"Resistance is futile": estimating the costs of managing herbicide resistance as a first-order Markov process and the case of US upland cotton producers
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2017 International Association of Agricultural Economists A 2012 survey of upland U.S. cotton producers was analyzed to determine the factors contributing to changes in weed management costs (WMCs) after the identification of herbicide-resistant weeds. An ordered probit regression estimated changes in WMC as a first-order Markov process. The most important determinants of post-resistance cost increases were initial WMCs, adoption of labor-intensive remedial practices, and wick application of herbicides. Cultivation and mechanical/chemical-intensive practices did not increase WMCs. Post-resistance changes in WMC ranged between $85 and $138 ha1, depending on the practices adopted. WMCs increased by $88 ha1 when cost-neutral practices were adopted. The in-sample aggregate costs of managing herbicide resistance ranged between $25 and $53 million, depending on the types of adopted practices.
