The Future of Sustainable Agriculture in the United States

In the United States, sustainable agriculture remains complicated and controversial as a concept, particularly to define and apply in terms of practices and policies to achieve sustainability. Many consider current agricultural practices to be sustainable in the near term with regard to the dependable, affordable supply of food and fibre, but unsustainable in terms of environmental quality and social costs. Production agriculture hos been linked to soil erosion and water pollution, and the emphasis on efficiency has contributed to the loss of many farmers and increasing instability in rural communities. Many of agriculture's dilemmas can be linked to policies of the past 50 years. Until these policies consider the true social and environmental costs of growing food, the situation cannot be reversed. Macroeconomic forces seem to be moving farming to larger and more specialised operations. This shift, often termed industrialised agriculture, may not be sustainable because in reality it is inefficient, requiring high inputs of energy•intensive chemicals, lowering the diversity of products, and abetting the loss of topsoil and pollution of water supplies. There are many indications that the rate of transformation to a more industrialised agriculture is accelerating, However, because of their complexity, the reasons for these trends are hard to address so that rural revitalisation can also be a part of the new agriculture. This paper presents the author's views on policy and leadership issues and research needs that must be addressed in the United States in the near future if current trends are to be reversed in time. Among the l_eaders of this change must be the public institutions conducting agricultural research and education. It will be important for these institutions to work in harmony with other leaders of agriculture, conservation, and natural resource groups. There are numerous indications that agricultural leaders are becoming more responsive to the need to address sustainability, but the measures being taken currently are directed at the short term. Over time, systems approaches with a mix of policies and practices will result in a more sustainable and profitable agriculture. If the trends are not reversed, the alternative will likely be a more strictly regulated agriculture.