Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices

[Guest guest]

(apologies to those receiving this on two lists!)

Here are some excerpts from an interesting article published in the latest

issue of " Nature. " This directly ties into my previous post regarding how

large agribusinesses and factory 'farms', (those with the most

environmentally destructive practices), are currently being rewarded, while

those small family farms practicing the most sustainable agriculture are

being de facto penalized by current trade policies.

i have no idea if there are inaccuracies in the article, but i found the

section on livestock husbandry, in which the authors discuss the benefits of

pasture-raised livestock encouraging. not that those with the political or

economic clout to change the current destructive practices of the large

corporate 'farms' is listening...

full article is here (you might have to fill out a membership form to read

it - it's free):

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v418/n6898/f

ull/nature01014_fs.html

Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices

<snip>

" A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge

challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial

and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society.

Agriculturalists are the principal managers of global useable lands and will

shape, perhaps irreversibly, the surface of the Earth in the coming decades.

New incentives and policies for ensuring the sustainability of agriculture

and ecosystem services will be crucial if we are to meet the demands of

improving yields without compromising environmental integrity or public

health. "

<snip>

" There is a general consensus that agriculture has the capability to meet

the food needs of 8–10 billion people while substantially decreasing the

proportion of the population who go hungry5, 26-28, but there is little

consensus on how this can be achieved by sustainable means. Sustainability

implies both high yields that can be maintained, even in the face of major

shocks29, and agricultural practices that have acceptable environmental

impacts. The main environmental impacts of agriculture come from the

conversion of natural ecosystems to agriculture, from agricultural nutrients

that pollute aquatic and terrestrial habitats and groundwater, and from

pesticides, especially bioaccumulating or persistent organic agricultural

pollutants. Agricultural nutrients enter other ecosystems through leaching,

volatilization and the waste streams of livestock and humans. Pesticides can

also harm human health, as can pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant

pathogens associated with certain animal production practices. "

<snip>

" Improvements in the control of weedy competitors of crops, crop diseases

and pathogens, and herbivores could significantly increase yields. Three

cereals — wheat, rice and corn — provide 60% of human food. These crops,

derived from once-rare weedy species, have become the three most abundant

plants on Earth "

<snip>

" Fertile soils with good physical properties to support root growth are

essential for sustainable agriculture, but, since 1945, approximately 17% of

vegetated land has undergone human-induced soil degradation and loss of

productivity, often from poor fertilizer and water management, soil erosion

and shortened fallow periods67. Continuous cropping and inadequate

replacement of nutrients removed in harvested materials or lost through

erosion, leaching or gaseous emissions deplete fertility and cause soil

organic matter levels to decline, often to half or less of original

levels44 "

<snip>

Sustainable livestock production

" The production of 1 kg of meat can require between 3 and 10 kg of grain.

During the past 40 years, global per capita meat production has increased

more than 60% (Fig. 3), a trend driven by increasing global per capita

incomes, but threatened by stagnant or declining per capita grain production

(Fig. 3). Livestock production is becoming an industrial-scale process in

which several thousand cattle or pigs, or 100,000 or more chickens, are fed

grains and produced in a single facility. In the United States, the average

number of animals per livestock operation increased 1.6-fold for cattle,

2.3-fold for pigs, 2.8-fold for egg production and 2.5-fold for broiler

chickens over 14 years71. The average number of pigs per operation increased

2.6-fold from 1990 to 2000 in Canada72. Large-scale facilities are

economically competitive because of production efficiencies73, but have

health and environmental costs that must be better quantified to assess

their potential role in sustainable agriculture.

High-density animal production operations can increase livestock disease

incidence, the emergence of new, often antibiotic-resistant diseases, and

air, groundwater and surface water pollution associated with animal wastes.

