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Uncertainty and Split Nitrogen Application in Corn Production
Author(s) -
Feinerman Eli,
Choi E. Kwan,
Johnson Stanley R.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1242629
Subject(s) - nitrogen , sowing , leaching (pedology) , production (economics) , agronomy , risk aversion (psychology) , environmental science , economics , crop production , agricultural economics , agricultural engineering , natural resource economics , agricultural science , expected utility hypothesis , agriculture , chemistry , microeconomics , financial economics , engineering , soil water , soil science , ecology , organic chemistry , biology
The split application of nitrogen provides insurance against the risk that late spring application will be infeasible because of wet soil. Risk aversion and production uncertainty have little impact on total nitrogen available to the crop but do affect the split in application and the total nitrogen applied. A risk‐averse farmer applies more (less) nitrogen prior to planting and total nitrogen than a risk‐neutral farmer if nitrogen and water are substitutes (complements). For the case of substitutes, the nitrogen lost through leaching is the premium which the risk‐averse farmer pays to insure a proper level of nitrogen.