The Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems (CSAS) in the Institute of
Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
(UNL) is an interdisciplinary center formed in 1991 for the purpose of
bringing together people and resources to promote an agriculture that is
efficient, competitive, profitable, environmentally and socially sustainable
for the indefinite future. Electronic versions of the CSAS bimonthly
newsletter are sent to SANET, PENPages, and the internal IANRNEWS 10-14 days
before those on our mailing list receive their hard copy. They are also
available along with other sustainable ag information on the gopher:
IANRVM.UNL.EDU.
(Note: The electronic version is not sent to individual e-mail addresses.) To
be added to the "hard copy" newsletter mailing list, or for questions or
comments, contact the newsletter
editor, Pam Murray, Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems,
221 Keim Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0949, 402-472-2056,
fax -4104, e-mail: csas001@unlvm.unl.edu.
* * *
CONTENTS:
WHAT YOU'LL SEE ON THE SUSTAINABLE AG TOUR
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION FARM POLICY
IN THE SEMINAR SPOTLIGHT:
THE BIOREGENERATIVE LANDSCAPE
BIOPOWER FROM AGRICULTURE
MANAGING WEEDS IN FARMING SYSTEMS
SUSTAINABLE FAMILIES -- SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIES -- SUSTAINABLE
ENVIRONMENTS
NEBRASKA GOVERNOR SIGNS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BILL
ORGANIC RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSALS DUE JULY 31
MINNESOTA OFFERS SUSTAINABLE AG MINOR
CAST CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE AG AND THE FARM BILL
RESOURCES
DID YOU KNOW...
COMING EVENTS
WHAT YOU'LL SEE ON THE SUSTAINABLE AG TOUR
The 1995 Sustainable Agriculture Tour on August 17 will begin at 8:00
a.m. at the new Agricultural Research and Development Center headquarters near
Mead. At the ARDC participants will see:
- new ARDC headquarters facility that includes an energy efficient,
partially earth-sheltered design and passive solar heating, and a
developing educational program that integrates agricultural production
with environmental concerns and interventions;
- educational microfarm project for undergraduate interns, each of whom
manages a small farm for the entire season from planting to product
sale, and evaluates the biological, economic, and energy efficiency of
diverse cropping and crop/animal systems;
- impacts of grazing crop residues on subsequent crop production, and
effects of conventional and ridge tillage on animal gains during winter
stalk grazing;
- effects of different planting dates and hybrid maturities on
productivity, economic return, and risk of production of corn, soybean,
and grain sorghum in the region;
- impacts of windbreaks on vegetable production, with several species
planted with and without protection of mature windbreaks;
- composting animal wastes for stabilization of nutrients and reduced
costs of handling and application on production fields.
After lunch at the ARDC headquarters, the tour will visit local farms to see:
- a three-year on-farm paired comparison study on profitability of dryland
corn vs. dryland grain sorghum, each in rotation with soybeans to
document yield differences;
- a farmer who has moved away from a corn/soybean/cattle operation and now
grows and direct markets fresh produce including cantaloupe, watermelon,
cabbage, sweet corn, tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, and more;
- one of several nationally-selected sites to participate in a new
approach by EPA for granting conditional registration for applying new
products, in this case the corn herbicide acetochlor.
Registration: fee of $7/person covers lunch and handout materials.
Because tour sites are fairly close together, and to keep cost to a
minimum,
this year it's BYOV (bring your own vehicle); no van or bus service will be
provided. We will travel caravan style, and participants are encouraged to
car-pool. Those who have not pre-registered may still join us for any or all
of the tour, but will not be provided lunch or handout materials. Deadline for
receipt of registration fee in the CSAS office is August 14.
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION FARM POLICY
At the April 1995 National Rural Conference in Iowa, President Clinton
released a report listing the key principles guiding the Administration's
rural and farm policy agenda:
- Maintain the farm economy's foundation through the continuation of
simplified commodity programs.
- Expand foreign markets by fully funding GATT-legal export promotion
policies.
- Expand rural economic opportunities through the creation of quality jobs
that provide a living wage and long-term income stability.
- Streamline conservation programs to make them more flexible and promote
land stewardship.
- Ensure a safe food supply through continued pursuit of a science-based
food safety system.
- Provide a healthful diet for all Americans by working for the
preservation and improvement of food nutrition programs.
- Market the best of American agriculture by reforming and improving the
nation's marketing programs.
