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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310958
Title: Cost of areal reduction of gulf hypoxia through agricultural practice

Author
item Whittaker, Gerald
item Barnhart, Bradley
item SRINIVASAN, RAGHAVAN - Texas A&M University
item Arnold, Jeffrey

Submitted to: Science of the Total Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/28/2014
Publication Date: 10/31/2014
Citation: Whittaker, G.W., Barnhart, B.L., Srinivasan, R., Arnold, J.G. 2014. Cost of areal reduction of gulf hypoxia through agricultural practice. Science of the Total Environment. 505(1):149-153.

Interpretive Summary: A major share of the area of hypoxic growth in the Northern Gulf of Mexico has been attributed to nutrient run-off from agricultural fields, but no estimate is available for the cost of reducing Gulf hypoxic area using agricultural conservation practices. We estimated the cost placing all row crop acreage in the Upper Mississippi River Basin into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Over the course of the 42 year simulation, direct CRP costs total more than $388 billion, and the Inter-Governmental Task Force goal of hypoxic area less than 5,000 square kilometers is met in only two years. Secondary effects on commodity prices and land values will quite likely be even larger than the direct cost.

Technical Abstract: A major share of the area of hypoxic growth in the Northern Gulf of Mexico has been attributed to nutrient run-off from agricultural fields, but no estimate is available for the cost of reducing Gulf hypoxic area using agricultural conservation practices. We apply the Soil and Water Assessment Tool using observed daily weather to simulate the reduction in nitrogen loading in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) that would result from enrolling all row crop acreage in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Nitrogen loadings at the outlet of the UMRB are used to predict the Gulf hypoxic area, and net cash farm rent is used as the price for participation in the CRP. Over the course of the 42 year simulation, direct CRP costs total more than $388 billion and the Inter-Governmental Task Force goal of hypoxic area less than 5,000 square kilometers is met in only two years.