Soil and Water Quality An Agenda for Agriculture (1993) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Pages 145-184
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 145... ...
These opportunities should be the goals that policies to protect soil and water resources seek to achieve. Chapter 3 recommended that soil and water quality programs target resources at problem areas and problem farms and use a farming system, rather than a best-management practice approach, to take advantage of the technical opportunities to prevent soil degradation and water pollution.
|
From page 146... ...
The purpose of national policy should be to create the proper incentives that induce producers to change the way they manage their farming systems. There is, however, much less known about the factors that influence producers choices of cropping, livestock, and enterprise management practices than there is about the technologies and management methods that will protect soil and water quality.
|
From page 147... ...
Generate and distribute relevant information on a local basis. Develop flexible management methods and production practices capable of being altered to meet unique farm conditions.
|
From page 148... ...
Effective policies and programs to achieve longterm protection of soil and water quality, however, cannot simply be adjuncts of income and commodity policies. The problem areas and problem farms that should be the focus of soil and water quality policies may be very different than the areas and farms of producers requiring income support; and the commodities produced in problem areas or problem farms may not be the same commodities that are the target of programs to support and stabilize prices.
|
From page 149... ...
Policies to Protect /149 it. ~/r ~ "Some folks don't know how to appreciate good news" (September 16, 1927)
|
From page 150... ...
Congress had created the Soil Erosion Service and authorized money to be spent to combat erosion. Conceivably, the two programs of farm income support and soil conservation would have developed separately.
|
From page 151... ...
Policies to Protect 1151 _-~ ~ _= ~ ~ ~ In,-~/ _ ~ LIZ I ~ 7- ~, £~ "Don't blame factories for all the unemployment" (December 22, 1939~. Credit: Courtesy of the J.N.
|
From page 152... ...
was there an emergence of erosion control and water quality as independent objectives of agricultural policies. The receipt of income support was again linked to conservation practices, as in the Agricultural Adjustment Act.
|
From page 153... ...
Where such barriers exist, they can seriously impede efforts to induce producers to change the way they manage their farming systems to protect soil and water quality. Incentives Are Perverse Price support, ~eiciency payment, and supply control policies should be reformed to remove the barriers to voluntary adoption of improved farming systems.
|
From page 154... ...
. These studies reinforce some of the findings of a National Research Council study on alternative agriculture: Federal policies, including commodity programs, trade policy, research and extension programs, food grading and cosmetic standards, pesticide regulation, water quality and supply policies, and tax policy, significantly influence farmers' choices of agricultural practices.
|
From page 155... ...
These incremental reforms have reduced the barriers to adoption of improved farming systems erected by the selectivity and structure of U.S. farm programs and have probably achieved modest improvements in soil and water quality.
|
From page 156... ...
Short-term reform of price support programs should reinforce current efforts to reduce the effects of price support programs on production decisions and to increase planting flexibility. Of all the features of traditional commodity programs that have imposed barriers on environmentally sound farming practices, the rigid base acreage structure has probably been the most influential.
|
From page 157... ...
Even if these programs are eliminated, the need for programs that specifically address soil and water quality problems will remain. Incremental changes in agricultural commodity policies will most likely not result in major changes in farming practices and will likely result in only modest gains in environmental quality.
|
From page 158... ...
They argued that the improvement in soil and water quality caused by the acreage reduction and supply control components of the farm programs offset the soil and water quality damage induced by the incentives to boost program yields and restrictions on planting flexibility. In a model of the U.S.
|
From page 159... ...
estimated that in 1965, free market agricultural policies could have satisfied food and fiber demands with one-half the pesticides and fertilizers used under the prevailing farm program structure. Environmental Policies for Environmental Goals Long-term protection of soil and water quality should be based on policies and programs that are independent of price support, supply control, or income , .
|
From page 160... ...
Most important are those factors that determine the likelihood that producers will use new technologies and information to prevent soil degradation and water quality. Producers must first be aware that new technologies and information relevant to their farming system are available.
|
From page 162... ...
Policies must be clear about legal responsibilities of landowners and land users as regards soil and water quality. This range of policies describes a continuum from purely voluntary to purely compulsory approaches to change the behavior of producers.
|
From page 163... ...
U'zdersta~zdi~zg Producers Policy-relevant research directed at identifying the nature and magnitude of factors influencing producers' choices of cropping and livestock practices should be a high priority for USDA and EPA research programs. The design of programs to protect soil and water quality is hampered by an inadequate answer to a fundamental and broad question: Why do producers make the choices they do?
|
From page 164... ...
It includes all the lands draining to the Baraboo River between Reedsberg in the northwest, Lime Ridge in the west, and West Baraboo in the east. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection named the Narrows CreekMiddle Baraboo a Wisconsin Priority Watershed during July 1990 because of degraded water quality and the impact of sedimentation on the aquatic habitat in the Baraboo River.
|
From page 165... ...
Indeed, the development of new methods to manage crop residues, nutrients, pesticides, and irrigation water has helped some producers make dramatic progress in protecting soil and water quality. The potential for technical breakthroughs leading to farming systems very different from those in use today is great.
|
From page 166... ...
, although the process is not wholly accurate. Only eight of the farms have manure storage structures.
|
From page 167... ...
