Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Development of information intensive agrichemical management services in wisconsin

  • Profile
  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines opportunities to improve the environmental and economic performance of cropping systems through intensified application of information in agrichemical management. Through intensified application of information, both net farm income and environmental quality may increase through more closely matching the specific needs of the crop with the type, timing, and volume of chemical inputs used in crop production.

This study examines the current status and future prospect of agrichemical dealers offering information intensive agrichemical management services to producers.

Agrichemical dealers are the focus of this study because: (1) farmers are perceived as ill-prepared to substantially upgrade the sophistication of their agrichemical management without off-farm support, and (2) dealers enjoy a close relationship with farmers, which potentially could be expanded to include a variety of information-based services. A mail survey was conducted of all agrichemical suppliers/applications in Wisconsin. The response rate was 76% (172 of 225).

Substantial numbers of services were found to be offered by many dealers. The majority of these services were related to traditional yield-enhancement function. Services that have a greater potential to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of inefficient agrichemical use and have higher on-farm data requirements were found to be less widely offered by dealers. Analysis of constraints to further development of information-intensive services indicates that dealers offering significant numbers of services are concerned with constraints external to the dealership, while dealers offering relatively few services perceive internal constraints as most limiting. This relationship indicates that efforts to accelerate dealerships' development of information-intensive agrichemical management services should focus on specific constraints operating on targeted dealerships.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Barrett, G. W., N. Rodenhouse, and P. J. Bohlen. 1990. Role of sustainable agriculture in rural landscapes. Pages 624–636in C. A. Edwards, R. Lal, P. Madden, R. Miller, and G. House (eds.), Sustainable agricultural systems. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bird, G. W. 1987. Alternative futures of agricultural pest management.Americal Journal of Alternative Agriculture 2(1):25–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bessin, R. T., R. Stinner, and T. Reagan. 1991. Modeling the areawide impact of sugarcane varieties and predation on sugarcane borer (Lepidoptera: Pryalidae) populations in southern Louisiana,Environmental Entomology 20:252–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackmore, B. S., and R. J. Jones. 1994. Role of precision farming in sustainable agriculture: An European perspective.In Proceedings of the site-specific management of agricultural systems conference, 27–30 March, 1994. University of Minnesota, Department of Soil Science, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. A. 1981. Innovation diffusion: A new perspective. Methuen, New York, 345 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catlett, L. 1991. Keep Pace With Your Customers.Farm Chemicals Summer:21.

  • Cook, K. A. 1993. Forwardin stemming the flow: Agrichemical dealers and pollution prevention, case studies from the Great Lakes Basin. Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC, 140 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diebel, P. L., D. B. Taylor, and S. S. Batie. 1993. Barriers to low-input agriculture adoption: A case study of Richmond County, Virginia.American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 8(3):120–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, S. A., and E. M. Babb. 1989. Farmers sources of information.Agribusiness 5(5):465–476.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gannon, E. M., and R. G. Ginder. 1992. Evaluating future strategies for lowa farmer-owned cooperatives in supplying agricultural products and services: An assessment of integrated crop management services. Lepold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Ames, Iowa, 8 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallberg, G. 1989. Pesticide pollution of groundwater in the humid United States.Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 26:299–367.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heffernan, W. D. 1984. Constraints in the U.S.poultry industry.Research in Rural Sociology and Development 1:237–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, W. L. 1993. Stemming the flow: Agrichemical dealers and pollution prevention, case studies from the Great Lakes Basin. Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC, 140 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmberg, M. 1993. Clashing consultants.Successful Farming October:40–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huffman, W. E. 1988. Human capital for agriculture. Pages 499–517in R. J. Hildreth, K. L. Lipton, K. C. Clayton, and C. C. O'Connor (eds.), Agriculture and rural areas approaching the twenty-first century. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg, R. L., M. S. Maizel, and D. W. Goss. 1982. Agricultural chemical use and ground water quality: Where are the potential problem areas? USDA National Center for Resource Innovations, Washington, DC, 41 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korsching, P. F., and J. E. Malia. 1991. Institutional support for practicing sustainable agriculture.American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 6(1):17–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korsching, P. F., C. K. Contant, S. Wilson, and C. L. Young. 1990. Fertilizer dealers' perceptions of the impacts of the late spring soil nitrogen test on business viability.Impact Assessment Bulletin 10(2):71–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockeretz, W. 1991. Information requirements of reducedchemical production methods.American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 6(2):97–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowrance, R. L., B. R. Stinner, and G. J. House. 1984. Agricultural ecosystems: Unifying concepts. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 233 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinson, O. B., and G. R. Campbell. 1980. Betwixt and between: Farmers and the marketing of agricultural inputs and outputs. Pages 215–253in F. H. Buttel and H. Newby (eds.) The rural sociology of the advanced societies: critical perspectives. Allenheld, Osmun, 529 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, P. H. 1988. My own boss? Class, rationality, and the family farm. Westview Press. Boulder, Colorado, 306 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • NRC (National Research Council). 1989. Alternative agriculture. Committee on the role of alternative farming methods in modern production agriculture, Board on agriculture, 448 pp.