- Promote sound science for the next century by creating opportunities for
federal and private research partnership toward technologies that will
improve productivity, solve environmental problems, and create new
opportunities.
"I don't believe we ought to destroy the farm support program if we want to
keep the family farm." President Clinton, National Rural Conference, April
1995
IN THE SEMINAR SPOTLIGHT:
THE BIOREGENERATIVE LANDSCAPE
What will our communities and agricultural areas look like in the
future? Solar and wind energy, capture and infiltration of rainfall into
aquifers, restoration of marshes and wetlands? Dr. Robert (Rob) Thayer from
the University of California-Davis explored these visions in his April 14
seminar, "The Bioregenerative Landscape." In addition to capture of wind and
solar energy, Thayer captured the imaginations of those attending his
thoughtful presentations.
A landscape architect who specializes in the integration of nature with
human settlement and agriculture, Thayer author of the successful book, "Gray
World, Green Heart" (see Resources). He explored the potentials of
regenerating housing developments with diverse lawnscapes and wetlands to
capture rainfall. The innovative zoning and building codes of Davis provide a
model for sustainable development in the 21st Century. Using today's materials
and designs that focus on minimizing energy costs, one development
incorporated sidewalks for pedestrians and bicycles, and minimal streets and
extraneous pavement. A central lake was used to store rain and help
infiltration to the ground water. The entire concept was to bring together the
community around the issue of resource limitations in the future, while
providing adequate comfort today.
Thayer and his students are working in the nearby Yolo County
countryside to plan the restoration of minor sloughs or watercourses that were
once an important part of the ecology. Tree plantings for windbreaks, planted
filter strips along the waterways, and created and connected habitat add to a
vision of a biodiverse farming area for the future. Their plans have been
studied on the ground, visualized in drawings, and discussed with local
farmers and residents in the county. This is the first step in a long-term
plan to implement a plan for biodiversity in concert with agricultural
productivity in this fertile part of the Sacramento Valley.
Submitted by Charles Francis
BIOPOWER FROM AGRICULTURE
In her seminar "Current Projects and Prospects in Biopower from
Agriculture" on April 21, Nancy Cole stressed the need for development of
renewable energy sources, including biomass such as poplar trees, prairie
grasses, and crop residues. The director of public outreach for the Union of
Concerned Scientists in Washington, DC said 85% of energy use in the U.S. is
from fossil fuel.
In Nebraska 59% of electricity is from coal and 33% from nuclear plants.
Coal mining is not human or environmentally friendly, and nuclear plants are
aging quickly and are susceptible to accidents as history has proven.
We need to position ourselves for the future. One way is to build a
biopower industry that uses local/regional plants processing locally grown
biomass. Benefits of such an infrastructure include:
- increased farmer profits, especially if crops are grown on marginal or
reserved lands;
- rural economic development by creating jobs and keeping more energy
dollars in communities;
- protection of fragile lands with perennial energy crops that require
less chemicals, machinery and labor, and reduce environmental impacts on
water quality;
- reduced greenhouse gas emissions (closed-loop system burning biomass
releases CO2 but the plants use it up) and low sulfur emissions;
- potential for increased ecosystem diversity.
Nebraska is the only state in which all utility companies are publicly
owned, providing excellent opportunity for public influence. Two years ago the
Nebraska Citizen Action and the Union of Concerned Scientists initiated the
SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development) campaign. Contact our
office for more information about these organizations.
Cole was in the area promoting a new book she co-authored, "Renewables
are Ready," and was the featured speaker at Earth Day festivities in Omaha,
NE.
Notes by Pam Murray
MANAGING WEEDS IN FARMING SYSTEMS
Dr. Rhonda Janke, a sustainable cropping systems agronomist at Kansas
State University, presented "A Discussion on Weed Ecology in Low-Input Reduced
Tillage Cropping Systems" on April 21. An experiment she directed at the
Rodale Institute compared weed management in sustainable and conventional
farming systems. Their approach was to study systems within a disciplinary
context, such as crop and weed interactions, and within a broader view of
social and political parameters, such as environmental impacts and health
considerations. Janke stressed that the goal is not total elimination of weeds
or chemical use, but weed management.
The Rodale Institute's 330-acre farm has shale-based soils and 42 inches
of rain a year. A conversion experiment started in 1981 was changed to a
farming systems trial in 1986, with each of 15 treatments in one-acre plots
and four replications. During the conversion period, corn was the only crop
with reduced yield. Soybean yield was not affected, and small grain yield was
at or above county averages.
