Landowner Incorporation of Onsite Soil Erosion Costs: An Application to the Conservative Reserve Program

Using data from the first signup of the Conservation Reserve Program, this paper examines whether or not landowners consider soil erosion productivity effects as they formulate their land management strategies. The empirical results indicate that regional differences exist in how well landowners incorporate the intertemporal consequences of land management decisions. With the exception of the Farm Belt, farmers either do not understand or are failing to act on the onsite productivity effects caused by soil erosion.