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Alternative Agriculture News For
August 1998, from the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture.
Report Profiles Profitable Alternative Farming Practices
Most Sustainable Ag Funding Survives Senate Vote
Land Institute Redefines Agriculture
EPA Awards Grants to Reduce Pesticide Use
Position
Europe Steers Clear of Genetically Altered Food
Honeybee Populations Are At Lowest Levels in Decade
Resources
Upcoming Events
Back Issues
©1998, Henry A. Wallace Institute
for Alternative Agriculture, 9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770.
Phone: (301) 441-8777. E-mail:
hawiaa@access.digex.net.
This newsletter is also available to subscribers to the
sanet-mg discussion
group. To subscribe, send a message to:
almanac@ces.ncsu.edu. Leave the
subject line blank and in the body of the message type only: subscribe sanet-mg
Subscription information
for the hard-copy version is available at the Wallace
Institute website.
In addition to this monthly newsletter, the Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture publishes the American Journal of Alternative
Agriculture, a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of research on
alternative agriculture. It is a scientific forum for disseminating technical,
economic, and social research findings about the character and requirements of
alternative agriculture systems.
The current issue (Volume
13, No. 2) features articles on:
- The start-up of a successful alternative dairy farm in Wisconsin.
- Feedlot manure nutrient loadings on South Dakota farmland.
- Organic vegetable production in the United States.
- Natural terrace formation through vegetative barriers on hillside farms in
Honduras.
- Erosion effects on soil moisture and corn yield on two soils in Tanzania.
- A behavioral approach to alternative agriculture research.
Subscriptions to AJAA are $44 for libraries; $24 for individuals; and $12
for students. Find more information
about AJAA at he Wallace Institute
website.
Report Profiles Profitable Alternative Farming Practices
Innovative and successful farmers around the country are "switching
from conventional pest management practices, which are heavily reliant on
pesticides, to profitable alternative agricultural practices that substantially
reduce pesticide use," concludes a report published last month by the
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
The report, "Fields
of Change: A New Crop of American Farmers Find Alternatives to Pesticides,"
profiles 22 farmers who produce fruits, vegetables, grains, cotton, and dairy
in 16 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana,
Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Texas,
Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
"All of the farmers made
the conversion from conventional pest management systems to alternative pest
management systems while maintaining, and in many cases improving, the
profitability of their operations." The farmers now use alternative
techniques such as scouting and monitoring for pest and natural enemy
population levels; using precision pesticide application equipment; rotating
crops and planting cover crops; switching to biologically-based pest control
products; and using conservation tillage, irrigation management, and
soil-building.
The report makes five policy recommendations that would
facilitate the widespread adoption of alternative pest management practices:
- Implement an education and technical assistance program.
- Increase investment in sustainable and organic farming systems research
and extension programs.
- Salvage the Administration's Integrated Pest Management initiative.
- Increase availability of technical and financial cost-share assistance and
incentive programs.
- Define terms and create rewards in the marketplace for foods grown using
alternative pest management methods.
"Fields of Change" is $14 plus $3 shipping from NRDC,
Publications Department, 40 West 20th St., New York, N.Y. 10011; (212)
727-4486. An executive summary and portions of the text are available from the
publications page at NRDC's website:
http://www.nrdc.org/nrdc/nrdcpro/fppubl.html
Most Sustainable Ag Funding Survives Senate Vote
Federal funding in Fiscal Year 1999 for most sustainable agriculture
programs, which was cut in several areas by the U.S. House of Representatives
in June, survived a vote by the Senate last month.
Here are the
appropriations approved by the Senate for several sustainable agriculture
programs:
- SARE: $8 million appropriation approved for the Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education program, the same as FY98.
- SAPDP: $3.3 million appropriation approved for the SARE (Chapter
3) Professional Development Program, the same as FY98.
- ATTRA: $1.3 million appropriation approved for the Appropriate
Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, the same as FY98.
- OFPA: $1 million appropriation approved for the Organic Food
Production Act, the same as the House appropriation and an increase from the
FY98 appropriation of $500,000.
- CFO: All funds deleted for the Conservation Farm Option, the same
as the House. FY98's appropriation was $15 million.
- EQIP: $200 million appropriation approved for the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program, an increase from the House appropriation of $174
million, and the same as the FY98 appropriation of $200 million.
