AASCIT - Journal - All Issues

International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

The Journal

Indexing

Manuscript Information

New Potential for Ecological Economics in US Agriculture: Old Theories, New Applications

International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Vol.2 , No. 2, Publication Date: Aug. 31, 2017, Page: 13-20

1014 Views Since August 30, 2017, 594 Downloads Since Aug. 30, 2017

Paper in PDF (495K)

Follow on

Authors

[1]	Gregory Veeck, Department of Geography, Western Michigan University, Michigan, USA.

Abstract

There is long-standing tension between the theories and methods espoused by scholars researching and writing about applied ecological economic principles AND the actual strategies practically employed by organic farmers and others committed to ecologically-sound agricultural practices. Recent trends including changes in consumer demand and preferences, changes in farm scale, and changes in the demographic composition of contemporary US farmers make the potential adoption of ecological agricultural principles far more economically rational due to an upward shift in prices due to higher demand for organic products and an increase in small-scale farms wishing to produce these products. Using biological control of the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) that only recently (2000) arrived in North America as an example, this essay argues for greater attention to financial analyses of ecological economic methods so as to increase their adoption by commercial farmers.

Keywords

Ecological Economics, Organic Agriculture, Biological Control of Pests, Soybean Aphid

Reference

[01]	H. E. Daly. Steady State Economics with New Essays (2^nd ed.). 1991. Island Press: Washington, D. C.
[02]	H. E. Daly. 2007. Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development: Edward Elgar Publishers: Northampton, MA, USA.
[03]	C. C. Pertsova, (editor). 2007. Ecological Economics Research Trends. Nova Science Publishers: New York, NY, USA.
[04]	D. Pimental. 2005. Environmental and economic costs of the application of pesticides primarily in the United States. Environment, development and sustainability 7:229-252.
[05]	D. Pimentel, C. Wilson, C. McCullum, R. Huang, P. Dwen, J. Flack, Q. Tran, T. Saltman, and B. Cliff. 1997. Economic and environmental benefits of biodiversity. BioScience 47: 747–75.
[06]	C. Greene. 2013. Growth Patterns in the U.S. Organic Industry. USDA Amber Waves. October. http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2013-october/growth-patterns-in-the-us-organic-industry.aspx#.V8haCXrMZ1A (accessed July 24, 2017).
[07]	United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 2016 Census of Agriculture-Organic Survey 2013, Volume 3 Special Studies, Part 4. AC-12-SS-4 updated April 2016. https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Organics/ORGANICS.pdf (accessed July 24, 2017).
[08]	C. Greene. 2013. Growth Patterns in the U.S. Organic Industry. USDA Amber Waves. October. http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2013-october/growth-patterns-in-the-us-organic-industry.aspx#.V8haCXrMZ1A (accessed July 24, 2017).
[09]	United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 2014. 2012 Census of Agriculture Highlights-Women Farmers. ACH 12-12 September. https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Highlights/Women_Farmers/Highlights_Women_Farmers.pdf (accessed July 24, 2017).
[10]	C. L. Curl, S. A. A. Beresford, A. Hajat, J. D. Kaufman, K. Moore, J. A. Nettleton, A. V. Diez-Roux. 2013. Consumption with Socioeconomic Status and the Local Food Environment: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). PLOS. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/Grow?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069778, (accessed July 24, 2017).
[11]	United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2012 https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/#full_report (accessed July 24, 2017).
[12]	D. Che, A. Veeck, and G. Veeck. 2005. “Sustaining production and strengthening the agritourism product: Linkages among Michigan agritourism destinations”. Agriculture and Human Values Vol. 22, pp. 225-234.
[13]	J. M. MacDonald, P. Korb, R. A. Hoppe. 2013. Farm Size and the Organization of U. S. Crop Farming. United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Report Number 152. August. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1156726/err152.pdf (accessed September 1, 2016).
