Economic and Financial Viability of Residue Management: An Application to the Texas High Plains

Abstract

Costs and benefits of no‐tillage (NT) were analyzed and compared with conventional tillage (CT) for irrigated corn (Zea mays L.) in the northern Texas High Plains. Research results, from a 4‐yr wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)/corn/fallow rotation, were used to validate the Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator (EPIC), a widely used daily time‐step hydrologic and crop growth simulator. The yields generated by EPIC were used in the Farm Level Income and Policy Simulation Model (FLIPSIM), to analyze the long‐term (10 yr) economics of NT and CT corn production on a whole farm basis under various irrigation strategies. The results indicated that NT increased the probability of survival for the low water irrigation strategy while increasing net cash farm income by 8,5% on the more frequent irrigations strategy. NT resulted in higher present values of ending net worth for all irrigation strategies. NT's ability to reduce water needs, decrease yield variability, and reduce machinery use (fuel, replacement, and repair costs) more than offset the increase in chemical costs associated with NT compared with CT. Research Question Economic impacts of residue management on Great Plains farmers producing irrigated crops were largely unknown when the Food Security Act of 1985 mandated that participants in farm programs who farm highly erodible cropland must implement SCS approved soil conservation farm plans by January 1995. The mandate was intended to reduce soil erosion, both by wind and water. While dryland crop production in the Great Plains often results in inadequate residue for erosion control, irrigation generally produces adequate residue for soil protection if properly managed. The threat of losing farm program benefits is a concern to both dryland and irrigated producers. The purpose of this research is to quantify the economic benefits (costs) of producing no‐tillage (NT) corn for a representative feed grain farm in the northern Texas High Plains. Literature Summary Conservation tillage research in the Great Plains dates back to the 1930s. Early research investigated dryland benefits of residue management during nonuse periods, or fallow, primarily for enhancing soil water storage and reducing crop yield variability. Past research has found that NT practices increase yields proportionally more under dryland conditions than under irrigated conditions. Previous studies have also shown that furrow erosion can be reduced with NT practices, which may reduce seed bed preparation time and costs in subsequent years. Economic impacts of residue management are both short term and long term, depending largely on the immediate increase in herbicide expenses, which substitute for short‐run costs of tillage, and the reduction in long‐term equipment depreciation costs. Study Description Field research data is used to validate the Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator (EPIC), a widely used daily time‐step hydrologic and crop growth simulator. EPIC is then used to develop long‐term and stochastic corn yields for NT and conventional til...

Lucratividade e risco de sistemas de produção de grãos com pastagens, sob sistema plantio direto

“…Dessa maneira, a rotação de culturas ou sistemas de produção de grãos viabiliza o sistema plantio direto. Isso ocorre porque o sistema plantio direto, ao reduzir o número de operações agrícolas na lavoura, eleva conseqüentemente a receita líquida em relação ao manejo por meio de preparo convencional de solo (ZENTNER et al, 1991;BURT et al, 1994;HERNÁNZ et al, 1995;BORIN et al, 1997;GRAY et al 1997;LÉGÉRE et al, 1997;SIJTSMA, et al, 1998).…”

Extending the framework of the economic evaluation of erosion control actions in Mediterranean basins

“…(f) Studies based on findings using the erosion-productivity impact calculator (Segarra and Taylor, 1987;Gunatilake, 1990;Lal, 1995;Ananda, 1996;Gray et al, 1997;Batte et al, 1998;Chung et al, 1999;Poudel et al, 1999;Lee et al, 1999;Gunatilake and Vieth, 2000).…”

Historical Development and Applications of the EPIC and APEX models

“…Bryant et al (1992) found that EPIC accurately predicted mean and annual corn yields measured for 38 irrigation stress experiments conducted during the 1975-77 period at Bushland, Texas, after the effects of a hail storm were accounted for in 1976. Gray et al (1997) reported r 2 values of 0.82 and 0.85 for corn yield production functions developed from EPIC simulations that were performed for irrigation timing experiments conducted at Bushland, Texas, during the years 1990-93. Geleta et al (1994) found that predicted mean and annual yields accurately reflected irrigated corn, sorghum, and winter wheat yields measured near Goodwell in the Oklahoma Panhandle region between 1984 and 1988 using a version of EPIC called EPIC-PST .…”

“…The analysis showed that water-intensive strategies would be the most profitable. A cost and benefit analysis was performed by Gray et al (1997) for the Texas High Plains using EPIC and FLIPSIM. The results…”

“…As noted previously, Ellis et al (1993) and Gray et al (1997) coupled EPIC with the FLIPSIM whole-farm model to perform economic analyses of irrigated agriculture in Texas. Interfaces between EPIC and economic models have been performed for several other studies (Table 4), including a number of economic-environmental analyses.…”