Data, Information, and Rural Environmental Policy: What Will the Next Ten Years Bring?

The next ten years will see an acceleration of three current trends: (1) the growing use of geographical information systems, (2) increasingly detailed farm-level record keeping, tracking the location and timing of fertilizer, pesticide, and water use, and (3) increased reporting requirements for farm-level chemical use. Combined, these changes will reduce the costs of monitoring and regulating farmer behavior. Yet, they may also allow information to substitute for both inputs and for regulation. Improved linkage of agronomic, economic, and environmental data can help ago-environmental subsidy programs achieve greater environmental benefits at lower budgetary cost and can help in the design of more flexible, less costly environmental regulations.