Since 1991, researchers have continued to improve production practices
within the rotations. The low input/sustainable rotation with animals is
wheat/clover-corn-soybeans-corn; the low input/sustainable cash grain rotation
is wheat/clover-corn-barley/soybeans-wheat/ clover; the conventional cash
grain rotation is corn and soybeans. Janke and her team concluded that:
- weed management was more complicated in low input/sustainable systems
than with the conventional herbicide strategy;
- weeds are sometimes above the visual threshold, but rarely above the
biological threshold;
- weed biomass has not increased for more than ten years even though weeds
are setting seed; and
- effective weed management in low input/sustainable systems appears to be
a combination of factors and management practices including: corn
population density (42,000-65,000/Ha), corn hybrid (95-110 day), number
of cultivations (2-6), cultivation schedule and date of planting,
cultivator type, skill of operator, crop rotation/previous crop, and
weather.
Submitted by Heidi Carter
SUSTAINABLE FAMILIES -- SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIES -- SUSTAINABLE
ENVIRONMENTS
The following is an excerpt from a presentation by Shirley Baugher,
Chair and Professor of the UNL Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, at
the IANR administrative retreat on May 17, 1995. Contact the CSAS for a copy
of the complete paper.
Sustainability has become a prominent issue on the global agenda.
Underlying the concept of sustainability is intergenerational transfer of
resources. Each generation must meet today's needs without incurring debts it
cannot repay and without compromising the lives of future generations. A
society can incur four kinds of debt:
1) financial by borrowing heavily over a long period;
2) social by neglecting to invest in human development;
3) demographic by permitting unchecked growth in popula- tion; and
4) environmental by exhausting natural resources or polluting the land,
the water or the air.
In any real world situation, the meaning and implications of the concept
of sustainability will be subject to countless mitigating factors. A concrete
idea of what sustainability means is possible only in context.
If we understand the concept of sustainability and the interdependence
of all systems toward that goal, then we recognize the link of social systems
to the economy and to the environment. There are obviously linkages among the
ecological, biological, resource, and social goals that address the basic
economic goal in the community.
In the 1990 census, Nebraska had a population of 1.59 million people,
with 27% under the age of 18. Using a straight-line projection to 2005, 14% of
our population will be under the age of 18. Nebraska is clearly an aging
state. In 1990, 93% of the population was European American; in 2005 this will
decrease to 78%. The migration from rural to urban areas is projected to
continue. Eleven percent of Nebraska's population lives in poverty. Nebraska
is especially vulnerable because it is considered one of seven states with the
highest dependency rate of children and older adults; we have fewer people
contributing to the economy of the state than we do individuals dependent upon
the contributions of others.
What are the issues for individuals, families and communities in the
next decade?
- Sustainable families: the interdependent concept of economic, social and
physical attributes.
- Welfare reform: the issues of welfare reform include job preparation
training, parenting and nutrition education, financial management and
employer education.
- Health: 24% of households spend over half of their annual income on
health care; consumer health policy is a critical niche for us.
- Work/Family Policy: the numbers of parents in the work place is high and
will continue to rise; an issue is child care in the work place or the
community.
- Culturally diverse families: a broad target group requires us to tailor
programs; we need to conduct research on the sustainability of
culturally diverse families in our EuroAmerican culture.
- Resource conservation (econ-omy): all resources are at risk and the
issue of resource utilization and conservation is critical as we work
with families and communities.
NEBRASKA GOVERNOR SIGNS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BILL
On May 15 Governor Ben Nelson approved LB 120 which establishes a
comprehensive state energy policy that takes into consideration the costs and
benefits of all energy sources, including renewable energy sources. The bill
also repeals the 1954 legislative policy statement that gave preference to
nuclear energy and the use of radioactive materials.
A related bill, LB 289, which would establish a Biopower Steering
Committee to study the feasibility of generating electricity from the use of
energy crops, including native grasses, was placed on General File.
ORGANIC RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSALS DUE JULY 31
The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) considers proposals
(generally $3,000-5,000) twice a year, with the next deadline July 31. OFRF
funds organic farming methods research, dissemination of research results to
organic farmers and growers interested in making the transition to organic
production, and consumer education on organic farming issues. Projects should
involve farmers in design and execution. Contact: Grants Program, OFRF, POB
440, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, 408-426-6606.
Nebraska Ag IMPACT Project proposals due July 1 (See CSAS Jan-Feb '95
Newsletter). Call 402-254-2289.
