Unit 1: Conceptual Framework and Historical Foundations of Sustainable Agriculture
How farmers and ranchers meet those goals is as different as prairie flowers dotting a Midwest landscape. Farming methods that improve the sustainability of one farm may not be appropriate to a different farm or region. Each practice must be evaluated in a given farming system for its ability to achieve a set of economic, environmental and social goals. However, we can look to changes adopted by farmers across the country, a few of which are described in this course series, to get a sense of how to improve agricultural sustainability. These changes and many other alternative approaches are contributing to the goals of lasting farm production, stewardship of land, water and wildlife, and improved quality of life for farmers, their families and rural communities
Click on the following buttons to learn more about farmers who successfully practice agricultural sustainability:
Problem/Goals: Emphasis on production resulted in low profits and near bankruptcy; need for improved manure management to reduce pollution.
Summary of Operation: • 80 dairy cows (Holsteins) on 95 acres • Management-intensive (rotational) grazing on 60 acres • Seeded grass and legume pasture divided into 25 paddocks
Agricultural professional participation: Clemson researchers compared management-intensive grazing at Trantham's farm to his former confinement system and found a 31 cents per cow per day savings under a grazing system.
Producer quote: "I said to myself, 'If farmers could have 12 Aprils, they could make it on pasture.' Switching to 12 Aprils is not like taking a drastic chance. It's like tiptoeing into cold water. Once you're in, it's not bad."
Click this link for more details on Twelve Aprils Dairy Farm.
Problem/Goals: Striving for diverse mix of animals to increase profits; achieve environmental and quality of life goals.
Summary of Operation: • Pasture-raised chickens, turkeys, ducks, beef cattle, goats and rabbits • On-site poultry processing and farm store
Agricultural professional participation: Robin and Mark Way raised a small herd of cows and hay on their northern Maryland farm in 1997, but sought to grow. A Cecil County extension agent approached them for help with what seemed a novel idea. He was doing research on poultry that grew in movable, outdoor pens and needed a farmer cooperator. Ever open-minded and eager to participate in a scientific experiment, the Ways started with 25 chicks. Today, they raise about 2,000 chickens, 275 turkeys and 100 ducks annually. Their efficient processing methods today allow them to slaughter 75 birds in a few hours.
Producer quote: "We're sustainable," Robin reports. "I'm not going to say the farm makes hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we don't borrow from Peter to pay Paul."
"On our farm, animals are allowed to live and grow in as natural a setting as possible, outside, with fresh air and grass. We say our meat is 'all natural,' and our customers are happy with that."
Problem/Goals: Create system to raise Spanish goats for cashmere and meat.
Summary of Operation: • 150-250 Spanish goats for cashmere and meat • On-farm goat research • Angus cattle
Agricultural professional participation: Evans' interest in raising goats was sparked by Langston University's Institute for Goat Research. Living on open pasture with minimal shelters, his goats would stack on top of each other trying to stay warm after shearing. The results were "disastrous," Evans says. He sought advice from Langston University extension, who suggested that he spread his shearing throughout the spring months. Evans applied Langston's advice, and initiated a study with support from a SARE producer grant, Langston University, and Oklahoma State University Extension to investigate combing and shearing techniques in obtaining cashmere fiber.
Producer quote: "That first season, it seemed like every time we'd go and shear, we'd get an ice storm….We've switched over completely to combing our goats [to obtain cashmere]."
Problem/Goals: Difficult soil characteristics, including hard pan layer limiting water absorption and crop growth.
Summary of Operation: • No-till corn, beans and wheat • Rye grass, cereal rye and hairy vetch cover crops
Agricultural professional participation: After discovering a "plow pan" that limited crop growth, Upton solicited help from University of Illinois Extension Educator Mike Plumer to learn about cover crops and their potential improve soil quality. Upton began experimenting with covers in his no-till system, and Plumer helped Junior choose species and set out experimental plots to test their ideas.
Producer quote: "Since we have been using no till, the organic matter has gone up 1 percent to almost 3 percent. The hard pan, which restricted the depth of the roots, is just about gone. It was amazing to me how much impact the soil improvement had on yields."
Extension quote: "We're seeing corn roots down to 60 inches. The corn is not stressed, water isn't pooling in the low areas like it use to, and yields are higher. Junior has done something that most soil science students are taught is all but impossible: In a relatively short time he's changed his soil into something different than it use to be." ~ Mike Plumer, University of Illinois Extension Educator
Problem/Goals: Managing fruit pests; diversifying market strategies.
Summary of Operation: • Apples, pears, peaches, berries, vegetables • On-farm store
Agricultural professional participation: While attending tree fruit meetings, Bishop heard Ron Prokopy, a tree fruit research scientist at the University of Massachusetts, speak about integrated pest management using a red sphere sticky trap. Jonathan undertook a 10-acre pilot study using Ladd traps-which operate using principles similar to the red spheres, but are spaced 100 feet apart-to monitor apple maggot in his orchards. The results were so promising that he invested in more than 1,800 of the red sphere traps and has since reduced pesticide use by up to 80 percent.
Producer quote: "We've found that using a combination of spraying the most susceptible variety and setting traps on the others works best…People in the non-agricultural sector tend to have negative perceptions regarding pesticide use that we address in our public relations efforts."
Location: Wells, Nevada (400 head cow/calf operation, with 350 yearlings sold annually on 1,200 acres plus 34,000 acres federal land)
Problem/Goals: Ranching sustainably on public lands; increasing profits despite fluctuating beef prices.
Summary of Operation: • 400-head cow/calf operation, 350 yearlings sold annually • 100-110 horses • Agri-tourism featuring cattle- and horse-centered activities
Agricultural professional participation: After studying Holistic Management®, Agee Smith revised the family's system to graze cattle in higher densities and shorter duration. He used maps to define natural boundaries like hills and creeks and created at least 50 pasture areas through which they move cattle frequently. As part of an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management, Smith assembled a team from BLM, Extension, NRCS, Elko County and several ranchers and residents to learn together about new ways of managing rangeland. By 2004, at least 20 active participants were working together as a ranch advisory board meeting thrice yearly.
Producer quote: "I said we'd be willing to put up the ranch as an experiment to try this. I would never go back to doing business the old way - it really helps having that many minds with different perspectives working together."
Extension quote: "The results have improved decision-making and management efforts on a large public land ranch and continued support of the project by land and wildlife management agencies, environmental groups, local government officials and private livestock interests." ~ Jay Davison, Nevada extension specialist.
Tom Trantham, Twelve Aprils Dairy Farm
Robin Way, Rumbleway Farm
Claud Evans
Ralph 'Junior' Evans
Jonathan Bishop, Bishop's Orchards
Agee Smith, Cottonwood Ranch