Impact of the price of energy on the use of conservation tillage in agriculture in the USA

The relationship between energy expenditure and the use of conservation tillage is of special importance in addressing concerns about the impact of agricultural production on the environment in the US. After establishing that a relationship exists between the price of energy and the use of conservation tillage via the Granger causality, the relationship is quantified. It is shown that while the real price of crude oil, the proxy used for the price of energy, does not affect the rate of adoption of conservation tillage, it does impact upon the extent to which it is used. Finally, there is no structural instability in the relationship between the relative use of conservation tillage and the real price of crude oil over the period 1963–1997.