Don't Fear Your Food: Agriculture and the Environment

I spent weeks trying to figure out a way to write this blog that will satisfy both me and my readers.  I want very much to thoroughly address every single aspect of agriculture's interaction with the environment.  However, I have discovered that to do so would be a huge job.  I also think that I would bore my readers by talking about minute details they may or may not fully understand.  So, I have decided that with this topic, and perhaps with others, I will speak in broad terms and talk about the motives behind actions, rather than talking about details.  I will, however, provide some links to further reading, should my readers want to know more about the topic.

A while ago, I watched a documentary called "Cowspiracy".  I had an inkling that this documentary would threaten the agriculture industry in some way, so I was wary about watching it.  However, I know that if I hide from the concerns that non-farmers have about agriculture, I will never be able to address those concerns.  I will not be an ostrich, hiding my head in the sand, so I watched the documentary.  There were several concerns brought up by the producer, but the over-arching issue that drove the film project was the impact of animal agriculture on the environment.  I can't respond to everything that was brought up unless I write a very thick book on the subject, but I would like to talk a bit about agriculture's impact on the environment.

There is no doubt that agriculture is deeply linked to the environment.  Every production activity performed by a farmer impacts the surrounding environment in some way, whether we are putting something into the environment, taking something out, or modifying the landscape for some project.  This is true for both crop production and animal agriculture.

Farmers' interactions with the environment are largely driven by economic benefit.  When farmers take care of the land that they farm, it is because they recognize that taking care of the land now will lead to increased or sustained economic benefits in the future.  When farmers don't take care of their land properly, it is because they cannot see the future benefits that will arise from the costs incurred today.  Allow me to illustrate this with two different (very simplified) scenarios.

Scenario 1: Crop Farming
In crop farming, soil health is a major factor in crop yield, and crop yield has a direct link to profits for the farmer.  A farmer who wants to take care of his soil in order to sustain a high crop yield in the future (or to increase crop yields) might test his soil, put nitrogen and other fertilizers into the soil to replace what the crop took out, chop the straw and leave it on the field as organic matter, use reduced tillage techniques, and use other practices to sustain or improve soil health.  Another farmer may look at his options and decide that a soil test is too expensive or takes too long to do properly.  He may decide that fertilizer is too expensive, or that he wants to bale his straw to sell as bedding.  The new equipment required for reduce tillage seeding may also seem like too much of an expense.  All of these expenses might become barriers to the farmer, so he will look like the one who cares less about the environment, even though both farmers were equally driven by economic benefits and costs.

Scenario 2: Cattle Ranching
In cattle ranching, access to good drinking water is key.  Studies are finding that cleaner drinking water causes increased gains in cattle and keeps them healthier.  A farmer who wants to take extra good care of his cows might fence off access to streams, lakes, and other water sources, and have the water pumped into tanks from which the cows can drink.  The water is clean because the cows aren't getting into their drinking water.  The riparian areas around the water sources get an added benefit, too, though.  The trees, shrubs, and other plants grow back along the banks of the streams (or lakes, etc.), which take pollutants out of the water, making it cleaner.  I could go on about the benefits of restoring riparian areas, but I'll just direct you to the "Further Reading" section.  A different farmer might look at the costs and time associated with fencing off potentially large areas, installing new watering systems, and (in some cases) training the cows to use the new watering system, and decide that the small gains aren't worth it right now.  As a result, the riparian area will continue to be knocked down by the cattle, the banks will erode into the stream, causing it to be shallower, and the cattle will be drinking dirtier water.

In each of these scenarios, each farmer is motivated by financial cost or gain, not necessarily by the need to care for the environment.  Don't get me wrong; most farmers do care about the environment and enjoy spending time in nature (for example, I just saw a fisher in the bush when I was hauling bales this morning - it was SO cool!!).  However, farms are businesses - big businesses with tiny margins.  Farmers have to make decisions based on economics.  Fortunately, when we look towards the future to see what can be gained from decisions and practices that benefit the environment, we can usually see that those decisions and practices also benefit our bank accounts.  Yes, there are things that the farming community needs to work on in terms of how we care for the environment.  However, we need non-farmers to give us the chance to figure out how we can benefit both the individual farm and the environment.  Without our bank accounts, we farmers can't do anything to benefit the environment, because we wouldn't have our farms.  Please keep that in mind when you have questions about how agriculture impacts the environment.  No one has all of the answers, but we are working on finding the best way to produce different types of food on different types of land in ways that benefit both the food industry and the environment.

For Further Reading
Cattle Producer's Guide to Managing Riparian Zones
The Effect of Clean Drinking Water on Cattle
General Soil Health and Soil Testing Information
Video on the Economic Benefits of Soil Health
A Picture of What Happens When Farmers Don't Care for the Environment