- WRP: $90.2 million appropriation approved for the Wetlands Reserve
Program, a decrease from the House appropriation of $97.7 million and from the
FY98 appropriation of $219 million.
- CFSA: $2.5 million appropriation approved for the Community Food
Security Act, the same as the House appropriation.
- FRA: All funds deleted for the Fund for Rural America, the same as
the House. The Farm Bill did not authorize any FRA funds for FY98.
Land Institute Redefines Agriculture
The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, is "the spiritual home for a
growing group of farmers, scientists and prairie visionaries who are quietly
redefining the meaning of agriculture," according to an essay in "The
Millennium Notebook" of Newsweek (July 6, 1998).
Farmers are now
using "heavy machinery and an ever-expanding arsenal of fertilizers and
insecticides. But the machines destroy the soil, and modern agriculture has
been blamed for everything from bland tomatoes to poisoned water and the death
of the family farm. Researchers at The Land Institute think they see a way
out. They call it 'natural-systems agriculture,' the idea being that we can
farm more effectively, and less destructively, by mimicking nature, not
subduing it."
Natural prairies are made up of a mix of different
plants, most of them perennials. But grain farmers have selected annual
varieties of grains, and fewer of them. The article asks, "Couldn't
stable mixes of grains, legumes and oil seeds be grown together in the same
field, keeping pests and weeds to a minimum just as a natural prairie does?"
Today, however, experiments at The Land Institute show that mixed
fields can actually outproduce single crops, under some conditions. "If
[Institute Director Wes] Jackson can persuade the world to re-examine the way
we farm, he might just buy us another millennium or two."
EPA Awards Grants to Reduce Pesticide Use
The EPA last month awarded grants totaling almost $500,000 as part of its
Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program, whose goal is to reduce pesticide
risk in agricultural and non-agricultural settings. Many of the grants
emphasize integrated pest management.
Grant recipients and their
projects are:
- University of Maine, to evaluate less toxic pesticide alternatives.
- Vermont Department of Agriculture, to educate homeowners about safe
pesticide use.
- New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, to
develop a spraying structure to improve pesticide use in apple orchards.
- University of Delaware, to reduce herbicide applications on irrigated
corn.
- University of Georgia, to use IPM in mid-season peach production.
- North Carolina State University, to demonstrate effectiveness of
biopesticides in apple orchards.
- Michigan State University, to develop pest ecology and management training
materials for farmers.
- Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, to promote the use of contour
filter strips that reduce agricultural runoff.
- University of Nebraska, to provide farmers with information on organic
grain farming.
- Iowa State University, to reduce pesticide use and increase IPM with
support of weather data.
- Montana State University, to test effectiveness of aeration as a method of
controlling insects in large grain containers.
- Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, to develop and implement integrated
farming programs for winegrape growers.
- University of California Agriculture Research and Education Program, to
develop and distribute information on integrated farming systems for field and
row crops.
- Washington State Department of Agriculture, to establish a state program
to assist growers with sustainable farming practices.
Position
- Massachusetts Audubon Society's Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA, seeks a crop
production manager for 13-acre organic operation; send cover letter, resume,
and references to Stacy Miller, Drumlin Farm, South Great Road, Lincoln, MA
01773; fax (781) 259-7941.
Europe Steers Clear of Genetically Altered Food
Throughout the world last year, more than 30 million acres of commercial
farmland were planted with genetically modified seeds -- 10 times as much as
the year before -- "but not one of those acres was in the 15 countries of
the European Union," according to The New York Times (July 20,
1998).
European consumers "are in open revolt over the prospect
of a future in which nature has somehow been altered by people holding test
tubes....The debate here about how -- and whether -- to unleash the most
powerful tools of modern biology says much about the cultural and philosophical
differences between pragmatic and risk-ready American, where genetic technology
that focuses on food has largely been accepted, and the far more reticent
people of Europe."
There are several reasons for the European
conservatism, according to the article: " a strong environmental movement
rooted in the 19th-century philosophy that nature is as wise as man, a fear of
drastic change, and the unusually large number of small farms still run by
families who are reluctant to end practices that have been honed over
centuries."
Honeybee Populations Are At Lowest Levels in Decade
Throughout the country, a combination of parasites, disease, and pesticides
has sent bee populations plummeting to their lowest levels in decades,
according to The Washington Post (July 20, 1998).
