Sustainable Agriculture – An Overview
Background
There are many different ways of thinking about sustainability and sustainable agriculture. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines sustainable as “a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently change.” According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sustainability is based on the principle that everything humans need for survival and well-being depends on the natural environment. EPA recognizes that agriculture directly contributes to the sustainable stewardship of the land, air, and water. In turn, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that “true sustainability must balance economic, social and environmental dimensions.” It finds that the overall success of a sustainable system is measured by how well it advances objectives related to the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability.
USDA bases its understanding of agricultural sustainability on two definitions. The first is a statutory definition originally introduced in the Farm Bill which describes sustainable agriculture as “an integrated system of plan and animal production practices” that over the long-term satisfy human food and fiber needs; enhance environmental quality; efficiently use nonrenewable resources; integrate natural biological cycles; sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole. 7 U.S.C. § 3103(19). The second definition comes from the USDA 2011 Consensus Statement which finds that USDA is committed to working with partners and stakeholders toward agricultural sustainability. To further that commitment, USDA seeks to balance the goals of satisfying human needs; enhancing environmental quality, the resource base, and ecosystem services; sustaining the economic viability of agriculture; and enhancing the quality of life for farmers, ranchers, forest managers, workers and society as a whole. Taken as a whole, sustainable agriculture can be viewed as a way of balancing multiple needs while working towards the goals of environmental health, economic viability, and social and economic equity.
Given the broad definition of sustainable agriculture, it can be difficult for the legal system to craft policies that mandate sustainable agriculture productivity growth. Many of the legal policies promoting sustainable agriculture are voluntary, such as conservation programs adopted by the Farm Bill, which allow farmers and ranchers to determine what practices are most appropriate for their particular circumstances. These practices may include rotational grazing, no-till and conservation tillage, planting cover crops, managing for pollinators, pest and weed management, and even on-farm renewable energy. Additionally, there are a variety of state and federal programs that provide grants or resources to help encourage innovation and education in the realm of agricultural sustainability.
Government Organizations
Sustainable agriculture is a way of farming; almost all aspects of a farming operation have components that can be transitioned to sustainable practices. Due to an increase in public interest in sustainability and additional opportunities for implementation of sustainable practices, many government agencies and organizations have furthered sustainable agricultural initiatives. However, there are relatively few government organizations that focus exclusively on sustainability and conservation. Of these, the most legally relevant is the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The NRCS is part of USDA, and is responsible for implementation and oversight of the conservation-based sustainable agriculture programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program or the Conservation Reserve Program. The NRCS also provides technical assistance for farmers and ranchers who design conservation practices.
Another important organization is the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. SARE is a federally funded organization that advances farming systems that are both economically profitable and environmentally sound. SARE also compiles information and results from these programs and makes the data available to the public.
Similarly, the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA, formerly the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas project) provides information and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers involved in sustainable agriculture with funds provided by a cooperative agreement between the National Center for Appropriate Technologies (NCAT) and the USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
Finally, the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC), a subset of the National Agricultural Library (NAL), specializes in identifying and compiling resources about sustainable food systems and agricultural practices.
Government Programs
As public concerns about the environment grows, additional federal programs designed to improve agriculture’s impact on the environment are created. Most of these programs are implemented by Farm Bill legislation. The 2014 Farm Bill (P.L. 113-79) continued and consolidated several existing programs intended to help farmers transition to more sustainable farming practices in one of three ways: (1) by subsidizing conservation improvements, (2) by providing technical assistance for conservation planning, (3) or by funding the research of sustainable issues. The 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334) reauthorized and continued many of these programs.
A program that most comprehensively reflects the sustainable movement is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) (reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill). Its purpose is to “promote agricultural production, forest management, and environmental quality as compatible goals.” The program provides cost sharing, payment incentives, and technical assistance to farmers and livestock producers who make conservation and environmental improvements on land devoted to agricultural production. This combination of production agriculture and environmental foresight is a central trait of sustainable agriculture. The 2018 Farm Bill expanded eligibility for EQIP contracts and required targeted use of EQIP spending towards source water protection.
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP, formerly the Conservation Security Program), is intended to reward farmers who are already implementing sustainable practices (reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill). To be eligible, one must demonstrate that a stewardship threshold for at least one resource concern is already being met. Once a farmer is enrolled, the program provides payments for installing and adopting new conservation activities or maintaining existing ones, as well as for adopting resource-based crop rotations.
The 2014 Farm Bill also introduced two new conservation programs which combined previous existing programs: the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) (both reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill). ACEP combines facets of several preexisting easement programs by establishing two types of easements: (1) the wetland reserve easements to protect and restore wetlands; and (2) the agricultural land easement program which protects usable farmland from non-agricultural uses. RCPP combines several prior water improvement practices into one comprehensive program. RCPP partners with state and local governments, farming cooperatives, and other conservation organizations to provide federal funding and to further water quality and conservation on a regional scale.
Finally, there are many programs that do not directly provide assistance for transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices but still promote sustainability while meeting their intended goals. For example, there are several grant programs designed to promote agricultural research for which projects devoted to the study of sustainable initiatives are expressly eligible. The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program allows the Secretary of Agriculture to give grants for the purchase of land that provides public benefits through sustainable forestry management practices. Similarly, one of the objectives of grants awarded under the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill) is to develop diverse, sustainable domestic sources of renewable energy and biobased products.
For more information on conservation programs, please visit the Conservation Programs Reading Room. For information on organic agricultural production, a topic related to sustainability, please visit the National Organic Program Reading Room.