Array
Earth Day reminds us of the importance of the soil, water and air upon which our health, prosperity and food security depend. The good news is that, on average, humans are better nourished now than at any time in human history, although nearly 1 billion people are still undernourished. The bad news is that our agricultural achievements have come as the expense of extensive air and water pollution and a changing climate.
Crop and livestock systems always entail environmental compromises when native lands are converted to agriculture and when fertilizers are applied to increase crop production. Excess nutrients run off of farmlands and animal production facilities, ending up in streams, groundwater and estuaries, where they pose human health risks and promote damaging algal blooms. Food production contributes between 21 percent to 37 percent of total global greenhouse gases causing global warming.
One of the greatest challenges of our time is to produce abundant, affordable and nutritious food for today’s 8 billion people, and for the 10 billion to 11 billion people within the next 30 to 50 years, while also sustainably stewarding land and water resources and a stable climate so that future generations will enjoy the necessary soils, water and climate required to meet their needs for food, good health and economic prosperity.
Every five years, the U.S. Congress establishes policies and funding through the giant legislation package known as the “farm bill,” and we are in one of those years. The urgency for effective policies that serve dual goals of agronomic productivity and environmental stewardship, including large reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, could not be greater. More good news is that the 2023 Farm Bill will likely devote considerable attention to advancing “climate smart-agriculture” and “regenerative agriculture.
