At its heart, sustainable agriculture is simple. In practice, it’s much more complicated. Farmers and ranchers who value sustainability embrace three common goals for a successful production system:
- Profit over the long term
- Stewardship of our nation’s land, air and water
- Quality of life for farmers, ranchers, farm employees and communities
SARE’s newly revised What is Sustainable Agriculture? publication provides a primer to practices that can help farmers and ranchers improve the sustainability of any complex, integrated production and marketing system.
- Soil Health: Healthy soil provides a strong foundation for the vitality of any crop or forage. Cover crops, conservation tillage and effective compost and pasture management can help producers improve soil quality.
- Biological Diversity: Crop rotation and integrated crop and livestock systems are proven approaches for managing water quality, cycling nutrients and interrupting the life cycles of pests.
- Health and Wellbeing of People: Safe and humane working conditions and fair compensation for producers and farmworkers are essential components of a sustainable production system.
- Ecological Pest Management: Understanding insect, weed and disease pests can help producers improve control through scouting, reduced applications, biodiversity and other tools.
- … and more!
Available for free in print and online, What is Sustainable Agriculture? highlights SARE-funded projects that use innovative technologies and enterprises to explore sustainable strategies that address some of agriculture’s most pressing modern day challenges. Download or order your free print copy of What is Sustainable Agriculture? at www.sare.org/what-is-sustainable-agriculture or by calling (301) 779–1007. What is Sustainable Agriculture? is available in quantity for free to educators for use in educational workshops, classes or tours.