Page:Update on water quality- Progress update (IA CAT10556197007).pdf/3

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United States Department of Agriculture
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The Data and Evaluation Committee of the USDA Working Group on Water Quality is co-chaired by the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Two basic questions guide the Committee’s efforts: (1) What are the levels and composition of pesticide and fertilizer use? (2) What are the economic and environmental implications of various practices and programs to reduce potential water quality problems?
 * The Data and Evaluation Committee

Three data collection activities are underway to help answer questions associated with aggregate chemical-use patterns. These data are important not only to the President’s Water Quality Initiative, but also to USDA’s Food Safety Data Initiative, benefits assessments, and other pesticide-related activities. The planned data activities are a cropping practices survey, a whole-farm chemical use and economic survey, and area study surveys.
 * Activities Planned

In addition to the surveys, the Committee is exploring ways to coordinate related data from the Research and the Education and Technical Assistance components of USDA’s Water Quality Program to assist in practice and program evaluation.

Beginning this summer, NASS will survey producers of major field crops, including corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, and potatoes. Major items of interest include pesticide- and fertilizer-use levels by crop, acreage, yields, method of application, and tillage and planting operations. Fertilizer and pesticide information will reveal active ingredients used. Future plans are to extend coverage to include other field crops such as peanuts, tobacco, and sorghum. The plan is to report on agricultural chemical use at a State level of statistical reliability beginning in early 1991.
 * Cropping Practices Survey

The whole-farm chemical-use and economic survey will provide data for economic analysis of fertilizer- and pesticide-use policies. Using whole-farm data, analyses can be conducted on crop substitution, input substitution, and input-crop substitution opportunities under different chemical-use situations.
 * Whole-Farm Survey

In 1990, a survey of pesticide use on vegetable will be conducted in five States: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas. The survey will cover about 80 percent of U.S. fresh-market vegetable production. Plans call for surveying fruit and nut producers in all major fruit- and vegetable-producing States in 1992.

The whole-farm survey will collect data permitting a better understanding of production practices, decisions, and responses for assessing the economic trade-offs in pesticide-use adjustments.