Economic Impact of Discontinuing Farm Use of Chlordane

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC REPORT NO.231 ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DISCONTINUING FARM USE OF CHLORDANE ]}at Q VK ,o_-> ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ABSTRACT In 1971, U.S. farmers would have incurred additional costs of over $1.84 million if farm uses of the insecticide chlordane had been discontinued. Based on estimates of 1971 acreage treated with chlordane, this aggregate loss would have included $1.56 million in additional costs for alternative insecticides and $0.28 million in yield losses. Added costs for alternative insecticides would have ranged from $0.18 an acre for cotton to $6.77 an acre for com. For producers of potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, and certain vegetables, the added cost would have averaged about $2.25 an acre. Because alternative insecticides are not as effective as chlordane in controlling insects on citrus, strawberries, and certain vegetables, per acre yield losses for these crops would have been $31, $75, and $23, respectively. Total use of chlordane would have decreased by 601,000 pounds if farm use had been discontinued. But the increase in alternative insecticides would have been about 1.1 million pounds--primarily carbaryl and diazinon for com production and small amounts of phorate, EPN, parathion, and methyl parathion for other crops. Key Words: Insecticides, pesticides^^ agricultural production, economic impact, com, potatoes, citrus, strawberries, vegetables. PREFACE A policy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is to continually review farm needs for pesticides and to recommend for farm use only those that are safe with respect to people, property, and the environment. This report is in response to a request from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the Pesticide Coordinator in the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture. To aid in a réévaluation of the need for farm use of the insecticide chlordane, the report analyzes the economic effects that a ban on chlordane would have on U.S. farmers. The analysis considers only the aggregate effects of using alternative insecticides. Local effects or individual farm situations are not considered. Also, since completion of the analysis, interstate shipments of aldrin--a chemical relative of chlordane--have been cancelled by EPA for a number of agricultural uses. This development, however, does not change the results of this analysis because aldrin was not considered as an alternative to chlordane. The authors express appreciation to Federal and State entomologists who provided information for or reviewed this report. Gratitude is also expressed to John H. Berry and Helen T. Blake, Production Resources Branch, Farm Production Economics Division, for their assistance in the preparation of this report. CONTENTS Page SUMMARY ii IWTRODUCTION- 1 FARM USE OF CHLORDANE 1 ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DISCONTINUING FARM USE OF CHLORDANE— 4 Cost of substitute materials- 5 Value of yield losses * 7 Total additional costs 10 CHANGES IN QUANTITY OF INSECTICIDES USED — - 11 APPENDIX TABLES 13 TEXT TABLES Table page 1,--Farm use of chlordane, 1966 2 2.--Com grown, and com acreage treated with chlordane, 1966 and 1971 r — 3 3.--Additional cost of using alternative insecticides instead of chlordane, selected crops, 1971-- 6 4.--Value of yield losses for citrus if no insecticide had been used, and for strawberries and selected vegetables if alternative insecticides instead of chlordane had been used, 1971^ 8 5.--Additional materials costs and value of yield losses if alternative insecticides instead of chlordane had been used, selected crops, 1971 10 6.--Changes in total quantities of chlordane and alternative insecticides used if farm use of chlordane had been discontinued, 1971 -r^ 12 APPENDIX TABLES 1.--Quantity of chlordane used on selected crops, by region. United States, 1966 - - 13 2.--Acreage of selected crops treated with chlordane, by region. United States, 1966 14 3.--Costs of using chlordane and alternative insecticides, by crop, United States, 1971 15 Washington, D.C. 20250 August 1972 SUMMARY If farm use of the insecticide chlordane had been discontinued, the total cost to U.S. fanners in 1971 would have been $1.84 million. Based on estimates of 1971 acreage treated with chlordane, farmers would have incurred additional costs of $1.56 million for alternative insecticides and $0.28 million in yield losses. Com producers, who treated 208,000 acres with chlordane in 1971, would have had additional costs of $1.4 million for alternative insecticides. Per acre costs would have risen by $6.77—from $2.03 for chlordane treatments to $8.80 for a substitute mixture of diazinon and carbaryl. For potato growers, additional costs would have been $108,000 on 38,000 acres, with per acre costs increasing from $6.75 for chlordane to $9.60 for a substitute. Tomato and tobacco producers