Abstract
Pesticides have been used in U.S. agriculture since the late 1800s, but their use grew dramatically from the late 1940s to the early 1980s and then stabilized. The development and growing use of synthetic organic pesticides have been an integral part of a technological revolution in U.S. agriculture that increased productivity by 2.2 times between 1947 and 1988 (USDA, 1990). Growth in pesticide use has created many controversies about potential effects of pesticides on food safety, groundwater quality, worker safety, and wildlife mortality. The controversies reflect two major ideas: (1) using more pesticides is not necessarily a panacea for pest control, and (2) undesirable health or environmental effects of using some pesticides may outweigh their production benefits. Today, many people fear the risks of unknown or poorly understood hazards and are impatient with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) slow and deliberate resolution of pesticide controversies. There are also people arguing for a policy of limiting or reducing the overall level of pesticide use, which is a different approach than restricting or banning individual pesticides.
The author is an agricultural economist with the Resource and Technology Division, ERS, USDA, Washington, D.C. The views presented are those of the author and do not represent the official views of any agency or organization.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Andrilenas, Paul A. Farmers’ Use of Pesticides in 1971—Quantities. AER-252. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., 1974.
Campbell, H.F. “Estimating the Marginal Productivity of Agricultural Pesticides: The Case of Tree-Fruit Farmers in the Okanogan Valley,” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 24,No. 2 (1976), pp. 23–30.
Capalbo, S.M., and T.T. Vo. “A Review of the Evidence on Agricultural Productivity and Aggregate Technology,” in Agricultural Productivity Measurement and Explanation. Eds. S. M. Capalbo and J. Antle. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, 1988.
Carlson, G.A. “Long-run Productivity of Pesticides,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 59,No. 3 (1977), pp. 543–48.
____. “Farm Programs and Pesticide Demand,” unpublished manuscript, presented at Agricultural Economics Workshop, North Carolina State University, March 1990.
Carson, Rachel, Silent Spring. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, 1962.
Conner, John D., Jr., Lawrence S. Ebner, Charles A. O’Conner III, Christian Volz, Kenneth W. Weinstein, John C. Chambers, Alison A. Kerester, Stanley W. Landfair, Risa H. Rahinsky, and Elizabeth M. Weaver. Pesticide Regulation Handbook. New York: Executive Enterprises Publication Co. Inc., 1987.
Crutchfield, S.R. Cotton Agricultural Chemical Use and Farming Practices in 1989: An Overview of Results. AGES 9076, U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., 1990.
Daberkow, Stan, and Katherine H. Reichelderfer. “Low-Input Agriculture: Trends, Goals, and Prospects for Input Use,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 70,No. 4 (1988), pp. 1159–66.
Daberkow, Stan, LeRoy Hansen, and Harry Vroomen. “Resources: Low-Input Practices,” Agricultural Outlook. AO-148. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., Dec. 1988, pp. 22–25.
Duffy, M., and M. Hanthorn. Returns to Corn and Soybean Tillage Practices. AER-508. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., Jan. 1984.
Eichers, Theodore R., Paul A. Andrilenas, and Thelma W. Anderson. Farmers’ Use of Pesticides in 1976. AER-418. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ., Stat., Coop. Serv., 1978.
____, Paul Andrilenas, Robert Jenkins, and Austin Fox. Quantities of Pesticides Used by Farmers in 1964. AER-131. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., 1968.
____, Paul Andrilenas, Robert Jenkins, Helen Blake, and Austin Fox. Quantities of Pesticides Used by Farmers in 1966. AER-179. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., 1970.
Eriksen, M.H., and K. Collins, “Effectiveness of Acreage Reduction Programs,” in Agricultural-Food Policy Review: Commodity Program Perspectives, AER-530, U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., 1985, pp. 166–184.
Ferguson, W.L., “Cotton Pest Management Practices,” in Agricultural Resources: Inputs Situation and Outlook Report. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., AR-20, Oct. 1990.
Gianessi, Leonard, P., and Catherine R. Greene. “The Use of Pesticides in the Production of Vegetables: Benefits, Risks, Alternatives and Regulatory Policies,” Vegetables and Specialties Situation and Outlook Report. TVS-245. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., Sept. 1985, pp. 27–42.
Gill, Mohinder, and Stan Daberkow, “Crop Sequences Among 1990 Field Crops and Associated Farm Program Participation,” in Agricultural Resources: Input Situation and Outlook Report. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., AR-24, Oct. 1991.
Good, J.M., R.F. Hepp, P.O. Mohn, and D.L. Vogelsang. Establishing and Operating Grower-Owned Organizations for Integrated Pest Management. PA-1180. U.S. Dept. Agr., Ext. Serv., 1977.
Graebner, L., D.S. Moreno, and J.L. Baritelle. “The Fillmore Crop Protection District: A Success Story in Integrated Pest Management,” Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America, Vol. 30,No. 1 (1984), pp. 27–33.
Greene, C.R., R.A. Kramer, G.W. Norton, E.G. Rajotte, and R.M. MacPherson. “An Economic Analysis of Soybean Integrated Pest Management,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 67,No. 3 (1985), pp. 567–72.
Hawkins, D.E., W.F. Slife, and E.R. Swanson. “Economic Analysis of Herbicide Use in Various Crop Sequences,” Illinois Agricultural Economics, Vol. 17,No. 1 (1977), pp. 8–13.
Headley, J.C. “Estimating the Productivity of Agricultural Pesticides,” Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 50,No. 1 (1968), pp. 13–23.
____. “Defining the Economic Threshold,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 50,No. 1 (1972), pp. 13–23.
____. “Productivity of Agricultural Pesticides,” Economic Research on Pesticides for Policy Decisionmaking. U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., Apr. 1971.
