ABSTRACT

The 1977 National Resources Inventory and the dramatic changes it helped bring about is an example of the power of information in facilitating environmental policy innovation for agriculture. Multibillion-dollar conservation programs address soil erosion in the United States in a relatively strategic and technically sophisticated way. Environmental policy innovation for agriculture requires good ideas but also information to anticipate impacts on agriculture and the environment. This information allowed policy makers to identify the need for and benefits from a multibillion-dollar conservation reserve program (CRP). Analysts and policy makers next considered policies to support adoption of sustainable agriculture technologies. Sustainable agriculture technologies contribute to a much broader set of goals than the CRP and compliance programs, including soil productivity, water quality, farmer and consumer safety, and ecological as well as cost-saving goals. Uncertainty represents a relatively serious constraint to effectively implementing sustainable agriculture programs.