The impact of energy on the adoption of conservation tillage is of special importance in addressing concerns about the effect of agricultural production on the environment in the United States. It is the subject of this paper. After establishing that a relationship exists between the price of energy and the adoption of conservation tillage via cointegration techniques, the relationship is quantified. It is shown that while the real price of crude oil, the proxy used for the price of energy, does not affect the rate of adoption of conservation tillage, it does impact the extent to which it is used. Finally, there is no structural instability in the relationship between the relative use of conservation tillage and the real price of crude oil over the period 1963 to 1997.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AkaikeA., “A New Look at Statistical Model Identification,”IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. 19 (1974), pp. 716–723.
2.
AlchienA., “Costs and Output,”The Allocation of Economic Resources, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1959.
3.
BakerJ., “Hydrologic Effects of Conservation Tillage and Their Importance to Water Quality,” in LoganT.DavidsonJ.BakerJ.OvercashM. (eds.), Effects of Conservation Tillage on Groundwater Quality: Nitrates and Pesticides, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI, 1987, pp. 113–124.
4.
BakerJ.JohnsonH., “The Effects of Tillage Systems on Pesticides in Runoff from Small Watersheds,”Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Vol. 22 (1979), pp. 554–559.
5.
BanerjeeA.DoladoJ.GalbraithJ.HendryD., Co-Integration, Error Correction, and the Econometric Analysis of Non-Stationary Data, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993.
6.
BatteM., “Technology and Its Impact on American Agriculture,”Size, Structure, and the Changing Face of American Agriculture, Westview Press, Inc., Boulder, CO, 1993.
7.
BatteeM.ForsterL.BaconK., Performance of Alternative Tillage Systems on Ohio Farms, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1993.
8.
BelsleyD.KuhE.WelschR., Regression Diagnostics, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1980.
9.
BoxG.E.P.JenkinsG.M., Time Series Analysis: Forecasting and Control, Holden Day, Inc., San Francisco, 1971.
10.
BrownR.L.DurbinJ.EvansJ., “Techniques for Testing the Constancy of Regression Relationships Over Time,”Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 37 (1975), pp. 149–163.
11.
CarterM.KuneliusH., “Adapting Conservation Tillage in Cool, Humid Regions,”Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 45 (1990), pp. 454–456.
12.
Conservation Technology Information Center, National Crop Residue Management Survey, West Lafayette, IN, annual.
13.
Council of Economic Advisors, Economic Report of the President, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1979.
14.
DickW. A.DanielT.C., “Soil Chemical and Biological Properties as Affected by Conservation Tillage: Environmental Implications,” in LoganT.DavidsonJ.BakerJ.OvercashM. (eds.), Effects of Conservation Tillage on Groundwater Quality: Nitrates and Pesticides, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI, 1987, pp. 315–339.
15.
Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, DOE/EIA-0035 (95/01), U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, December 1997.
16.
EngleR.GrangerC., “Co-integration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation, and Testing,”Econometrica, Vol. 55 (1987), pp. 251–276.
17.
EngleR.YooB., “Forecasting and Testing in Co-Integrated Systems,”Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 35 (1987), pp. 143–160.
18.
FawcettR.S., “Overview of Pest Management for Conservation Tillage Systems,”LoganT.DavidsonJ.BakerJ.OvercashM. (eds.), Effects of Conservation Tillage on Groundwater Quality: Nitrates and Pesticides, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI, 1987, pp. 6–19.
19.
FryeW., “Energy Requirements in No-tillage,” in PhillipsR.E.PhillipsS.H. (eds.), No-Tillage Agriculture: Principles and Practices, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, NY, 1984.
20.
FryeW., “Energy Use in Conservation Tillage,”Farming for a Better Environment, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, IA, 1995.
21.
GewekeJ., “Inference and Causality in Economic Time Series Models,” in Handbook of Econometrics, GrilichesZ.IntriligatorM. (eds.), North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1984.
22.
GewekeJ.MeeseR.DentW., “Comparing Alternative Tests of Causality in Temporal Systems: Analytic Results and Experimental Evidence,”Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 21 (1983), pp. 161–194.
