Sustainable Agriculture

Since the end of World War II, dramatic changes have occurred in agriculture. Food and fiber productivity soared due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favored maximizing production, resulting in fewer farmers with reduced labor demands producing the majority of the food and fiber in the U.S.

These changes resulted in many positive effects and reduced many risks in farming, but there have also been significant costs: topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities.

Sustainable agriculture is garnering increasing support and acceptance within mainstream agriculture. Not only does sustainable agriculture address many environmental and social concerns, but it offers innovative and economically viable opportunities for growers, laborers, consumers, policymakers and many others in the entire food system.

This week, a look at sustainable agriculture.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." - E. B. White (US author & humorist, 1899 - 1985)

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Sustainable Agriculture