IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/uerser/307993.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Sodbusting: Land Use Change and Farm Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Heimlich, Ralph E.

Abstract

Farmers converted 11.1 million acres of land to cropland between 1979 and 1981, but only 1.9 million acres were both highly erodible and planted to program crops. Although concern about sodbusting focuses on the Great Plains, such conversion has been occurring in all regions. Analysis of costs and returns indicates that farm programs do provide an incentive to convert highly erodible land to cropland. Participation in price support and subsidized loan programs would have made net returns on 384,000 acres of highly erodible land profitable in 1982. Proposed legislation would remove such incentives, but the proposed system for identifying highly erodible land does not precisely identify new cropland with high potential for excessive erosion.

Suggested Citation

  • Heimlich, Ralph E., 1985. "Sodbusting: Land Use Change and Farm Programs," Agricultural Economic Reports 307993, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uerser:307993
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.307993
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/307993/files/aer536.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.307993?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sara Ebenreck, 1984. "Stopping the raid on soil: Ethical reflections on "sodbusting" legislation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 1(3), pages 3-9, June.
    2. Bills, Nelson L. & Heimlich, Ralph E., 1984. "Assessing Erosion on U.S. Cropland: Land Management and Physical Features," Agricultural Economic Reports 307957, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Robert N. Shulstad & Ralph D. May, 1980. "Conversion of Noncropland to Cropland: The Prospects, Alternatives, and Implications," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 62(5), pages 1077-1083.
    4. Shulstad, Robert N. & May, Ralph D., 1980. "Conversion of Noncropland to Cropland:The Prospects Alternatives, and Implications," 1980 Annual Meeting, July 27-30, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 278417, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    5. Lewis, James A., 1980. "Landownership in the United States, 1978," Agricultural Information Bulletins 309242, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Reichelderfer, Katherine H., 1985. "Do USDA Farm Program Participants Contribute to Soil Erosion?," Agricultural Economic Reports 307990, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Osteen, Craig, 1985. "Impacts Of Farm Policies On Soil Erosion: A Problem Definition Paper," Staff Reports 277652, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ogg, Clayton W., 1985. "Acreage Reduction Options In The 1985 Farm Bill Proposals," 1985 Annual Meeting, August 4-7, Ames, Iowa 278594, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    2. Nielsen, Elizabeth G. & Miranowski, John A. & Morehart, Mitchell J, 1989. "Investments in Soil Conservation and Land Improvements: Factors Explaining Farmers' Decisions," Agricultural Economic Reports 308064, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Heimlich, Ralph E. & Langner, Linda L., 1986. "Swampbusting: Wetland Conversion and Farm Programs," Agricultural Economic Reports 308005, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gregory L. Poe & Richard M. Klemme & Shawn J. McComb & John E. Ambrosious, 1991. "Commodity Programs and the Internalization of Erosion Costs: Do They Affect Crop Rotation Decisions?," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 13(2), pages 223-235.
    2. Colacicco, D. & Barbarika, A. Jr. & Langner, L., 1987. "Conservation Benefits Of The Usda'S 1983 Payment-In-Kind And Acreage Reduction Programs," Staff Reports 277908, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Reichelderfer, Katherine H., 1985. "Do USDA Farm Program Participants Contribute to Soil Erosion?," Agricultural Economic Reports 307990, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Nielsen, Elizabeth G. & Miranowski, John A. & Morehart, Mitchell J, 1989. "Investments in Soil Conservation and Land Improvements: Factors Explaining Farmers' Decisions," Agricultural Economic Reports 308064, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    5. Economic Research Service, 1985. "Analysis of Policies to Conserve Soil and Reduce Surplus Crop Production," Agricultural Economic Reports 307992, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Janssen, Larry & Johnson, Bruce, 1989. "FARMLAND LEASING AND LAND TENURE IN SOUTH DAKOTA AND NEBRASKA - Empirical Findings Emphasizing Current Situation and Changes between 1951 - 1986," 1989 Conference, January 7-10, Tucson, Arizona 260167, Regional Research Committe NC-181: Determinants of Farm Size and Structure.
    7. Kumhof, Michael & Tideman, Nicolaus & Hudson, Michael & Goodhart, Charles, 2021. "Post-Corona Balanced-Budget Super-Stimulus: The Case for Shifting Taxes onto Land," CEPR Discussion Papers 16652, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Ziemer, Rod F. & White, Fred C., 1981. "A Tobit Model Of The Demand For Farmland," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 13(2), pages 1-5, December.
    9. Bills, Nelson L., . "Soil Erosivity And Crop Yield: Implications Of Land Retirement Program For New York Cropland," Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8.
    10. Gillespie, Jeffrey M. & Hatch, L. Upton & Duffy, Patricia A., 1990. "Effect Of The 1985 Farm Bill Provisions On Farmers' Soil Conservation Decisions," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 22(2), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Dicks, Michael R., 1987. "Definitional Consistency for Conservation Provisions of the 1985 Food Security Act," Staff Reports 277929, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    12. Baron, Donald, 1981. "Landownership Characteristics And Investment In Soil Conservation," Staff Reports 276723, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    13. Krause, Kenneth R., 1983. "Corporate Farming: Importance, Incentives, and State Restrictions," Agricultural Economic Reports 307953, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. Unknown, 2007. "Estimating Water Quality, Air Quality, and Soil Carbon Benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program," FAPRI-MU Report Series 44777, Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI).
    15. Gordon C. Rausser, 1992. "Predatory versus Productive Government: The Case of U.S. Agricultural Policies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 133-157, Summer.
    16. Cattaneo, Andrea & Claassen, Roger & Johansson, Robert C. & Weinberg, Marca, 2005. "Flexible Conservation Measures on Working Land: What Challenges Lie Ahead?," Economic Research Report 7248, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    17. Gustafson, Greg C. & Bills, Nelson L., 1984. "U.S. Cropland, Urbanization, and Landownership Patterns," Agricultural Economic Reports 307966, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    18. Konyar, Kazim & McCormick, Ian & Osborn, Tim, 1993. "The U.S. Agricultural Resources Model (USARM): Model Documentation," Staff Reports 278704, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    19. Heimlich, Ralph E., 1985. "Characteristics Of Landowners Converting Land In The Western Great Plains, 1975-1977," Staff Reports 277683, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    20. Bills, Nelson L. & Heimlich, Ralph E., 1984. "Assessing Erosion on U.S. Cropland: Land Management and Physical Features," Agricultural Economic Reports 307957, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:uerser:307993. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ersgvus.html .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.