23.
GlennS.AngleJ.S., “Atrazine and Simazine in Runoff from Conventional and No-Till Corn Watersheds,”Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment, Vol. 18 (1987), pp. 273–280.
24.
GrangerC., “Developments in the Study of Cointegrated Economic Variables,”Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 48 (1986), pp. 213–228.
25.
GrangerC., “Some Recent Developments in the Concept of Causality,”Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 39 (1988), pp. 199–211.
26.
GrangerC.WeissA., “Time Series Analysis of Error-Correction Models,”Studies in Econometrics, Time Series, and Multivariate Statistics, KarlinS.AmemiyaT.GoodmanL. (eds.), Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1983.
27.
GrangerC.NewboldP., “Spurious Regressions in Econometrics,”Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 2 (1977), pp. 111–20.
28.
GrangerC.WeissA., “Time Series Analysis of Error-Correction Models,”Studies in Econometrics, Time Series, and Multivariate Statistics, KarlinS.AmemiyaT.GoodmanL. (eds.), Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1983.
29.
GrayR.TaylorJ.BrownW., “Economic Factors Contributing to the Adoption of Reduced Tillage Technologies in Central Saskatchewan,”Journal of Plant Science, Vol. 37 (1996), pp. 7–17.
30.
GriffithD.ManneringJ.RicheyC., “Energy Requirements and Areas of Adaptation for Eight Tillage-Planting Systems for Corn,” in LockertzW. (ed.), Agriculture and Energy, Academic Press, New York, NY, 1977.
31.
GrilichesZ., “Hybrid Corn: An Exploration in the Economics of Technical Change,”Econometrica, Vol. 25 (1957), pp. 501–522.
32.
HallJ.HartwigL.HoffmanL., “Cyanazine Losses in Runoff from No-Tillage Corn in “Living” and Dead Mulches vs. Unmulched, Conventional Tillage,”Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 13 (1984), pp. 105–110.
33.
HallS., “An Application of the Granger and Engle Two-Step Estimation Procedure to the United Kingdom Wage Data,”Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 48 (1986), pp. 229–239.
34.
HarveyA., The Econometric Analysis of Time Series, Phillip Allen, Ltd., Oxford, 1981.
35.
JenkinsonT., “Testing Neo-Classical Theories of Labor Demand: An Application of Cointegration Techniques,”Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 48 (1986), pp. 241–251.
36.
JohansenS.JuseliusK., “Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Inference on Cointegration – With Applications to the Demand for Money,”Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 52 (1990), pp. 169–210.
37.
JudgeG.GriffithsW.HillR.C.LutkepohlH.LeeT.C., The Theory and Practice of Econometrics, 2nd ed., John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1985.
38.
KislevYSchori-BarachN., “The Process of an Innovation Cycle,”American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 55 (1973), pp. 28–37.
39.
LjungG.BoxG., “On a Measure of Lack of Fit in Time Series Models,”Biometrika, Vol. 66 (1978), pp. 297–304.
40.
MacDonaldR.MurphyP., “Testing for the Long Run Relationship between Nominal Interest Rates and Inflation Using Cointegration Techniques,”Applied Economics, Vol. 21 (1989), pp. 439–447.
41.
MikesellC.WilliamsJ.LongJ., “Evaluation of Net Return Distributions from Alternative Tillage Systems for Grain Sorghum and Soybean Rotations,”North Central Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 10 (1988), pp. 255–271.
42.
MillsT., Time Series Techniques for Economists, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990.
43.
NachaneD.ChrissanthakiA., “Purchasing Power Parity in the Short and Long Run: A Reappraisal of the Post-1973 Evidence,”Applied Economics, Vol. 23 (1991), pp. 1257–1268.
44.
National Research Council, Soil and Water Quality, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1993.
45.
NowakP., “Why Farmers Adopt Production Technology,”Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 47 (1992), pp. 14–16.
46.
NowakP.O'KeefeG., “Evaluation of Producer Involvement in the United States Department of Agriculture 1990 Water Quality Demonstration Projects,”Baseline Report submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, November 1992.
47.
