ABSTRACT
Over the past several years, a silent revolution has occurred in the land grant system, the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and other US agricultural research institutions. One of the predominant trends in American agriculture in the post-World War II period has been the substitution of petrochemical inputs for land and labor. One limit of petrochemical-based agricultural systems has been the problematic potential for long-term productivity increases. Low-input agriculture is a plausible though, of course, partial response to overproduction. Low-input agriculture tends to appeal to individual farmers who face high debt loads, high real interest rates, reduced credit worthiness, and an inability to finance large input purchases at the beginning of growing seasons. Low-input agricultural research became an attractive response to the criticisms of public agricultural research and the emergence of farmer opposition to the land grant system.
