THE VALUE OF SPATIAL INFORMATION IN EVALUATING POLLUTION CONTROL POLICIES IN AGRICULTURE

Water quality and the need for pollution control in agriculture are well-established concerns in the United States. This paper addresses the effectiveness of using site-specific or spatial information to predict farm responses to a practice-standard NPS pollution control policy and the associated compliance costs. In this study a phosphorous-based nutrient management plan was used to evaluate four scenarios which make use of different amounts of information about farm characteristics. Results indicate more accurate predictions can be made using spatial information but there exists a need for further research.