NowakP.O'KeefeG., “Farmers and Water Quality: Local Answers to Local Issues,”Draft Report submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, September 1995.
48.
OnstadC.VoorheesW., “Hydrologic Soil Parameters Affected by Tillage,” in LoganT.DavidsonJ.BakerJ.OvercashM. (eds.), Effects of Conservation Tillage on Groundwater Quality: Nitrates and Pesticides, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI, 1987, pp. 274–291.
49.
PagoulatosA.DebertinD.SjarkowiF., “Soil Erosion, Intertemporal Profit, and the Soil Conservation Decision,”Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 21 (1989), pp. 55–62.
50.
PhillipsP., “Time Series Regression with a Unit Root,”Econometrica, Vol. 55 (1987), 277–301.
51.
PhillipsP.OuliarisS., “Asymptotic Properties of Residual Based Tests for Cointegration,”Econometrica, Vol. 58 (1990), pp. 165–193.
52.
PhillipsP.PerronP., “Testing for a Unit Root in Time Series Regression,”Biometrika, Vol. 75(1988), pp. 335–346.
53.
PierceD.A., and “Forecasting in Dynamic Models with Stochastic Regressors,”Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 3 (1975), pp. 349–374.
54.
PierceD.A.HaughL.D., “Causality in Temporal Systems,”Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 5(1977), pp. 265–293.
55.
PierceD.HaughL., “The Characterization of Instantaneous Causality,”Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 7 (1979), pp. 257–259.
56.
PriestlyM.B., Spectral Analysis and Time Series, Academic Press, London, 1981.
57.
SanderK.WittW.BarrettM., “Movement of Triazine Herbicides in Conventional and Conservation Tillage Systems,” in WeigmannD.L. (ed.), Pesticides in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments, Virginia Water Resources Center, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, pp. 378–382.
58.
SarganJ.BhargavaA., “Testing Residuals from Least Squares Regression for Being Generated by the Gaussian Random Walk,”Econometrica, Vol. 51 (1983), pp. 153–174.
59.
SawaT., “Information Criteria for Discriminating Among Alternative Models,”Econometrica, Vol. 46 (1978), pp. 1273–1291.
60.
SchertzD., “Conservation Tillage: An Analysis of Acreage Projections in the United States,”Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 33 (1988), pp. 256–258.
61.
SchwertG., “Test for Unit Roots: A Monte Carlo Investigation,”Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Vol. 7 (1989), p. 147–160.
62.
StockJ., “Asymptotic Properties of Least Squares Estimators of Cointegrating Vectors,”Econometrica, Vol. 55 (1987), pp. 1035–1056.
63.
TorgersonD.DuncanJ.DarganA., Energy and U.S. Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington, DC, 1987.
64.
U.S. Congress, Public Law No. 96–294, 94 Stat. 611, 16 USC 590h (1980).
65.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, National Water Quality Inventory -1994 Report to Congress, Office of Water, Washington, DC, 1995.
66.
UriN., “Conservation Tillage and Input Use,”Environmental Geology, Vol. 29 (1997), pp. 188–200.
67.
UriN., “The Role of Public Policy in the Use of Conservation Tillage in U.S. Agriculture,”International Journal of Energy, Environment and Economics, forthcoming 1998.
68.
UriN.DayK., “Energy Efficiency, Technological Change and the Dieselization of American Agriculture in the United States,”Transportation Planning and Technology, Vol. 16 (1992), pp. 221–231.
69.
WagnetR.J., “Process Influencing Pesticide Loss with Water under Conservation Tillage,” in LoganT.DavidsonJ.BakerJ.OvercashM. (eds.), Effects of Conservation Tillage on Groundwater Quality: Nitrates and Pesticides, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI, 1987, pp. 189–200.
70.
WatersonM., Economic Theory of Industry, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1984.
71.
WestraJ.OlsonK., Farmers' Decision Processes and the Adoption of Conservation Tillage, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1997.
72.
WilliamsJ.LlewelynR.GossL.LongJ., Analysis of Net Returns to Conservation Tillage from Corn and Soybeans, in Northeast Kansas, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 1989.
