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Risk and Sustainable Agriculture: A Target-Motad Analysis of the 92-Year “Old Rotation”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2016

James L. Novak
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University, Alabama
Charles C. Mitchell Jr.
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Soils, Auburn University, Alabama
Jerry R. Crews
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University, Alabama

Abstract

Target-MOTAD was used to assess the risks and returns of sustainable cotton crop rotations from Auburn University's 92-year “Old Rotation.” Study results analyze rotations of continuous cotton, with and without winter legumes; two years of cotton-winter legumes-corn, with and without nitrogen fertilization; and three years of cotton-winter legumes-corn and rye-soybeans double-cropped. Ten years of observations on deviations from target income were used to identify optimal sustainable rotation(s). Study results suggest that diversification in rotations, as well as in crops, results in the least risk for a given level of target income.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1990

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