ADJUSTMENTS IN A FARM BUSINESS IN RESPONSE TO AN ENERGY CRISIS

Effects of the 1973 price increases by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the boycott placed on the United States by the OPEC's Arab members awakened Americans to the reality that the U.S. depends on imported petroleum to maintain the present level of energy consumption. Awareness of this domestic energy gap has raised serious questions about the possible impacts of energy crisis conditions on U.S. agricultural production. Agricultural production in the U.S. depends on petroleum products not only for the liquid fuels used by farm machinery, but also for the manufacture of pesticides and nitrogen fertilizer.