The prevailing agricultural system, variously called “conventional farming,” “modern agriculture,” or “industrial farming” has delivered tremendous gains in productivity and efficiency. Food production worldwide has risen in the past 50 years; the World Bank estimates that between 70 percent and 90 percent of the recent increases in food production are the result of conventional agriculture rather than greater acreage under cultivation. U.S. consumers have come to expect abundant and inexpensive food.
Conventional farming systems vary from farm to farm and from country to country. However, they share many characteristics: rapid technological innovation; large capital investments in order to apply production and management technology; large-scale farms; single crops/row crops grown continuously over many seasons; uniform high-yield hybrid crops; extensive use of pesticides, fertilizers, and external energy inputs; high labor efficiency; and dependency on agribusiness. In the case of livestock, most production comes from confined, concentrated systems.
Ecological Concerns
Agriculture profoundly affects many
ecological systems. Negative effects of current practices include the
following:
– Decline in soil productivity can be due to
wind and water erosion of exposed topsoil; soil compaction; loss of soil organic matter, water holding
capacity, and biological activity; and salinization of soils and irrigation
water in irrigated farming areas. Desertification due to overgrazing is a
growing problem, especially in parts of Africa.
– Agricultural practices have been found to contribute to
non-point source water pollutants that include: sediments, salts, fertilizers
(nitrates and phosphorus), pesticides, and manures. Pesticides from every
chemical class have been detected in groundwater and are commonly found in
groundwater beneath agricultural areas; they are widespread in the nation’s surface waters. Eutrophication and “dead zones” due to nutrient
runoff affect many rivers, lakes, and oceans. Reduced water quality impacts
agricultural production, drinking water
supplies, and fishery production.
– Water scarcity in many places is due to
overuse of surface and ground water for irrigation with little concern for the
natural cycle that maintains stable water availability.
– Other environmental ills include over 400
insects and mite pests and more than 70 fungal pathogens that have become
resistant to one or more pesticides; stresses on pollinator and other
beneficial species through pesticide use; loss of wetlands and wildlife
habitat; and reduced genetic diversity due to reliance on genetic uniformity in
most crops and livestock breeds.
– Agriculture’s link to global climate change
is just beginning to be appreciated. Destruction of tropical forests and other
native vegetation for agricultural production has a role in elevated levels of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Recent studies have found that soils may be
sources or sinks for greenhouse gases.
Economic and Social Concerns
Economic and social problems associated with agriculture can not be separated from external economic and social pressures. As barriers to a sustainable and equitable food supply system, however, the problems may be described in the following way:
Economically, the U.S. agricultural sector includes a history of increasingly large federal expenditures and corresponding government involvement in planting and investment decisions; widening disparity among farmer incomes; and escalating concentration of agribusiness—industries involved with manufacture, processing, and distribution of farm products—into fewer and fewer hands. Market competition is limited. Farmers have little control over farm prices, and they continue to receive a smaller and smaller portion of consumer dollars spent on agricultural products.
Economic pressures have led to a tremendous loss of farms, particularly small farms, and farmers during the past few decades—more than 155,000 farms were lost from 1987 to 1997. This contributes to the disintegration of rural communities and localized marketing systems. Economically, it is very difficult for potential farmers to enter the business today. Productive farmland also has been pressured by urban and suburban sprawl—since 1970, over 30 million acres have been lost to development.
Impacts on Human Health
As with many industrial practices, potential health hazards are often tied to farming practices. Under research and investigation currently is the sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in animal production, and pesticide and nitrate contamination of water and food. Farmer worker health is also a consideration in all farming practices.
Philosophical Considerations
Historically, farming played an important role in our development and identity as a nation. From strongly agrarian roots, we have evolved into a culture with few farmers. Less than two percent of Americans now produce food for all U.S. citizens. Can sustainable and equitable food production be established when most consumers have so little connection to the natural processes that produce their food? What intrinsically American values have changed and will change with the decline of rural life and farmland ownership?
The Future of the Sustainable Agriculture Concept
Many in the agricultural community have adopted the sense of urgency and direction pointed to by the sustainable agriculture concept. Lack of sharp definition has not lessened its authenticity. Sustainability has become an integral component of many government, commercial, and non-profit agriculture research efforts, and it is beginning to be woven into agricultural policy. Increasing numbers of farmers and ranchers have embarked on their own paths to sustainability, incorporating integrated and innovative approaches into their own enterprises.
Social Roots 