Weed management: the broader context - Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds - page 511

(United States Department of Agriculture, 1990; Kuch & Ogg, 1996) should
include additional practices that improve environmental quality such as eco-
logical weed management. To the extent commodity support programs are
actually phased out in the USA and elsewhere, new methods will be needed to
encourage environmentally sound farming practices (Tweeten, 1996). These
could consist of a mix of direct subsidies, new tax incentives, and refocused
regulations. To be effective, these measures need to be accompanied by
changes in international trade policies that protect farmers using sustainable
practices from unfair competition by offshore polluters. Prices should reflect
the full cost of production, including damage to human health, the environ-
ment, and the socioeconomic condition of communities. Accordingly, adjust-
ment of market prices through import taxes should be allowed in cases where
commodities are produced with destructive practices.
Third, global society must resolve contradictions among policies that set
agricultural goals (e.g., increased production), environmental goals (e.g., soil
and wildlife conservation, protection of water quality), and social goals (e.g.,
food security, adequate farm income, improved economic opportunities for
small and mid-scale farmers).National and international agencies have recog-
nized these contradictions (World Commission on Environment and
Development, 1987, pp.118-46; National Research Council, 1989, pp.65-84;
United States Department of Agriculture, 1998), but they persist in most
regions, largely because crop and livestock output continues to take prece-
dence over rural development and protection of natural resources.
Agriculture based on ecological concepts, as illustrated here by ecological
weed management, offers a unified social, environmental, and production
paradigm.
Fourth, a tax on agrichemicals should be used to generate increased
research and extension funding for sustainable agriculture, including ecolog-
ical weed management. In the state of Iowa, the Leopold Center for
Sustainable Agriculture supports research, education, and demonstration
projects focused on weed management and a range of other issues with funds
derived from fees on fertilizer and pesticide sales, as well as appropriations
from the Iowa legislature (Keeney, 1998). Nationally in the USA, where herbi-
cide sales are about 6.3 billion dollars annually (Aspelin, 1997), a 0.5% sur-
charge on herbicides would generate 31.5 million dollars each year. By
comparison, during the late 1990s, funding for USDA's entire program for
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education has been at the level of about
8 million dollars per year. Given the substantial amount of publicly funded
research on herbicides (see the preceding section), a 0.5% tax would probably
still leave the industry with a net public subsidy.