Sustainable Agriculture - An Overview

Sustainable Agriculture: Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute — Session 4

Farming for the Future

Agricultural practices have shifted significantly over the past century. In the late 1940s, the use of mechanized equipment, synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides became standard agriculture practices. The changes in farming practices have reduced the total labor hours required for farming, allowed larger scale farming operations that increase production and lower costs, and reduced farming labor risks. According to the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SARE) at the University of California at Davis, there are significant costs with newer, industrial forms of agriculture, including ground water contamination, topsoil depletion, a significant reduction in the number of family farms, substandard living and working conditions for farm laborers, and declining economic and social health of many rural communities. To combat these trends, agricultural methods known as sustainable agriculture have gained significant momentum over the past two decades as a means to restore health to farms, food, and communities. Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental health, economic profitability, and social equity. Sustainable agriculture refers to stewardship of both natural and human resources, according to UC SARE. Sustainable agriculture is a method of agriculture that seeks to: • utilize biological pest control and natural biological cycles; • protect and enhance soil fertility; • raise healthy livestock without hormones and antibiotics; • produce safe crops without use of synthetic chemicals; • optimize the management and use of on-farm resources; and • reduce the use of nonrenewable resources. Sustainable agriculture uses many different tools, including organic farming and more specific methodologies such as biointensive gardening (double-digging beds and proximity planting); permaculture (ecological design that enhances ecosystems, produces energy on site, catches rainwater, and saves seeds); biodynamic methods (a holistic approach to farming based on models in nature, with a focus on enhancing soils); and integrated pest management (reducing chemical use for pest control by enhancing natural biological systems through timed releases of beneficial insects, timed tillage and pruning).

“Definitions may vary, but sustainable agriculture generally refers to practices that are viable over long periods of time, both environmentally and economically. Sustainable agriculture, for example, strives to nurture soil that can produce crops reliably without nutrient depletion and with minimal amendments. In sustainable agriculture, the farmer makes a philosophical shift away from control to cooperation and evolves from master to steward.”1

In broader social terms, sustainable agriculture aims to provide an adequate and dependable farm income, promote opportunity in family farming and farm communities, and minimize adverse impacts on health, safety, wildlife, water quality and the environment. Sustainable agriculture has been growing rapidly in popularity for a number of reasons. Many consumers are becoming concerned about the potential risks of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics in food today. In 2004, the US Market for Organic Foods and Beverages stated that organic food sales increased at an average of 20% per year for the past few years. About 12% of U.S. households buy organic foods on a regular basis. “Not only do 13 million households say they’re buying it regularly, another 62 million households say they anticipate buying it in the next five years,” says Ronnie Cummins, the national director of the Organic Consumers Association. The US Department of Agriculture adopted national standards for the labeling and processing of organic foods in 2000. The new standards ban the use of irradiation, biotechnology, and biosolids (sewage sludge) for foods labeled “organic.” Proposed amendments to the Organic Standards in 2005 has sparked a debate on the use of synthetic ingredients and processing substances as well as the appropriateness of factory dairy farming in organic certification.

A Partnership Program of the University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation, the Virginia Tech Center for Economic Education, and the Virginia Department of Forestry Tel: 434.924.1970 Fax: 434.924.0231 Address: P.O. Box 400179 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4179

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Sustainable Agriculture:

Farming for the Future

Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute — Session 4

Sustainable vs. Self-Sustaining What is the difference between a self-sustaining and a sustainable farm? A self-sustaining farm provides for all of its needs through resources on the farm. For example, it might produce energy through solar panels, provide for all of its food needs from the farm, and use water from on-site resources. A sustainable farm utilizes ecological farming techniques to farm, and often enhances the land, but is not necessarily completely self-sufficient. Above: A farmers’ market in North Carolina

Tools of the Sustainable Farmer

According to the Organic Consumers Association, food in the U.S. travels an average of 1,300 miles from the farm to the market shelf. Almost every state in the U.S. buys 85-90% of its food from another place. In contrast, sustainable farmers attempt to sell their produce and products locally at a wide variety of locations including farmer’s markets, community supported agriculture farms, pick-your-own farms and roadside stands, restaurants, health food stores and other grocers, and through on-line options. Community supported agriculture (CSA) farms allow people to buy shares in the farm. “Shareholders” receive fresh produce weekly throughout the season, including fruits, vegetables, and sometimes cheese, flowers, eggs and meat. CSA members accept part of the financial risks associated with farming and enjoy access to “their” farms for educational events and volunteer opportunities. CSAs also allow members to know where their food comes from, to eat locally and in season, and to get to know the people who grow the food they eat. To find a CSA farm, see http://www. sare.org/csa/.

