Conservation and Environmental Issues in Agriculture: An Economic Evaluation of Policy Options

Commodity program changes, such as planting flexibility, are estimated to achieve some net aggregate reductions in agrichemical use and erosion, while improving agriculture's market orientation and lowering government cost. However, the potential environmental effects vary widely by region. Although commodity program alteration can lessen some undesirable environmental effects in the short term, it does not remedy the basic externality causes of environmental problems. New land retirement approaches targeted to wetlands restoration and to land use change for water quality and other environmental services can achieve longrun environmental improvement. The net effects of land retirement on environmental quality, food and fiber production, consumer price, and government cost depend on simultaneous commodity program management. Any effects on commodities or the environment ultimately depend also on a host of external conditions (such as trade flows) affecting relative crop prices_ and input costs