MINNESOTA OFFERS SUSTAINABLE AG MINOR
A new graduate minor program in Sustainable Agriculture Systems at the
U. of Minnesota was approved by the Board of Regents in January 1995. The
interdisciplinary curriculum, includes an internship with a non-profit
organization or producer, and emphasizes the interconnections between
agriculture, ecology, sociology, history and economics. For information call
Dr. Craig Sheaffer, 612-625-8235, e-mail: sheaf001@maroon.tc.umn.edu.
CAST CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE AG AND THE FARM BILL
Sixty scientists, policy makers and others addressed 200 attendees at a
January 1995 conference organized by The Council for Agricultural Science and
Technology. Agenda items included conserving and enhancing resources and
biodiversity, enhancing food safety, empowering people economically and
socially, and enhancing ag markets, competitiveness, and rural development.
Speaker and panel comment included:
- Support programs should not dissuade farmers from adopting practices
that enhance the environment.
- Conservation programs merit government support and should be targeted at
environmentally vulnerable areas a determination that should be based
on ecosystems and watersheds instead of on individual fields.
- In developing the 1995 farm bill, related programs should be viewed and
coordinated to foster the leveraging of state and local funds for
environmental protection.
- The federal government should create a broad definition of sustainable
agriculture and design agricultural policies to achieve related goals
including: a systems approach, placing land-use practices in a whole-farm
and ecosystem
context.
- The farm bill and related legislation should integrate and consolidate
overlapping environmental regulations, and regulations should be
replaced, where appropriate, with incentives.
- Research should focus on the identification of indicators of
environmental sustainability.
- Vital rural communities depend on a strong agriculture; a significant
portion of the farm population relies on off-farm income, making the
development of local enterprises key to the development of many rural
communities.
Source: CAST News Release, April 14, 1995. (See Resources)
RESOURCES
"Gray World, Green Heart: Technology, Nature and the Sustainable Landscape."
(See Thayer article on page two.) $49.95. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1 Wiley
Drive, Somerset, NJ 08875.
"Sustainable Agriculture and the 1995 Farm Bill." $50. Summarizes series of
talks and a panel discussion at January 1995 conference on the research and
education agenda. CAST, 4420 West Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014-3447,
515-292-2125.
"Our Field - A Manual for Community Supported Agriculture." $15. 100-page how-to
guide for growers and consumers interested in starting CSA; focuses on
beginning and marketing CSA projects, as well as best ag practices. Tamsyn
Rowley, U. of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1, 519-824-4120, ext.
3675.
"Growing Green: Enhancing the Economic and Environmental Performance of U.S.
Agriculture." $20.45. Economic and agronomic models analyze ways in which U.S.
ag policy constrains adoption of alternative practices; proposes framework for
evaluating national agricultural sustainability and discusses costs and
benefits of sustainable practices; and "Jobs, Competitiveness, and
Environmental Regulation." $12.95 + $3.50 s&h. Economic analysis of regulation
in terms of effects on trade and employment; argues that clean environment is
compatible with healthy economy. World Resources Institute Publications,
POB 4852, Hampden Station, Baltimore, MD 21211, 800-822-0504.
"The Water Quality Incentives Program: The Unfulfilled Promise." $7. Overview
of USDA WQIP and barriers to its success; suggests solutions and improvements
to these problems and ways the WQIP relates to ICM and IPM systems. Center for
Rural Affairs, POB 406, Walthill, NE 68067, 402-846-5248.
"Funding Safer Farming: Taxing Pesticides and Fertilizers." $5. Report from
Center for Science in the Public Interest recommending state-by-state
implementation of modest taxes or fees on ag chemicals to be used to teach
farmers techniques of sustainable ag. CSPI, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite
300, Washington, DC 20009, 202-332-9110.
"Using Biodiversity to Protect Biodiversity: Biological Control, Conservation
and the Biodiversity Convention, 1994." No charge. Centre for Agriculture and
Biosciences (CAB) International. Addresses the relationship between biological
pest control and several key issues and objectives of the Biodiversity
Convention. International Institute of Biological Control, Silwood Park,
Buckhurst Rd, Ascot, Berks SL5 7TA, England, phone 03-44-872999, e-mail:
cabi-iibc-hq@cgnet.com.
"A 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment, 1994-1995." No
charge. Examines agri-cultural, economic and environmental issues with goal
of developing consensus for action on meeting global food needs; topics
include political ramifications of sustainable farming. International Food
Policy Research Institute, 1200 Seventeenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036,
202-862-5600.