Farmers and ranchers can choose many ways to improve their sustainability, and their tools vary from place to place. However, some common sets of practices have emerged as a means to contribute to long-term farm profitability, environmental stewardship, and improved quality of life. Some of these tools include: • Water conservation and protection techniques such as planting riparian buffers along streams and managing irrigation to reduce runoff. • Controlling pests through organic means, including Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. • Conserving and amending the soil through compost, reduced tillage, and no-till means. Compost can be created on a large or small-scale basis, and it involves the decomposition of organic material (largely plant matter) into a rich material that resembles soil and is a beneficial soil amendment. • Rotational grazing, rotational crop production, companion planting, and cover crops such as rye, clover, or vetch after harvest to increase soil health, control erosion, and suppress weeds. • Agroforestry practices, including planting trees on farms, better management of woodlots and windbreaks, growing specialty trees, and growing trees and shrubs along streams as buffer strips. • Nutrient management planning to reduce runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous into ground and surface water by ensuring that soil amendment quantities and qualities are designed for the intended crops. • Diversification of crops, landscape, livestock, and cultural practices to enhance the biological and economic stability of the farm; avoiding monocrops. • Promoting livestock and herd health through grass pasture feeding (rather than confined non-grass feeding), thereby using no hormones or antibiotics.

A Partnership Program of the University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation, the Virginia Tech Center for Economic Education, and the Virginia Department of Forestry Tel: 434.924.1970 Fax: 434.924.0231 Address: P.O. Box 400179 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4179

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Sustainable Agriculture: Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute — Session 4

Farming for the Future

Genetic Engineering, Seed Saving and Patenting Conflicts between advocates of conventional and sustainable agriculture include the debate about genetically engineered (GE) food. GE foods have had the gene of a different organism inserted into the gene sequence of the target food for a desired outcome, such as a flounder gene inserted into a tomato’s gene sequence to allow tomatoes to withstand colder temperatures during transportation. The risks and promises of GE foods are currently unknown. Some contend that GE foods may contain promise for reducing hunger and disease in developing nations, such as creating a rice variety with high vitamin content. Others see GE food as a threat to long-term human health (concerns about allergies and transfers of the genes to human cells and gut flora), human food security through contamination of existing seed stock via cross-pollination with non-GE crops, and the environment through unintended impacts on wildlife species. Some genetically engineered crops are designed to be resistant to herbicides, such as Monsanto’s Round-Up Ready canola plants. Related unknown effects include the possibility of herbicide run-off, nutrient loading of waterways, and the creation of “super-weeds” resistant to herbicides due to overuse of herbicide made possible by such canola or soy plants. Impacts of increased herbicide exposure on food safety are also unknown. Foods using genetically engineered crops currently are not required to be labeled as such in the United States. Seed patenting and the newly emerging legal “ownership” of seeds is another source of cross-fire in the debate about sustainable agriculture, and is creating a new set of ethical conflicts. For example, because a GE-plant’s genes are patented, corporations such as Monsanto have the ability to sue if anyone uses their seeds without a license. Percy Schmeiser, a farmer in Saskatchewan, has been growing canola for over 50 years from his own saved seeds. Schmeiser was sued in 1998 by Monsanto for canola plants in his fields that were unintentionally cross-pollinated by Monsanto’s GE canola plants grown by a nearby farmer. In 2004, the Canadian Supreme Court determined that Schmeiser did violate the patent, but did not require him to pay Monsanto. This case opened an important debate about the ethics of patenting seeds and served as a precedent for future debates3 . Challenges to Sustainable Agriculture There are a number of potential impediments to sustainable agriculture. Federal, state and local government policies often impede the goals and implementation of sustainable agriculture. These policies reflect a national consumer “Cheap Food” culture. Crop subsidies, for example, became a federal tool for supporting farmers in the depression era, and have since become entrenched federal policy. Some argue that these subsidies keep the cost of

