Vol. 51—1997 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

Waggoner December 24, 1994
137
Nothing
Weeded
Fertilized
Fig 6. The se ent labeled Nothing represents yields without
fertilizer or eeding in five experiments. Segment Fertilized
represents the increased yield or benefit from fertilizer
without weedin and segment Weeded the benefit of weeding
without fertil'zer. Finally, segment Bonus represents the
extra benefit eyond the sum of Fertilized plus Weeded from
both fertilizi and weedin . (Mood 1981, table 29).
Such a bonus 'splays Liebig's law of the minimum: Adding A
out of step wi h B wastes A. Most production resources are
used more effi iently as all are improved. DeWit (1992)
advised that, 0 serve both agriculture and environment,
research shoul turn from a search for marginal returns on
each resource 0 find the minimum of each for optimum
utilization of all. Improving factors in step grants bonuses.
per product
Although bonus .s are welcome, environmental expense must be
confronted. I return to Widget Inc. and ask how the boss
would reckon e pense of the new computer--because in
environmental atters we must be at least as wise as
commonplace Wi gets. The boss would not reckon the expense
per year or p r square foot of factory space. He would reckon
it per widget, the company's reason for being. Just so, we
must not reck n environmental expense per year or per hectare
of field. We ust be at least as wise as Widgets.
Jefferson's r perative makes food, the population times per
capita demand, an independent variable, leaving area to be
calCUlated. S I reckon expense per quantity of food and
feed, which h anity requires and is agriculture's reason for
being. To kee before us that humanity calls the tune and