"National Organic Directory, 1995." Contact information for organic growers,
wholesalers, farm suppliers and other organic-related businesses and nonprofit
organizations; certification and resource groups, updated summaries of state
and federal organic laws. $37.45 + $3.00 s&h within US, $5.92 to Canada;
Calif. residents include $2.72 sales tax. Community Alliance with Family
Farmers, POB 464, Davis, CA 95617, 800-852-3832.
"Farm Scale Composting." $10. 80-page publication of BioCycle. JG Press, 419
State Avenue, Emmnaus, PA 18049; 610-967-4135.
DID YOU KNOW...
The Nebraska Legislature's Ag Committee sent a letter to Secretary Glickman
calling on USDA to study whether the livestock market depression has been
caused by increasing packer concentration. A committee official said today's
conditions are similar to those experienced in the early 1900s when five
packers controlled 70% of all cattle slaughter.
Referring to the trend toward contract farming, the president of the American
Farm Bureau Federation says the goal "is no longer to sell what we can
produce, but to produce what we can sell."
USDA has researched kenaf with favorable results for more than 50 years, and
now one of the founders of the modern environmental movement, David Brower,
has written the first commercial book published on paper made from this
hemp-like plant. The
pages of "Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run" feels
like paper made from trees. The 196-volume, which costs about 20% more to make
than a conventional-paper book, critiques today's environmental movement for
being too compromising.
In mid-May EPA approved an environmentally-friendly pesticide, Confirm, that
mimics a caterpillar's natural hormone causing it to shed its skin, resulting
in death. It has no effect on other animals and breaks down to water and
carbon dioxide after a few months.
IANR Program Themes:
- Enhance economically viable and sustainable food and biomass systems.
- Improve natural resources management and enhance environmental quality.
- Strengthen the quality of life of individuals and families and contribute
to community viability.
Source: "A Strategic Plan for the University of Nebraska Institute of
Agriculture and Natural
Resources," March 1995.
There are now 17 private certification companies that inspect and verify that
food is organic; many people feel it is time for this rapidly growing industry
to be federally regulated.
More than 20% of hog production is now done under contract, up from 2% in
1980; 7% of food grain and feed grain is produced under contract, up from less
than 2% in 1970.
A study by the National Center for Economic Alternatives says "The U.S. is
arguably the most waste-generating society in human history." Of the nine
northern industrialized countries studied, France, Canada and the U.S. showed
the greatest decline in environmental quality.
The 1994 world agrochemical market experienced the largest increase since
1984, reversing the 1993 market decline.
Nebraska's governor has signed new legislation classifying deer, elk, ostrich
and emu as livestock, allowing the state to develop animal health regulations
for alternative livestock operations.
U.S. has lost 800,000 farms since 1975; today USDA estimates 600 farmers go
under each week.
Since 1982 the index of prices received by farmers has risen 7.5%, while the
index of prices paid by farmers for production inputs has jumped over 23%.
COMING EVENTS
Contact CSAS office for more information:
Jul. 6-8 -- Midwest SAWG mtg. on farm policy and value-added
marketing/processing, West Lafayette, IN.
Jul. 17-19 -- "Agricultural Management to Protect Water Quality," Amer. Soc.
of Agron. NCR Meeting, Grand Island, NE. Includes Annual Water Resources
Tour.
Jul. 19-22 -- Burt Smith's visits to farms using intensive grazing, NE.
Jul. 23-26 -- Fourth North American Agroforestry Conference, Boise, ID.
Aug. 6-9 -- 50th Annual Meeting, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Des
Moines, IA.
Aug. 9-11 -- Management Intensive Grazing School, Linneus, MO.
Aug. 17 -- CSAS Sustainable Ag Tour, southeast Nebraska.
Sep. 9 -- Festival of Color, theme is water quality, near Mead, NE.
Oct. 7-8 -- The Politics of Sustainable Agriculture, Eugene, OR.
Oct. 18 -- Annual Groundwater Symp., Lincoln, NE.
Oct. 22-25 -- New Crops: New Opportunities, New Technologies, Indianapolis,
IN.
Nov. 6-8 -- Linkages among Farming Systems and Communities, North American
Symposium, AFSRE, Ames, IA.
Nov. 16-17 -- Environmental Enhancement through Agriculture, Boston, MA.
Pam Murray, Coordinator
Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems
and Center for Grassland Studies
U. of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68583-0949
V: 402-472-2056 F: -4104