conventionally-grown food artificially low, thereby making it very difficult, if not impossible, for sustainably-grown crops to compete in the market. These policies have been attributed with contributing to the growth of agri-business (mega-farms) and loss of small farms due to the increased need for “economies of scale,” meaning that a farmer must grow increasing quantities of crops to make ends meet. Economies of scale are driven in part by shrinking profit margins, again related to subsidies, and in part by increasing costs of operation (machinery, chemicals, fuel, etc.). Faced with these policy-driven consequences for decades, sustainable agriculture is now becoming more accepted and standard practice, receiving support from public health, food safety, and rural development advocates. Reflecing this shift in attitude, conventional farmers can now receive training in sustainable methodologies from the university ag extension community. Another significant pressure impacting sustainable agriculture is the loss of agricultural lands, averaging one million acres lost annually to urban growth. Increasing local and state taxes together with rising values for farmland can make it more attractive for the farmer to sell than continue farming. To help preserve farmland, and in recognition that a farm requires far fewer local services than a family, some localities are adopting tax rates that enable farmers to be taxed at lower “use value” rates. These and other challenges are influencing the evolving role of sustainable agriculture in our physical and cultural landscape.

Travis and Amy Forgues are farmers often cited in sustainable agriculture literature. They are working to utilize sustainable agriculture tools on their farm, as well as overcome some of the challenges that many farmers face. Travis and Amy (pictured above) have 80 milking cows on a 220-acre pasturebased organic dairy farm in Vermont. As it is a certified organic farm, no chemical pesticides, fertilizers, hormones or antibiotics are used. Milking twice daily takes about four hours. Harvesting hay in the summer remains timeconsuming, but Travis feels he is better off than when he was a confinement dairy worker, saying, “What we’ve found is that, if you treat your animals with a little respect, feed them ten pounds of grain and hay, and ask them to do what they can do, they stay healthy.” And about working on the farm, he says, “You need to be sure you are enjoying what you’re working for.” 1

A Partnership Program of the University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation, the Virginia Tech Center for Economic Education, and the Virginia Department of Forestry Tel: 434.924.1970 Fax: 434.924.0231 Address: P.O. Box 400179 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4179

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Sustainable Agriculture: Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute — Session 4

Farming for the Future Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program University of California at Davis http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.htm U.S. Department of Agriculture Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education http://www.sare.org/htdocs/sare/ (provides research and education grants for farmers and provides education and outreach strategies for Extension educators). Virginia Association for Biological Farming http://www.vabf.org/

Resources:

Farmers with the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project

Appalachian Sustainable Development Email: [email protected] http://www.appsusdev.org/susag.html Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project http://www.asapconnections.org/ The Compost Resource Page http://www.howtocompost.org/ Center for Sustainable Agriculture email: [email protected] http://www.uvm.edu/~susagctr/ Denckla, Tanya. The Grower’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food. North Adams, MA: Storey Communications, February Food 2004. Faeth, Paul, Robert Repetto, Kim Kroll, Qi Dai, and Glenn Helmers. Paying the Farm Bill: U.S. Agricultural Policy and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture. Washington D.C.: World Resources Institute, March 1991. Jeavons, John and Carol Cox. The Sustainable Vegetable Garden. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press 1999. Organic Consumers’ Association http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Endnotes: 1

The Grower’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food, see above. “Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture” from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, part of the USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. Online version available as a PDF at the website: 2

http://www.sare.org/bulletin/explore/index.htm 3

For more information on Percy Schmeiser, go to the website: http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/seed_patent_schmeiser.cfm

SARE National Office Office of Sustainable Agriculture Programs U.S. Department of Agriculture Room 3868 South Bldg., Ag Box 2223 Washington, DC 20250-2223 (202) 720-5203 A Partnership Program of the University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation, the Virginia Tech Center for Economic Education, and the Virginia Department of Forestry Tel: 434.924.1970 Fax: 434.924.0231 Address: P.O. Box 400179 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4179