  • NRC (National Research Council). 1993. Soil and water quality: An agenda for agriculture. Committee on long range soil and water conservation, Board on agriculture, 516 pp.

  • Norris, P. E., and L. A. Shabman. 1982. Economic and environmental considerations for nitrogen management in the mid-Atlantic coastal plain.American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 7(4):148–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowlin, B. 1993. NAICC report.Ag Consultant Fall:13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, R. K. (ed.) 1992. Integrating sustainable agriculture, ecology, and environmental policy. Food Products Press, Binghamton, New York. 161 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • OTA, 1990a. Beneath the bottom line: Agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater. US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. OTA-F-418. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, November 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • OTA. 1990b. Agricultural research and technology transfer policies for the 1990's: A special report of OTA's assessment of emerging agricultural technology-issues for the 1990s. OTA-F-448. Washington, DC, 50 pp.

  • Peitscher, A. 1991. Will there be enough to go around?Solutions Nov/Dec:12–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peitscher, A. 1992. Roadmap to success—a business plan.Solutions January:55–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel, D., and H. Lehman (eds.). 1993. The pesticide question: Environment, economics and ethics. Chapman and Hall. New York, 441 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabb, R. L. 1977. A sharp focus on insect populations and pest management from a wide-area view. ESA Founders Memorial Award Lecture.

  • Ribaudo, M. 1986. Reducing soil erosion: offsite benefits. USDA/Economic Research Service, Washington, DC, 24 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robert, P. C., R. H. Rust, and W. E. Larson (eds.). 1992. Soil specific crop management. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of American, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, 395 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, E. M. 1983. Diffusion of innovations, 3rd ed. Free Press, New York, 453 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepard, R. 1993. Beyond superficial targeting: Designing educational strategies for water quality programs. PhD dissertation. Institute of environmental studies, land resources program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuster, D. J. 1993. A study of technology transfer assistance by agricultural cooperatives. Masters thesis. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sine, G. 1990. The emphasis shifts to services.Farm Chemicals 153(13):90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soil and Water Conservation Society. 1989. Implementing the Conservation Title of the Food Security Act. Ankeny, Iowa, 74 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soil and Water Conservation Society. 1992. Implementing the Conservation Title of the Food Security Act. Ankeny, Iowa, 76 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, M. 1987. Ag suppliers. The new delivery challenge.Agri Finance December:40–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • US EPA. 1990. National water quality inventory: 1988 Report to Congress. Office of Water, Washington, DC, EPA 440-4-90-003, 187 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.1993. A directory of Wisconsin cooperatives. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives and Wisconsin Environmental Decade. 1993. Grant application to Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection 1994 Sustainable Agriculture Program, Madison, Wisconsin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zinn, J. 1993. The next generation of U.S. agricultural policy. White paper of national forum, 14–16 March 1993. Soil and Water Conservation Society. Ankeny, Iowa, 40 pp.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Land Resources Program, Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 420 Agriculture Hall, 1450 Linden Drive, 53706, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Steven A. Wolf

  2. Department of Rural Sociology and Environmental Resource Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 340 Agriculture Hall 1450 Linden Drive, 53706, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Peter J. Nowak

Authors
  1. Steven A. Wolf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter J. Nowak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wolf, S.A., Nowak, P.J. Development of information intensive agrichemical management services in wisconsin. Environmental Management 19, 371–382 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471979

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471979

Key Words

Search

Navigation