Sustainable Agriculture
The concept of sustainable agriculture represents a new public policy mandate for agriculture. Environmental concerns reflected in the sustainable agricultural issue are associated primarily with industrial methods of agricultural production. Commercial pesticides and fertilizers, which are absolute necessities for large, specialized agricultural production, are primary targets for those concerned with the negative environmental impacts of agriculture. Runoff from large-scale, confinement livestock and poultry feeding operations are a major concern.
A sustainable agriculture must sustain the economic viability of the farming operation. By this measure, agricultural programs of the past have been a complete failure. The 1890 U.S. Census indicated approximately 22 million or 40 percent of the population, lived on farms. A hundred years later only 4.6 million people, less than 2 percent of the total U.S. population, live on farms. Also, those living on farms today earn half of their income from non-farm sources. Farm profits of the future must come from widening the margins between input costs and market prices. Most farmers have nothing to gain from technologies that raise input cost, increase production and, thus, reduce market prices. (Ikerd, Impacts of Policy on the Economics of Sustainable Agriculture).
The 1996 President's Council on Sustainable Development has as its vision statement that a sustainable United States will have a growing economy that provides equitable opportunities for satisfying livelihoods and a safe, healthy, high quality life for current and future generations. Our nation will protect its environment, its natural resource base, and the functions and viability of natural systems which all life depends.
The consensus is a sustainable agriculture must be ecologically sound, economically viable and socially acceptable. All three are essential, and are equally critical to long run sustainability. Human nature is a fundamental part. People cannot persist in actions inconsistent with their economic survival. A fundamental purpose of public policy is to resolve conflicts between the short run interests of individuals and the long run interest of society as a whole.
The demand for food is steadily growing as some 90 million people are added to the global population annually. It is estimated that in the period from 1975 to 2000, the area of cultivated land globally will expand only 4 percent while population will increase 40 percent.
E. T. York in "Sustainable Agriculture in Production of a Wholesome Food Supply," 1997, states research must focus increased attention on developing and applying the technology needed to achieve both the economic and ecological dimensions of sustainability. Earth cannot achieve a sustainable agriculture and meet the ever-growing needs of people without the use of modern technology, including the appropriate usage of agricultural chemicals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Sustainable Agriculture?
How are practices or systems a part of Sustainable
Agriculture?
What practices or methods are considered to be
sustainable?
Other Sustainable Agriculture Information
For more information about SARE, regional
grants or publications, contact:
Office of Sustainable Agricultural Programs U.S. Department of
Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., SW Mail Stop 2223 Washington,
DC 20250-2223 Phone: (202)-720-5203
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center
(AFSIC)
The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) is
one of 10 information centers at the National Agricultural Library. Partially
funded by SARE, AFSIC specializes in locating, collecting and providing
information about sustainable and alternative agricultural systems, new
and industrial crops, and alternative crops. AFSIC information specialists
will answer questions; provide access to books, reports, journal articles,
newsletters, etc.; provide references to experts or organizations in
a given region; identify researchers and research projects with USDA;
and furnish free bibliographies and reference briefs. For more information,
contact: National Agricultural Library Agricultural Research Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture 10301 Baltimore Ave., Room 304 Beltsville,
MD 20705-2351 Phone: (301)-504-6559
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural
Areas (ATTRA)
Funded by USDA's Rural Business Cooperative Service, ATTRA is the national
sustainable agriculture information center. It is operated by the nonprofit
National Center for Appropriate Technology, which manages a host of public
programs dealing with sustainable agriculture and rural community development.
Farmers and others dialing ATTRA's toll-free number can obtain free packets
and tailored research reports on a wide variety of sustainable agriculture
topics. For more information contact: ATTRA P.O. Box 367 Fayetteville,
AR 72702 Phone: (501)-422-9824 or (800)-346-9140