Do Nutrient Management Plans Actually Manage Nutrients? Evidence from a Nationally‐Representative Survey of Hog Producers

Abstract

AbstractA nutrient management plan (NMP) specifies recommended practices to match applied nutrients with crops’ uptake capacity. Because monitoring nutrient applications is difficult, regulators instead oversee NMP adoption. In this paper we examine whether having NMPs make hog farms more likely to adopt nutrient management practices. We estimate nutrient application and uptake rates to assess whether operations with NMPs are less likely to over‐apply nutrients. Using an endogenous treatment effects model to control for potential confounding and selection bias, we find that NMPs are positively correlated with the adoption of nutrient management practices, as well as with the reduced application of excess nutrients.