sustainable agriculture is defined and its potential impacts on future agricultural policy and consequent potential impacts on farmers' weed management strategies are explored. ResultsThe rapid rise in pesticide use can be as easily attributed to changing economic incentives and emerging new chemical technologies as to changes in agricultural policies. However, farm policies may have added significantly to farmers' economic incentives by providing the economic security farmers needed to abandon diversified crop and livestock operations in favor of large-scale, specialized, mechanized system of farming. It cannot be determined with certainty whether agrichemical technologies were developed in response to policy incentives for specialization, or whether specialization was an economic response to the emerging agrichemical technologies. The most logical conclusion would seem to be that industrialization of the U.S. economy, new agrichemical technologies, and government farm policies have been mutually supportive in changing the fundamental nature of U.S. farms and the methods used by U.S. farmers to manage weeds. ConclusionsConcerns for the long run sustainability of U.S. agriculture may soon be reflected in agricultural policies that support alternative, more diversified, systems-oriented approaches to farming. Sustainable agriculture has emerged as a major public issue during a period when the U.S. economy in general has been shifting from reliance on manufacturing to reliance on service and information based enterprises. Similar changes may be forthcoming in agriculture. Diversification, integration, and individualization may be key weed management concepts during the emerging post-industrial era.