Alternative Agriculture (1989) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 3-24
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From page 3... ...
Many components of alternative agriculture are derived from conventional agronomic practices and livestock husbandry. The hallmark of an alternative farming approach is not the conventional practices it rejects but the innovative practices it includes.
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Alternative agriculture is any system of food or fiber production that systematically pursues the following goals: . More thorough incorporation of natural processes such as nutrient cycles, nitrogen fixation, and pest-predator relationships into the agricultural production process; Reduction in the use of off-farm inputs with the greatest potential to harm the environment or the health of farmers and consumers; Greater productive use of the biological and genetic potential of plant and animal species; Improvement of the match between cropping patterns and the productive potential and physical limitations of agricultural lands to ensure long-term sustainability of current production levels; and Profitable and efficient production with emphasis on improved farm management and conservation of soil, water, energy, and biological resources.
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From page 5... ...
agriculture the committee · Studied the potential influence of alternative farming practices on national economic, environmental, and public health goals; · Identified and evaluated the factors, including government programs and policies, that influence adoption of alternative farming practices; and Reviewed the state of scientific and economic knowledge of alternative farming practices to determine what further research is needed. Based on its study, the committee arrived at four major findings.
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From page 6... ...
Little recent research, however, has been directed toward many on-farm interactions integral to alternative agriculture, such as the relationship among crop rotations, tillage methods, pest control, and nutrient cycling. Farmers must understand these interactions as they move toward alternative systems.
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Consequently, it is hard to predict where and how specific alternative practices might be useful. Although sconce has accumulated a great base of knowledge of potential benefit to alternative agriculture, research and extension have not focused on integrating this knowledge into practical solutions to farmers' problems.
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Alternative farming practices are not a weIZ-defined set of practices or management techniques. Rather, they are a range of technological and management options used on farms striving to reduce costs, protect health and environmental quality, and enhance beneficial biological interactions and natural processes.
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Alternative farming practices typically require more information, trained labor, time, and management skills per unit of production than conventional farming. Alternative farming is not easy.
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All acres enrolled in the federal commodity income and price support programs are subject to specific crop program rules that determine eligibility. The most crucial and basic rule determines eligible base acres.
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They are often far more responsive to subtle economic effects of the farm programs than to the biological and physical constraints of their land. Two principal objectives of farmers participating in the commodity programs are to sustain or expand eligible base acres and to maximize yields on those acres, thus maximizing per acre payments.
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From page 12... ...
Federal grading standards, or standards adopted under federal marketing orders, often discourage alternative pest control practices for fruits and vegetables by imposing cosmetic and insect-part criteria that have little if any relation to nutritional quality. Meat and dairy grading standards continue to provide economic incentives for high-fat content, even though considerable evidence supports the relationship between high consumption of fats and chronic diseases, particularly heart disease.
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From page 13... ...
This in turn discourages the development and adoption of biological, cultural, or other alternative pest control practices. Current and pending regulations need to be improved to provide greater opportunity for the development of naturally occurring pest control agents and those that rely in some way on genetic engineering.
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The committee is nonetheless encouraged by the growing interest in alternative farming practices among research and extension personnel. Without additions to existing programs and new research and educational initiatives, however, the current system will not be able to provide farmers the kind of information, managerial assistance, and new technologies needed to support widespread adoption of alternative agricultural practices.
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15 A shortage of public funds in support of agricultural research has discouraged work on alternative agriculture. With shrinking funds, publicly supported research and extension services have not been able to provide adequate regional or farm-specific information about alternative farming practices.
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In recent years, state and federal agencies have recognized that offfarm costs of certain agricultural practices must be reduced, especially the costs associated with some pesticides, tiDage methods, and excessively high rates of manure and nitrogen fertilizer application. But methods and models for measuring the costs and benefits of conventional and alternative farming practices are simplistic.
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These practices include wider adoption of rotations with legumes and nonieguminous crops, the continued use of improved cuZtivars, IPM and biological pest control, disease-resistant livestock, improved farm machinery, [ower-cost management strategies that use fewer off-farm and synthetic chemical inputs, and a host of alternative technologies and management systems. A number of government policies and programs have strongly encour
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From page 18... ...
Existing commodity programs, if retained, should be revised to eliminate penalties for farmers adopting rotations. These revisions should allow more flexibility in substituting or adjusting base acreage allotments to accommodate crop rotations, acceptance of forage crops in rotations as satisfying set-aside requirements, and harvesting or grazing of forage crops grown during such rotations; · Mandatory production controls, if enacted, should not require land retirement for participation because this discourages crop rotations.
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Regulatory Change 19 Procedures for review and approval of the safety of existing and new agricultural chemicals and other agents used in production agriculture must be implemented to achieve more rapid progress toward safer working conditions, improved environmental quality, and reduced chemical residues in foods and water. Existing policies permit pesticides with known risks to human health but approved years ago under less stringent criteria to remain in use, while new effective and safer substitutes are sometimes kept off the market by the regulatory approval process.
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Cosmetic standards, however, often have no relation to nutritional quality, flavor, or food safety. Furthermore, these standards discourage alternative pest control practices that may not be as effective in meeting their rigid criteria.
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Development and modification of farm equipment to meet the needs of alternative farming practices and development of better processing and handling systems for plant residues, animal wastes, and other biomass to recycle plant nutrients into the soil. Research on the economics of alternative agricultural systems to determine their effect on net return to the farm family; per unit production costs; the profitability of conventional versus alternative systems with reduction or elimination of government support; the effect of alternative
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The aggregate, health-related, and environmental costs and benefits to society of alternative farming practices must be documented more fully. More reliable estimates are needed of the long-term costs of soil erosion, water pollution, human exposure to pesticides, certain animal health care practices, and other off-farm consequences.
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From page 23... ...
THE FUTURE OF ALTERNATIVE FARMING 23 Current scientific, technological, economic, social, and environmental trends are causing farmers to reconsider their practices and look for alternatives. Many farmers are turning to farming practices that reduce purchased off-farm input costs and the potential for environmental damage through more intensive management and efficient use of natural and biological resources.
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