Hillebrandt, Patricia M. “The Economic Theory of the Use of Pesticides,” Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 13,No. 4 (1960), pp. 464–72.
Hyslop, J.A. Losses Occasioned by Insects, Mites, and Ticks in the U.S. E-444 U.S. Dept. Agr., Bur. of Ent. and Plant Quar., 1938, 57 pp.
Klassen, W., and P.H. Schwartz. “ARS Research Program in Chemical Insect Control,” Agricultural Chemicals of the Future. Ed. J.L. Hilton. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Allenheld Press, 1985.
Knutson, R.D., C.R. Taylor, J.B. Penson, and E.G. Smith. Economic Impact of Reduced Chemical Use. Knutson and Associates, College Station, TX, 1990, 72 pp.
Lazarus, W.F., and E.R. Swanson. “Insecticide Use and Crop Rotation Under Risk: Rootworm Control in Corn,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 65,No. 4 (1983), pp. 738–47.
Lee, J.Y., and M. Langham, “A Simultaneous Equation Model of the Economic-Ecologic System in Citrus Groves,” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 5,No. 1 (July 1973), pp. 175–80.
Liapis, P.S., and L.J. Moffitt. “Economic Analysis of Cotton Integrated Pest Management Strategies,” Southern Journal of Agricultrual Economics, Vol. 15,No. 1 (1983), pp. 97–102.
Lichtenberg, E., and D. Zilberman. “The Econometrics of Damage Control: Why Specification Matters,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 68,No. 2 (1986), pp. 261–73.
Marlatt, C.L. “The Annual Loss Occasioned by Destructive Insects in the U.S.,” Yearbook of Department of Agriculture, 1904, pp. 461–474.
Miranowski, J.A. The Demand for Agricultural Crop Chemicals Under Alternative Farm Programs and Pollution Control Solutions. Ph.D. dissertation. Harvard Univ., 1975.
National Academy of Sciences. Regulating Pesticides. 1980.
____. Regulating Pesticides in Food: The Delaney Paradox. 1987.
Pettersson, O. “Swedish Pesticide Policy in a Changing Environment,” The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, draft, 1991, 24 pp.
Pimentel, D., “Agroecology and Economics,” Ecological Theory and Integrated Pest Management Practice, Ed. M. Kogan, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1986.
____, “World Food Crisis: Energy and Pests,” Bull. Ent. Soc. Am. Vol. 20 (1976), pp. 20.
Pimentel, D., and C. Shoemaker, “An Economic and Land-Use Model for Reducing Insecticides on Cotton and Corn,” Environmental Entomology, Vol. 3,No. 1 (1974) pp. 10–20.
Pimentel, D., and others. “Environmental and Economic Impacts of Reducing U.S. Agricultural Pesticide Use.” CRC Handbook of Pest Management in Agriculture, Vol. 1, 2nd ed., Ed. David Pimentel, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1981, pp. 15–77. 1991, pp. 679–718.
Richardson, James W. “Farm Programs, Pesticide Use, and Social Costs,” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 5,No. 2 (1973), pp. 155–63.
Schwartz, P.H., and W. Klassen. “Estimate of Losses Caused by Insects and Mites to Agricultural Crops,” CRC Handbook of Pest Management in Agriculture, Vol. 1, Ed. David Pimentel. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1981, pp. 15–77.
____. “Losses to Raw Agricultural Crops Attributed to Insect and Mite Pests,” unpublished manuscript, 1990, 56 pp.
Smith, R.F., J.L. Apple, and D.G. Bottrell. “The Origins of Integrated Pest Management,” Integrated Pest Management. Eds. J.L. Apple and R.F. Smith. New York: Plenum Press, 1976.
Stern, V.M., R.F. Smith, R. Van den Bosch, and K. Hagen. “The Integrated Control Concept,” Hilgardia, Vol. 29,No. 2 (1959), pp. 81–101.
Stults, H., E.H. Glade, Jr., S. Sanford, and L.A. Meyer. “Cotton: Background for 1990 Farm Legislation.” U.S. Dept. Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., Staff Report No. AGES 89-42, 1989, 82 pp.
Szmedra, P.I., R.W. McClendon, and M.E. Wetzstein. “Risk Efficiency of Pest Management Strategies: A Simulation Case Study,” Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 29,No. 6 (1988), pp. 1642–48.
Turpin, F.T. “Insect Insurance: Potential Management Tool for Corn Insects,” Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America, Vol. 23,No. 3 (1977), pp. 181–84.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Statistics, issues from 1944–1962.
____. Agricultural Research Service. Losses in Agriculture. ARS-20-1, 1954.
____. Agricultural Research Service. Losses in Agriculture. Ag. Handbook 291, 1965.
____. Economic Research Service. Agricultural Resources: Inputs Situation and Outlook Report. AR-1, Feb. 1986; AR-5, Jan. 1987; AR-9, Jan. 1988; AR-13, Feb. 1989; AR-15; Aug. 1989; AR-17, Feb. 1990; and AR-20, Oct. 1990.
____. Economic Research Service. Economic Indicators of the Farm Sector: Production and Efficiency Statistics, 1988. ECIFS 8-5. Apr. 1990.
____. Economic Research Service. Inputs Outlook and Situation Report. IOS-6, Nov. 1984 and IOS-2, Oct. 1983.
____. National Agricultural Statistics Service. Agricultural Chemical Usage: 1990 Field Crops Summary. Ag Ch 1 (91), March 1991.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Pesticide Industry Sales and Usage: 1987 Market Estimates. Feb. 1990.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Osteen, C. (1993). Pesticide Use Trends and Issues in the United States. In: Pimentel, D., Lehman, H. (eds) The Pesticide Question. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-585-36973-0_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-585-36973-0_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-03581-4
Online ISBN: 978-0-585-36973-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive