The answer is B: pesticide use ethics.
Explanation for each option:
a. Crop cultivation ethics: While crop cultivation ethics can influence farming practices, they are more broadly concerned with the overall methods of growing crops, including sustainability and environmental impact, rather than specifically assessing the size of farms and mechanisms used.
b. Pesticide use ethics: This option is correct because the ethics surrounding pesticide use directly impact scientific practices related to farming. Concerns about the environmental and health effects of pesticides lead to assessments of how farms operate, including the size of farms and the methods used to minimize pesticide use while maintaining crop yields.
c. Food safety ethics: Food safety ethics focus on ensuring that food products are safe for consumption, which involves practices related to handling, processing, and storage rather than the size of farms or crop-growing mechanisms.
d. Meat production ethics: These ethics are concerned with the treatment of animals and the environmental impact of meat production, which is not directly related to the assessment of farm size or crop-growing mechanisms.