[14]	G. Veeck, L. Hallett IV, D. Che, and A. Veeck. 2016. The Economic Contributions of Agricultural Tourism in Michigan. The Geographical Review 106(3):421-440.
[15]	United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 2016 Census of Agriculture-Organic Survey 2013, Volume 3 Special Studies, Part 4. AC-12-SS-4 updated April 2016. https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Organics/ORGANICS.pdf (accessed July 24, 2017).
[16]	D. Pimental. 2005. Environmental and economic costs of the application of pesticides primarily in the United States. Environment, development and sustainability 7:229-252.
[17]	K. D. Warner and C. Getz. 2008. A socio-economic analysis of the North American commercial natural enemy industry and implications for augmentative biological control. Biological Control 45:1-10.
[18]	M. Segoli, and J. A. Rosenheim. 2012. Should increasing the field size of monocultural crops be expected to exacerbate pest damage? Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 150:38-44.
[19]	R. Dufour. 2000. Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control. ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) Pest management Systems Guide www.attra.org.
[20]	M. M. Gardiner, D. A. Landis, C. Gratton, C. D. DiFonzo, M. O’Niel, J. M. Chacon, M. T. Wayo, N. P. Schmidt, E. E. Mueller, and G. E. Heimpel. 2009. Landscape diversity enhances biological control of an introduced crop pest in the north-central USA. Ecological Applications 19(1):143-154.
[21]	N. J. Walton and R. Isaacs. 2011. Influence of Native Flowering Plant Strips on Natural Enemies and Herbivores in Adjacent Blueberry Fields. Environmental Entomology 40(3):697-705.
[22]	M. M. Gardiner, D. A. Landis, C. Gratton, C. D. DiFonzo, M. O’Niel, J. M. Chacon, M. T. Wayo, N. P. Schmidt, E. E. Mueller, and G. E. Heimpel. 2009. Landscape diversity enhances biological control of an introduced crop pest in the north-central USA. Ecological Applications 19(1):143-154.
[23]	R. G. Smith, K. L. Gross and G. P. Robertson. 2008. Effects of Crop Diversity on Agro ecosystem Function: Crop Yield response. 2008. Ecosystems 11:355-366.
[24]	R. Cullen, K. D. Warner, M. Jonsson, and S. D. Wratten. 2008. Economics and adoption of conservation biological control. Biological Control 45:272-280.
[25]	L. N. Meihls, T. L. Clark, W. C. Bailey, and M. R. Ellersieck. 2010. Population Growth of Soybean Aphid, Aphis Glycines, Under Varying Levels of Predator Exclusion. Journal of Insect Science 10(144):1-18.
[26]	A. C. Costamagna, and D. A. Landis. 2007. Quantifying predation on soybean aphid through direct field observations. Biological Control 42:16-24.
[27]	J. G. Lundgren, L. S. Hesler, S. A. Clay, S. F. Fausti. 2013. Insect communities in soybeans of eastern South Dakota: The effects of vegetation management and pesticides on soybean aphids, bean leaf beetles, and their natural enemies. Crop Protection 43:104-118.
[28]	D. W. Ragsdale, B. P. McCormack, R. C. Venette, B. D. Potter, I. V. MacRae, E. W. Hodgson, M. E. O’Niel, K. D. Johnson, R. J. O’Niel, C. D. DiFonzo, T. E. Hunt, P. A. Glogoza, and E. M. Cullen. 2007. Economic Threshold for Soybean Aphid (Hemiptera Aphididae). Journal of Economic Entomology 100(4):1258-1267.
[29]	A. C. Costamagna, and D. A. Landis. 2007. Quantifying predation on soybean aphid through direct field observations. Biological Control 42:16-24.
[30]	M. M. Gardiner, D. A. Landis, C. Gratton, C. D. DiFonzo, M. O’Niel, J. M. Chacon, M. T. Wayo, N. P. Schmidt, E. E. Mueller, and G. E. Heimpel. 2009. Landscape diversity enhances biological control of an introduced crop pest in the north-central USA. Ecological Applications 19(1):143-154.
[31]	M. M. Gardiner, D. A. Landis, C. Gratton, C. D. DiFonzo, M. O’Niel, J. M. Chacon, M. T. Wayo, N. P. Schmidt, E. E. Mueller, and G. E. Heimpel. 2009. Landscape diversity enhances biological control of an introduced crop pest in the north-central USA. Ecological Applications 19(1):143-154.
[32]	L. Heatherly. 2009. US Soybean Production: A Comparison of Sustainable Production, Systems for Conventional, Biotech, and Organic Soybeans. A CAST Publication (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) Special Publication # 30 (http://www.soyconnection.com/pdf/usbs_position/English/USB_CAST_English_HI.pdf. (Accessed September 1, 2016).