NASS Highlights 2019 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey - Barley

NASS Highlights

•

May 2020

No. 2020-1

2019 AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL USE SURVEY

AGRICULTURAL
Barley USE
CHEMICAL
Fourteen states . . .

The 2019 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey of barley producers collected
data about fertilizer and pesticide use as well as pest management practices
in growing barley. NASS conducted the survey among barley producers in
14 states that together accounted for 94.9 percent of the 2.7 million acres
planted to barley in the United States in 2019: Arizona, California, Colorado,
Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South
Dakota, Virginia,
Fig. 1. States in the 2019 Barley Chemical Use Survey
Washington,
Wisconsin, and
Wyoming. (Fig. 1
and box on p. 2)

AGRICULTURAL
CHEMICAL USE

. . . accounted for 94.9 percent
of U.S. acres planted to barley in
2019.

About the Survey
The Agricultural Chemical Use
Program of USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
is the federal government’s official
source of statistics about on-farm and
post-harvest commercial fertilizer and
pesticide use and pest management
practices. NASS conducts field crop
agricultural chemical use surveys in
cooperation with USDA’s Economic
Research Service as part of the
Agricultural Resource Management
Survey. NASS conducted the barley
chemical use survey in the fall of 2019.

Access the Data
Access 2019 and earlier barley
chemical use data through the
Quick Stats database
(http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov).
• In Program, select “Survey”
• In Sector, select “Environmental”
• In Group, select “Field Crops”
• In Commodity, select “Barley”
• Select your category, data item,
geographic level, and year
For pre-defined Quick Stats queries,
go to http://bit.ly/AgChem and click
“Data Tables” under the 2019 Barley,
Cotton, Sorghum, and Wheat heading.
For methodology information, click
“Methodology.”

The data are for
the 2019 crop
year, the one-year
period beginning
after the 2018
harvest and
ending after the
2019 harvest.

Fertilizer Use
Fertilizer refers to a soil-enriching input that contains one or more plant
nutrients. For the 2019 crop year, farmers applied nitrogen to 86 percent of
planted acres, at an average rate of 67 pounds per acre, for a total of 150.3
million pounds.
They applied
Table 1. Fertilizer Applied to Barley Planted Acres, 2019 Crop Year
phosphate to 72
% of
Avg. Rate
Total
percent of barley
Acres with
for Year
Applied
Nutrient ª
(lbs/acre)
(mil lbs)
planted acres
and potash to 26
Nitrogen (N)
86
67
150.3
percent of acres.
Phosphate (P2O5)
72
33
60.8
(Table 1)
Potash (K O)
26
22
15.1

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

2

Sulfer (S)
a

48

13

15.7

Acres with multiple nutrients are counted in each category.

www.nass.usda.gov

Pesticide Use
The pesticide active ingredients used on barley are
classified in this report as herbicides (targeting weeds),
insecticides (targeting insects), fungicides (targeting
fungal disease), and other chemicals (targeting all other
pests and other materials, including extraneous crop
foliage). Herbicides were used most extensively, with
application to 84 percent of planted acres. Fungicides
were applied to 21 percent of the acres, while
insecticides and other chemicals were applied to fewer
acres. (Fig. 2)
Among herbicides, fluroxypyr 1-mhe was the most
widely used active ingredient (applied to 42 percent of
planted acres), followed by pinoxaden (28 percent) and
mcpa; 2-ethylhexyl (25 percent). (Table 2)
Fig. 2. Pesticides Applied to Barley Planted Acres, 2019 Crop Year
(% of planted acres)
Herbicides

84
21

Fungicides
6

Insecticides
Other Chemicals

3

Table 2. Top Herbicides Applied to Barley Planted Acres,
2019 Crop Year
Avg. Rate
for Year
(lbs/acre)

Fluroxypyr 1-MHE

42

0.099

106,000

Pinoxaden

28

0.052

37,000

MCPA; 2-ethylhexyl

25

0.288

183,000 b

Thifensulfuron

24

0.012

7,000

Tribenuron-methyl

24

0.006

4,000

a

The most widely used prevention practice in growing
barley was no-till or minimum till, used on 64 percent of
planted acres. The top avoidance practice was rotating
crops (77 percent). Scouting for weeds was the most
widely used monitoring practice (87 percent), and
maintaining ground cover, mulching, or using other
physical barriers was the top suppression practice (46
percent). (Table 3)
Table 3. Top Practice in Pest Management Category, 2019
(% of barley planted acres)
Prevention: Used no-till or minimum till

64

Avoidance: Rotated crops during past three years

77

Monitoring: Scouted for weeds (deliberately, or by general
observations while performing other tasks)

87

Suppression: Maintained ground covers, mulches, or other
physical barriers

46

Surveyed States: Acres of Barley Planted, 2019

% of
Acres with
Ingredient ª

Active
Ingredient

suppression (PAMS).
• Prevention practices involve actions to keep a pest
population from infesting a crop or field.
• Avoidance practices use cultural measures to
mitigate or eliminate the detrimental effects of
pests.
• Monitoring practices observe or detect pests by
systematic sampling, counting, or other forms of
scouting.
• Suppression practices involve controlling or reducing
existing pest populations to mitigate crop damage.

Total
Applied
(lbs)

Acres with multiple ingredients are counted in each category.

Pest Management Practices
The survey asked growers to report on the practices
they used to manage pests, defined as weeds, insects,
or diseases. Barley growers reported practices in four
categories: prevention, avoidance, monitoring, and

U.S. Total
Montana
North Dakota
Idaho
Washington
Wyoming
Minnesota
California
Colorado
Oregon
South Dakota
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Wisconsin
Arizona
Total, Surveyed States

thousands of acres
2,721

% of U.S.
100

920
580
540
95
81
70
60
54
40
37
35
30
24
17
2,583

33.8
21.3
19.8
3.5
3.0
2.6
2.2
2.0
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.1
0.9
0.6
94.9

Numbers may not add due to rounding.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
www.nass.usda.gov