SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS JULY 1991 FARM LEVEL IMPACTS OF REDUCED CHEMICAL USE ON SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE: DISCUSSION

Professor Richardson and his collaborators have posure " did not fare as well financially when com-addressed an issue of importance, not only to agri- pared to the "northern " farms. However, there is culture but also to the general public (Richardson et some question as to whether or not sufficient depth al.). From the widest perspective, this paper explores and breadth of southern agriculture is reflected in the some of the tradeoffs to be grappled with by policy- representative farms specified to conclude that-"if makers in addressing the legitimate concerns of the anything, this analysis indicates agriculture in the impact of agriculture's chemical-intensive technolo- South would be more adversely affected than the gies on the environment and food and water supplies. Knutson et al. conclusions (Richardson et al., p. The researchers seek to test, at the firm level, 19). " It is not that clear-cut to me. recent findings by Knutson et al. (1990a) and Smith The most significant differences in regional per-et al., revealing significant differences in economic formance were observed in the "moderate-size grain impact by crop, by region, and by sector (crop vs. farms " and the performance of "northern " versus livestock). Specifically, they propose to "quantify "southern " dairies. I grant a personal and a parochial the impacts of a pesticide and inorganic nitrogen bias in defining "southern". However, the Texas fertilizer ban on the economic viability of repre- Northern High Plains representative farm specified