Agriculture and the Environment: What EVERYONE Should Know
Be sure to check out our blog for info that EVERYONE should know about agriculture and the environment!
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There is no shortage of criticism for the agriculture industry, and one of the areas that receives the most attention is the interaction between agriculture practices and the environment. It’s time to bridge the gap!
The landscape of production agriculture has changed tremendously over the last century. We have morphed from a system of local trading and neighborly sharing to a commercial industry with a yearly contribution of more than a trillion dollars to the U.S economy alone. This change has allowed producers to continue to provide a sustainable food supply for the growing world population—but feeding the world has its challenges. At Southland Organics, we are committed to doing our part to bridge the gap between agriculture producers and consumers to strengthen understanding and acceptance of the agriculture industry.
One key challenge for the agriculture sector has been maintaining the delicate balance between meeting the demand for food while reducing environmental impacts to allow future generations the same opportunity. At its core, this means being a good steward of the environment: conserving resources when possible, using chemical interventions judiciously and preserving the land.
Coincidentally, most public criticism is centered around those same ideas. Things like level of water usage, dangers of chemical runoff and decreasing biodiversity of the soil lead the conversation. So, what are farmers and the agriculture industry doing about this? Do they care? Of course they do!
Take water for instance. Production agriculture accounts for more than 70% of the freshwater usage in the world. To put that into perspective, it takes about one and a half tons of water to produce one kilogram of grain and about 15 tons of water to produce one kilogram of beef, according to a report produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. There is no denying that this amount of water usage is significant and can prompt some very justified concerns about water table depletion leading to water scarcity or unavailability.
But the important thing to remember is that when water becomes unavailable to you and me, it also becomes unavailable to the farmers. That would mean no irrigation for countless acres of row crops or drinking water for thousands of livestock animals. So it stands to reason that farmers would want to do their part to preserve available water sources just as much as we do!
The same logic can be applied to the land—a farm is only as productive as its land allows. Soil that is nutrient depleted and lacks biodiversity will underperform every time when compared to well-managed farmland. For quite some time, this was encouragement for producers to douse their crops with fertilizers and other chemical interventions, but even that has proven concerning and has prompted regulation and industry-wide changes.
Luckily, the agriculture industry is filled with individuals who are taking on the immense task of mastering our ability to rely on the environment while also respecting it. That goal gets more attainable every day due to legislative and regulatory developments and technological advancements.
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Over the years, regulatory agencies have developed in response to concerns over environmental impacts. For instance, the Soil Conservation Service was founded in 1935 in response to land misuse that led to the Dust Bowl. After Congress enacted the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act, the Soil Conservation Service was responsible in part for effectuating the legislature’s intent of protecting our environment and the American people. The agency was renamed the Natural Resource Conservation Service in 1994.
In 1970, the Nixon administration founded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to growing concerns about pollution in city air and water sources. Today, these two agencies, along with the Department of Agriculture, are responsible for ensuring compliance with many of the regulations that govern the interaction between agriculture and the environment.
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