would have had to spend an additional $12,000 and $14,000, respectively, for alternative insecticides. But for cotton producers, the added cost would have been negli- gible. Yield losses would not have occurred with the use of alternative insecticides in the production of com, potatoes, tomatoes, cotton, and tobacco. But for strawberries and certain vegetables, substitutes are not as effective as chlordane in controlling insect pests. Producers of these crops would have had yield losses as well as added costs of using substitute insecticides. For strawberry producers, the value of yield losses would have been an estimated $75,000 on 1,000 acres, or $75 an acre. Producers of broccoli, brussel sprouts, lettuce, and certain other vegetables would have incurred yield losses of about $115,000 on 5,000 acres, or $23 an acre. In using substitute insecticides instead of chlordane, producers of these vegetables and strawberries would have had to spend an addition- nai $14,000. Citrus growers would have had yield losses because there are no effective nonorganochlorine substitutes for chlordane in controlling termites in new citrus plantings. The cost of replacing trees damaged by termites and subsequent losses due to delayed fruit bearing would have amounted to about $93,000. The total quantity of chlordane used in 1971 would have decreased by an estimated 601,000 pounds if farm use of the insecticide had been discontinued. But quantities of carbaryl and diazinon used on farms-- primarily for com production—would have increased by 505,000 and 434,000 pounds, respectively. Also, soine phorate, EPN, parathion, and loethyl parathion would have been needed to replace chlordane. ii ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DISCONTINUING FARM USE OF CHLORDANE By Robert P. Jenkins, Herman W. Delvo, and Austin S, Fox Agricultural Economists, Farm Production Economics Division INTRODUCTION Farmers currently use chlordane to control insects in crop production. In 1966, when the insecticide was also used to treat livestock, farm use accounted for 526,000 pounds of chlordane (table 1). 1/ Com and potato producers were the major users, and almost all of t"He crop use was for control of soil insects, Chlordane is also used to control insects in residential and com- mercial structures. Information on the total quantity of chlordane used for nonfarm purposes in the United States is not available. However, 1971 pesticide-use data for California show that 94 percent of the -chlordane used in the State was for nonagricultural purposes. 2^/ The U.S.. Department of Agriculture continually reviews needs for pesticides for farm use and recommends only those that are safe with respect to people, property, and the environment. This report provides information for a réévaluation of the need for farm use of chlordane. Farm uses of chlordane are first identified. Then, estimates are made of the additional costs farmers would incur if farm use of the insecticide were discontinued. FARM USE OF CHLORDANE If farm use of chlordane were discontinued, farmers producing many crops would be affected. Geographically, almost 80 percent of the farm use of chlordane is in the Com Belt, Lake States, and Southwest. The largest quantities of chlordane are used on com and potatoes (table 1). Com producers are the major farm users of chlordane. In 1966, about 159,000 pounds of chlordane was applied to 210,000 acres of com (table 2). An estimated 208,000 acres of com were treated with chlordane in 1971. During 1966-71, com acreage treated with chlordane remained stable--at 0.3 percent of the planted acreage. Chlordane is recommended 1/ This is the latest data available on the quantity of chlordane useïï on U.S. farms. 2/ Pesticide Use Report, 1971, Calif. Dept. of Agr., Sacramento, CalTf. Table 1.—^^Farm use of chlordane, 1966 • Quantity ' Acres Percentage of planted Type of use used 1/ ; treated \ acres treated 1,000 1,000 pounds acres Percent Crops: Corn 159 210 0.3 Citrus-- 15 2/83 7.0 Hay and pasture 47 59 3/ Potatoes 155 38 2.5 Other vegetables 18 23 .6 Deciduous fruits and nuts 27 34 1.4 Tobacco 26 17 1.7 Cotton 3 6 3/ Other crops 4/ 2 2 3/ All crops 452 472 Livestock and livestock buildings 71 Other uses 5/ 3 Total — 526 472 1/ Active ingredient. 1/ Gross acres of citrus on which chlordane was applied as a spot treatment. Of this acreage, only an estimated 10 percent was actually treated with chlordane. 3l Less than 0.05 percent. 4/ Some field, nursery, and greenhouse crops. 5^/ Includes use on seedbeds, storage buildings, transplants, seeds, and any other farm uses. Does not include use around homes, gardens, and lawns or on shrubbery and shade trees. Source: Theodore Eichers and others. Quantities of Pesticides Used by Farmers in 1966, U.S. Dept, of Agr., Econ. Res. Serv., Agr. Econ. Rpt. 179, Apr. 1970. for use on com, primarily for control of soil insects such as wireworms, cutworms, white grubs, sod webworms, seed com maggot, and seed com beetle.

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