Practical applications of low-input agriculture in the midwest

TODAY'S realities for Midwest farmers include gradual increases in costs of production inputs and continuing declines, in real terms, of prices received for principal feed grain products. Nation-wide, farmers have reacted to current economic pressures and environmental concerns by reducing purchased inputs over the past five years by about 15 percent—more than $20 billion. Biological realities include lower potential productivity as a result of topsoil loss, higher costs for pumping irrigation water because of lower groundwater levels, and increased needs for fertilizers and pesticides. More and more people are becoming aware of some of the unintended consequences of diligent application of conventional products and use of recommended techniques. The environmental realities include high groundwater nitrate levels in some areas, presence of pesticides and residues in some wells, and off-target effects of herbicides and insecticides. Surface of herbicides and insecticides. Surface runoff of suspended clays, soluble nitrate, and some pesticides has reached streams and lakes. These problems have been reported and discussed in recent symposia and publications (>5, 7, 9, 21). Global environmental implications of current practices have been discussed in the annual publication State of the World 1989 (4). Most analyses of the …