Advanced Search
MyIDEAS: Login

Dynamic Optimization of Nitrogen Use in Agriculture

Contents:

Author Info

  • Burnett, J. Wesley
  • Ferrer, Myra Clarisse R.
Registered author(s):

    Abstract

    Agricultural production is highly dependent on inorganic substances including fertilizers. High-yielding crop varieties, such as corn, require large amounts of primary nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Farmers often add a surplus of nutrients to crops to maximize yields. Utilization of primary nutrients has increased by more than 300% while that of nitrogen alone has increased by more than 600% between 1960 and 2007 (USDA, 2009). From 1964 to 2007, the use of nitrogen in the corn sector alone increased from 1,623,000 to 5,714,000 nutrient tons (USDA, 2009). While increasing production, increased fertilizer use can potentially create negative externalities in the form of nitrate-nitrogen contamination in groundwater. Groundwater is the source of drinking water for about half the total U.S. population and nearly all of the rural population, and it provides over 50 billion gallons per day for agricultural needs (USGS, 2009). In the U.S. the main source of nitrate pollution in the groundwater results from the actions of farmers through the use of fertilizers and other chemicals (Haller, et al. 2009). Nitrogen-nitrate contamination can have adverse human affects including methemoglobinemia or ―blue-baby‖ syndrome (Majumdar, 2003). The potential for nitrate contamination in corn production is especially problematic as corn alone accounts for over 90% of feed grains produced in the U.S. (USDA, 2009). The USDA estimates that approximately 80 million acres of land is planted to corn, with the majority in the Heartland region (the Midwest) of the U.S. (2009). The Heartland region is primarily rural and much of the population there derives its drinking water from groundwater. Therefore, the potential for groundwater contamination is greatly increased in this region.

    Download Info

    If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
    File URL: http://purl.umn.edu/96032
    Download Restriction: no

    Bibliographic Info

    Paper provided by University of Georgia, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in its series Faculty Series with number 96032.

    as in new window
    Length:
    Date of creation: Mar 2010
    Date of revision:
    Handle: RePEc:ags:ugeofs:96032

    Contact details of provider:
    Postal: Conner Hall, Athens, GA 30602
    Phone: (706) 542-2481
    Fax: (706) 542-0739
    Web page: http://www.caes.uga.edu/departments/agecon/index.html
    More information through EDIRC

    Related research

    Keywords: Environmental Economics; Nitrogen/Nitrate Contamination; Dynamic Optimization; Agriculture; Agricultural and Food Policy; Demand and Price Analysis; Environmental Economics and Policy; C61; C63; Q10; Q51; Q53;

    Find related papers by JEL classification:

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    References

    No references listed on IDEAS
    You can help add them by filling out this form.

    Citations

    Lists

    This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:ugeofs:96032

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (AgEcon Search).

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

    If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.