The Environment:

Farmers and the Environment

From this Nation's beginnings through the first half of this century, America's natural resource base its land, forests, water, and minerals was viewed as virtually unlimited. Federal natural resource policy was directed toward placing these natural resources at the disposal of willing and enterprising entrepreneurs. These risk takers responded by leading the development and growth of the United States' economy to a position of leading world economic power.

Agriculture is a major user of natural resources. Traditionally, American farmers have been seen as managers of nature, using natural resources to produce food and fiber for this Nation as well as supplementing much of the rest of the world's food and fiber needs.

A strong agriculture historically has been viewed, both by farmers and the general public, as basic to a strong America. The emergence of modern agriculture, with its dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, was considered a necessary part of the United States' and the world's economic development.

Although there have been serious concerns from time to time about soil erosion, and programs implemented to address this problem, these efforts have tended to be sporadic. Concerns over water and other natural resource conservation have generally been even more limited.

Rise of Environmental Concerns

While there is still strong public sentiment in support of agriculture, there is growing concern that modem agriculture's use of agricultural chemicals in conjunction with natural resources creates undesirable side effects. Losses of sediment and agricultural chemicals into the environment generally are viewed as inevitable consequences of modern agricultural production. While low concentrations of these chemicals are probably harmless, the public is concerned about the effects of higher concentrations. For certain chemicals that have been identified with diseases such as cancer, there is alarm about their very use in farming.

And, indeed, there are reasons for the public's concern:

Ground water contamination by chemical fertilizers or agricultural pesticides has been confirmed in at least 40 States. Half of the United States' population and 97 percent of the rural communities in the United States obtain their domestic drinking water from ground water.

Pesticides have been linked with cancer, birth defects, and other diseases. Studies indicate that (1) people living in areas where pesticides are used heavily have increased risk of dying from certain kinds of cancer, and (2) farm-workers are at greatest risk, due to direct and prolonged exposure.

Pollution of surface water by "non-point" sources such as contaminants from livestock operations and salinity from irrigated farmland has been reported as moderate to severe in at least 36 States.

Farmers and the general public have historically viewed a strong agriculture as basic to a strong America. (USDA Photo by Ron Nichols, 1087x1098-22)

The Farmer's Perspective

Farmers, once seen as the saviors from many of the Nation's problems, are now viewed by many as part of a problem. In some respects, farmers are caught in the middle of an important public concern.

And the farmer has a unique perspective on these threats to the Nation's environment. On the one hand, farmers responded to strong public pressures in the mid-1970's by rapidly increasing production of food and fiber. Incentives created by agricultural technology, the agricultural research agenda, and Government agricultural policies have encouraged intensive production of crops that have high erosion potentials and high agricultural chemical needs. These incentives have encouraged maximum Production through increased use of fertilizer and pesticides, while they have discouraged diversification of farm operations that benefit wildlife and rely less on the use of chemicals.

On the other hand, farmers are concerned about the impacts of agricultural chemicals on the environment. Farmers share the concerns of fellow citizens for a clean and safe environment as well as a productive agricultural system; and farmers, as individuals, are concerned about possible harmful effects of agricultural chemicals to themselves and their families.

Iowa State University's 1988 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Survey revealed that farmers' concerns about agricultural chemicals in drinking water ranked just after their concerns about farm prices and the Federal budget deficit. In this annual survey, more than 80 percent of Iowa farmers ranked pesticides as a major concern; and 70 percent ranked farm prices and the deficit as a major concern. Seventy percent also ranked adverse health effects from exposure to farm chemicals as a major concern.

What Will We Do?

All Americans want a clean and safe environment. But evidence implicating agriculture as a major contributor to environmental problems is rapidly accumulating. In particular, public concern about pesticide and fertilizer contamination of drinking water sources has already led to State and Federal environmental legislation in this area.

Environmental legislation will continue to affect agricultural practices, but most observers believe these rules will have relatively little effect on the total production of major crops, from a national perspective. However, the effects of environmental regulations may be extremely important for some individual farm operations or for specific farming areas.

Legislation/Regulation. Restrictions on the use and availability of pesticides under present and future legislation may change production systems for various crops or restrict farming to those farmers who have demonstrated competency in the use of agricultural chemicals or who certify that they follow prescribed "best management practices."

Ground water pollution from agricultural chemicals including insecticides, nematicides, herbicides, and fertilizers may also force major changes in the kinds of crops or production practices used in areas where soil types, in combination with irrigation or rainfall, produce rapid leaching of these chemicals.

Current Federal regulations deny Government program benefits to farmers who convert wetlands to farmland or who, having highly erodible cropland, fail to begin implementing an approved conservation plan by 1990 or fail to complete the plan by 1995. Local regulations limit certain farming operations in areas where urbanization is pressuring farmland.

Sustainable Agriculture. Many farmers are adopting alternative farming practices and systems that substitute higher levels of management and diversified farming practices for chemical inputs. Called "sustainable agriculture," these alternatives have three essential long-term goals: (1) to allow productive and profitable farming, (2) to conserve natural resources and protect the environment, and (3) to ensure food safety and quality.

These and other farmers are discovering that many sustainable agricultural practices actually reduce cash costs (thereby increasing cash income) while reducing adverse environmental impacts. Farmers in one area of Nebraska voluntarily reduced applications of nitrogen fertilizers by 27 percent without any appreciable loss in crop yields. By also ceasing to make fall fertilizer applications, they further lowered ground water pollution. (Research in their area had found that 60 percent of fall-applied nitrogen leached into ground water.)

Agricultural Research. Special agricultural research programs have been targeted to identify agricultural production systems that meet sustainable agriculture goals. These research results will be made available to farmers as quickly as possible. Biotechnological research also promises longer term approaches to solving environmental problems. For instance, both public and private research is proceeding to develop corn and other nonleguminous plants that produce their own nitrogen, repel harmful insects (and even some competing weeds), and resist plant diseases. Such research, when available for use, will eliminate or greatly reduce the need for applications of nitrogen fertilizers and chemical pesticides on those crops.

Where both public and private policies formerly provided incentives to develop a highly intensive chemical-based agriculture, these same policies are gradually shifting their incentives to a balanced agricultural production system that will be sustainable over time.

W. Fred Woods, Public Policy Specialist, Extension Service, USDA, Washington, DC.