energy—as well as the diversion of crops to produce
dry grains, process food products, and transport them
ethanol and biodiesel and other trends—will cause
over long distances. With the price of energy so much
food prices to be higher in the future, resulting in a
greater than just a few years ago, the economics of the
worldwide upsurge in hunger.
“modern” agricultural system may need to be reevaluated.
• Too much nitrogen fertilizer or animal manure
The food we eat and our surface and groundwaters are
sometimes causes high nitrate concentrations in
sometimes contaminated with disease-causing organ-
groundwater. These concentrations can become high
isms and chemicals used in agriculture. Pesticides used to
enough to pose a human health hazard. Many of the
control insects and plant diseases can be found in foods,
biologically rich estuaries and the parts of seas near
animal feeds, groundwater, and surface water running off
river inflows around the world, including the Gulf of
agricultural fields. Farmers and farm workers are at spe-
Mexico, are hypoxic (have low oxygen levels) during
cial risk. Studies have shown higher cancer rates among
late summer months due to nitrogen enrichment from
those who work with or near certain pesticides. Children
agricultural sources.
in areas with significant usage of pesticides are also at
• Phosphate and nitrate in runoff and drainage water
risk of having developmental problems. When considered
enter water bodies and degrade their quality by
together, these inadvertent by-products of agriculture are
stimulating algae growth.
huge. The costs of all these negative effects on wildlife,
• Antibiotics used to fight diseases in farm animals can
natural resources, human health, and biodiversity in
enter the food chain and may be found in the meat we
the United States is estimated at between $6 billion and
eat. Perhaps even more important, their overuse on
$17 billion per year. The general public is increasingly
farms where large numbers of animals are crowded
demanding safe, high-quality food that is produced with-
together has resulted in outbreaks of human illness
out excessive damage to the environment—and many are
from strains of disease-causing bacteria that have
willing to pay a premium to obtain it.
become resistant to many antibiotics.
To add to the problems, farmers are in a perpetual
• Erosion associated with conventional tillage and
struggle to maintain a decent standard of living. As
lack of good rotations degrades our precious soil and,
consolidations and other changes occur in the agriculture
at the same time, causes the silting up of reservoirs,
input (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, equipment, etc.), food
ponds, and lakes.
processing, and marketing sectors, the farmer’s bargain-
• Soil compaction reduces water infiltration and
ing position weakens. For many years the high cost of
increases runoff, thereby increasing flooding, while
purchased inputs and the low prices of many agricultural
at the same time making soils more drought prone.
commodities, such as wheat, corn, cotton, and milk, caught
• In some parts of the country groundwater is
farmers in a cost-price squeeze that made it hard to run
being used for agriculture faster than nature can
a profitable farm. At the time of writing this edition, the
replenish this invaluable resource. In addition,
prices for many agricultural commodities have recently
water is increasingly diverted for urban growth in
seen sharp increases and then a rapid decrease. On the
dry regions of the country, lessening the amount
other hand, the costs of purchased inputs also increased
available for irrigated agriculture.
greatly but then did not decrease as much as crop prices
The whole modern system of agriculture and food is
did. The wide swings in prices of crops and animal prod-
based on extensive use of fossil fuels—to make and power
ucts have created a lot of stress among farmers.
large field equipment, produce fertilizers and pesticides,
Given these problems, you might wonder if we should
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Building SoilS for Better CropS: SuStainaBle Soil ManageMent