Current livestock operations are vulnerable to catastrophic loss of animals

to disease. For instance, in 1997, an influenza A virus (H5N1) appeared and

spread among Hong Kong chicken-production facilities, killing six humans and

leading to the destruction of more than 1.2 million birds. In Britain, foot

and mouth outbreaks led to the destruction of 440,000 animals in 1967 and

1.2 million in 2001. Bovine spongiform encephalitis ('mad cow disease') led

to the slaughter of 11 million animals in 1996. To help prevent disease

associated with high-density facilities, livestock are often fed

subtherapeutic doses of the same antibiotics used in human medicines. These

prophylactic treatments cause agriculture to use, in total, a larger

proportion of global antibiotic production than human medicine15.

Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, Campylobacter and Escherichia coli strains

that are pathogenic to humans are increasingly common in poultry or beef

produced in large-scale operations14.

The handling and disposal of animal wastes are significant problems of

high-density animal confinement facilities. Manure lagoons can release high

levels of hydrogen sulphide and other toxic gases, volatilize ammonium that

greatly increases regional nitrogen deposition, and contaminate surface and

ground waters with nutrients, toxins and pathogens. These animal wastes pose

health and environmental risks similar to those of human wastes and should

be treated accordingly. For example, animal wastes could be treated by

composting to create a crop fertilizer that no longer harbours pathogens,

and that is applied at appropriate rates and times and with methods that

minimize nutrient leaching. This closing of the nutrient cycle decreases

dependence on synthetic fertilizer production, and is more efficient when

animal and crop production are combined locally.

Pastoral livestock production makes extensive use of ecosystem services and

eliminates many of the problems of confinement production. Pastured animals

consume plants growing in a field, and plant growth is increased by animal

wastes deposited and recycled in the field. Ruminant production on

grasslands takes advantage of the high efficiency of ruminant guts to

convert low-quality forage into high-protein human foods, including dairy

products and beef. When appropriately stocked and managed,

grassland–ruminant ecosystems are an efficient, sustainable method of

producing high-quality protein with minimal environmental impacts. "

<snip>

Implications

Agriculturalists are the de facto managers of the most productive lands on

Earth. Sustainable agriculture will require that society appropriately

rewards ranchers, farmers and other agriculturalists for the production of

both food and ecosystem services. One major step would be achieved were

agricultural subsidies in the United States, EU and Japan redirected to

reward sustainable practices. Ultimately, sustainable agriculture must be a

broadly based effort that helps assure equitable, secure, sufficient and

stable flows of both food and ecosystem services for the 9,000 million or so

people likely to inhabit the Earth.

Suze Fisher

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg/

mailto:s.fisher22@...

[Guest guest]

Great article! Here's another - a lecture (2000 BBC Reith series) by Vandana

Shiva. Well worth reading.

Peace,

Kris , gardening in northwest Ohio

If you want to hear the good news about butter check out this website:

http://www.westonaprice.org/know_your_fats/know_your_fats.html

----- Original Message -----

From: " Suze Fisher " <s.fisher22@...>

" " < >

Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 7:18 AM

Subject: Agricultural sustainability and intensive

production practices

> (apologies to those receiving this on two lists!)

>

> Here are some excerpts from an interesting article published in the latest

> issue of " Nature. " This directly ties into my previous post regarding how

> large agribusinesses and factory 'farms', (those with the most

> environmentally destructive practices), are currently being rewarded,

while

> those small family farms practicing the most sustainable agriculture are

> being de facto penalized by current trade policies.

>

> i have no idea if there are inaccuracies in the article, but i found the

> section on livestock husbandry, in which the authors discuss the benefits

of

> pasture-raised livestock encouraging. not that those with the political or

> economic clout to change the current destructive practices of the large

> corporate 'farms' is listening...

>

> full article is here (you might have to fill out a membership form to read

> it - it's free):

>

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v418/n6898/f

> ull/nature01014_fs.html

> Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices

>

[Guest guest]

>>>>Great article! Here's another - a lecture (2000 BBC Reith series) by

Vandana

Shiva. Well worth reading.

------------->heehee....is it an invisible link?

Suze Fisher

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg/

mailto:s.fisher22@...