US Farmers Discover Grass
The Americans have discovered grass. They say with the uncertainties of climate change, beef and dairy products from free-ranging, grass-fed cattle, along with legumes and grains, grown in addition to grass, may be just what farmers and consumers need.
The "post-oil" agricultural world vision was presented at a farming with grass conference last year and the Soil and Water Conservation Society now has published the proceedings from that meeting.
One chapter of the resulting book has the breathtaking idea that perennial plants, in diverse agricultural systems, have great potential to enhance resilience against uncertain market and climatic conditions.
In summarising stories from the conference, participants envisioned mixed livestock, perennial plants, and other crops, instead of large stands of a single-row crop monoculture.
They say the goal is to sustain farms and rural communities both economically and environmentally, whilst offering local, healthy foods and other new product.
US Agricultural Research Service Leader Jon Hanson writes that future trends in population growth, energy use, climate change, and globalisation will challenge agriculturalists to develop innovative production systems that are highly productive and environmentally sound.
"Beef production in the US has done an excellent job of developing animals that can convert feed grains into meat acceptable for human consumption, but it relies heavily on fossil fuels" he says.
Agricultural systems need to be developed that are sustainable and adaptable to change, but yet maintain their productivity. Most producers do not develop and use management systems that are designed to be unsustainable. rather managers have difficulty discerning between sustainable systems and those that are not. "A composite definition might define sustainable agriculture as an approach top growing food and fibre that is profitable, uses on-farm resources efficiently to minimise adverse effects on the environment and people, preserves the natural productivity and quality of land and water, and sustains vibrant rural communities."
Hansen says regardless of the definition, the potential benefits of sustainable agriculture should include long-term viability and resilience of farm economics, conservation and snhancement of the natural resource base, minimisation of off-site environmental impacts, improvement of farm-level management skills, and enhancement of socioeconomic viability of rural communities. He says agricultural industrialisation in the US has replaced ownership and operational control by the farmer with that of the investment community.
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