New Approaches The voluntary approach to change through technical and financial assistance has achieved improvements in farming practices, particularly when there have been opportunities to improve environmental and financial performances simultaneously. The success of programs to encourage the adoption of conservation tillage, which reduces both soil quality damages and tillage costs, is a good example.
|
From page 169... ...
Potential for Change The potential for programs based on technical and financial assistance is illustrated by efforts in Iowa to improve nitrogen management. In 1982, a consortium of state and federal organizations began implementing a coordinated set of programs in Iowa to improve soil and water quality.
|
From page 170... ...
It is too early to tell, however, whether these voluntary improvements in nitrogen management will be sufficient to meet water quality goals. Market-Based Incentives Past experience with point source control has shown that environmental regulation can be expensive to enforce and expensive for firms to adhere to.
|
From page 171... ...
Facilitating Changes in hand Use Voluntary or nonvoluntary adoption of improved farming systems, in itself, may prove to be insufficient to meet soil and water quality goals. Increased nutrient use efficiencies, for example, may not be sufficient to
|
From page 172... ...
In addition, there are lands that, because of their soils, landscape position, or hydrogeological setting, cannot be profitably farmed, even using improved farming systems, without degrading soil or water quality. Long-term changes in land uses in such cases are needed to protect soil and water quality.
|
From page 173... ...
Selling use rights then becomes one of several options a producer might use to meet soil and water quality goals. Long-term easements are written on a case-by-case basis, are flexible, and can be targeted to the needs of both the land and the landowner.
|
From page 174... ...
The use of economic incentives, such as through the public acquisition of easements, is an attractive intermediate alternative to sole reliance on either voluntary or nonvoluntary approaches to protecting soil and water quality. Voluntary programs may not create a mechanism for achieving soil and water conservation on all lands, and nonvoluntary measures may create economic burdens on landowners.
|
From page 175... ...
The various legal authorities for using easements contained in the 1990 Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act should be fully funded and implemented to expand public awareness of the concept, to gauge landowner attitudes to using easements, and to give the USDA and other agencies experience in using easements. Efforts should be undertaken at the federal level to expand the use of long-term easements, or similar mechanisms, for protecting soil and water quality.
|
From page 176... ...
State and Local Legislation The inherent limitations in programs to accelerate voluntary change have led to greater exploration of nonvoluntary approaches to accelerate adoption of improved farming systems. State and local governments have increasingly turned to more nonvoluntary approaches to changing farming systems in areas where soil and water quality damages are severe.
|
From page 177... ...
Evaluating the Role for Regulation Regulatory approaches based on clear planning or performance standards should receive greater attention to achieve more permanent protection in areas where soil and water quality degradation is severe and for problem farms that are unacceptably slow in implementing improved farming systems. Regulatory approaches will be needed to provide more permanent protection when commodity prices are high, damage to soil and water quality is severe, and voluntary change does not result in adequate improvements.
|
From page 179... ...
state conservation law, on which all state enactments were originally based, included as a major component of the legal powers of the districts the power to implement land use regulations to protect soil and water quality. Although the history of the use of that authority by districts has been limited, there is growing interest in using regulations, as reflected in the innovative approaches being developed at the district level in many states.
|
From page 180... ...
Basing publicly funded soil and water quality protection efforts on an articulated policy that establishes the legal responsibilities and rights of landowners and land users to protect soil and water quality offers the opportunity to provide a consistent and uniform basis for implementing soil and water quality protection efforts in a permanent manner. Some argue that soil is simply a component of the land and thus is private property, meaning that efforts to limit the use and misuse of soil are constrained by constitutional limitations on exercise of the police
|
From page 181... ...
Although landowners may own the soil on their farms, it is less arguable that they own the water that flows across it or under it, especially if ownership leads to degradation of its value for use by other individuals or the public. Soil also has some common-good characteristics since, as discussed in Chapter 2, soil quality is directly and indirectly linked to water quality and protecting soil quality is a fundamental step toward protecting water quality.
|
From page 182... ...
The concept of a duty to prevent soil and water quality degradation could be used as the basis for delivering and implementing other soil and water quality policies. These policies could include acceleration of voluntary adoption of improved farming systems, use of market-based incentives, reform of agricultural policies, implementation of nonvoluntary programs, and the administration of long-term easements.
|
From page 183... ...
; · by integration of duties into existing federal farm programs as a through Conservation condition for eligibility, as is now being done Compliance, Sodbuster, and Swampbuster; · by contractual agreement, as is the case with the CRP and the proposed use of long-term easements; · as an imposed legal duty under state law, as is the case under the Iowa soil erosion control law, which makes it the duty of each landowner to protect his or her land from erosion by complying with the applicable county soil loss limits; · as a function of private legal relationships, imposed either by the parties, such as through inclusion of such standards in the terms of a farm lease, or through the judicial imposition of stewardship under such common law concepts as the "covenant of good husbandry," which courts in many states attach to all farm lease relations; and/or 0 a program to certify producers as stewards, analogous to the current programs requiring certification prior to using certain pesticides. Articulation of landowners' responsibilities as well as rights to use their lands in ways that degrade soil or pollute water will allow producers who are committed to protecting soil and water quality to reaffirm their commitment to doing so and will offer a basis for public programs to change farming practices that are causing soil and water quality problems.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.