Honeybees
are the primary pollinators for 90 fruit and vegetable crops, from almonds to
avocados, contributing directly or indirectly to a third of the food Americans
eat. "The number of managed bee colonies dropped by 25 percent in the
United States in a single season, from 1995 to 1996, with similar declines
noted in several European countries," the article said.
In
Pennsylvania, apple growers are scrambling to find imported bees to pollinate
their orchards, and commercially managed bee colonies suffered losses of 50
percent in three years.
Some experts "see the decline of the
bees and other pollinators as evidence of more profound disturbances in the
natural world. 'They are the canaries in the coal mine,' said Stephen L.
Buchmann, a research entomologist with the USDA-Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
in Tucson."
Resources
- "Integrated Pest Management Program," the 1998 Annual Report of
the New York State IPM Program, is free from NYS IPM Program, NYSAES, Geneva,
N.Y. 14456; (315) 787-2353, or on the Internet at
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ipmnet/ny/
- "The Economic Merit of Animal Manures as a Source of Plant Nutrients
or Energy Generation" is $13 from UC Agricultural Issues Center,
University of California, Davis, CA 95616; (530) 752-2320.
- "Whole Farm Planning: Combining Family, Profit and Environment"
is $2.50 from Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, 1-800-876-8636.
Upcoming Events
For additional listings, see the
Sustainable
Agriculture Network's Calendar of Events.
- August 27-29, "Philosophy of Design 98: Focus on the Land" will
be held at Whispering Crane Institute, 1651 Calks Ferry Road, Lexington, S.C.
29072.
- August 31-September 2, "Making A Profit In Organics Recycling"
will be held in Columbus, OH; contact BioCycle, (610) 967-4135.
- September 12-19, Practical Farmers of Iowa Field Days will be held;
September 12, farms of Kenneth Rosmann, Harlan, (712) 627-4217, and Ron and
Maria Rosmann and Sons, Harlan, (712) 627-4653; September 13, farm of Tom Wahl
and Kathy Dice, Mapello, (319) 729-5905; September 15, farm of Larry and Judy
Jedlicka, Solon, (319) 644-2686; September 19, Virginia Moser, Garrison, (319)
477-8261.
- September 5, Farm Tour of Buckskin Valley Farms will be held in
Greenfield, OH; contact Charles and Jamie Eselgroth, (937) 981-2030.
- September 9, "Natural Products Expo East" will be held in
Baltimore, MD; contact New Hope Natural Media; (303) 939-8440; e-mail
expo@newhope.com
- September 9-10, "It's Just Common Sense: Practical Approaches to
Better Groundwater Management," the 14th Annual Groundwater Foundation
Fall Symposium, will be held in San Antonio, TX; contact Susan Seacrest,
Groundwater Foundation, P.O. Box 22558, Lincoln, NE 68542; 1-800-858-4844.
- September 10, Thompson On-Farm Research Field Day will be held at the
Thompson Farm, Boone, IA; contact Dick and Sharon Thompson, 2035 190th St.,
Boone, IA 50036; (515) 432-1560.
- September 17-20, 19th Annual Conference of the American Community
Gardening Association will be held in Seattle, WA; contact Susan Casey, Friends
of P-Patch, 700 3rd Ave., #400, Seattle, WA 98104; (206) 684-0264; e-mail
p-patch.don@ci.seattle.wa.us
- September 25 is the deadline for presentation proposals for "The
State of North America's Private Land," to be held in Chicago, IL, January
19-21, 1999; contact Soil and Water Conservation Society, 7515 NE Ankeny Road,
Ankeny, IA 50021; (515) 289-2331; e-mail swcs@swcs.org
- September 25-26, "Wildlife, Pesticides, and People" will be held
in Fairfax, VA; contact Rachel Carson Council, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy
Chase, MD 20815; (301) 652-1877; e-mail rccouncil@aol.com
- September 26, Country Living Field Day will be held in Augusta, OH; call
Ohio State University Extension, (330) 627-4310.
- September 28-30, "Making Connections," the International
Conference of the Society for Ecological Restoration, will be held in Austin,
TX; contact SER, 1207 Seminole Highway, #B, Madison, WI 53711; (608) 262-9547;
e-mail ser@vms2.macc.wisc.edu
- September 28-October 6, "Village Design Permaculture Practicum"
will be held at Culture's Edge, 1025 Camp Elliott Road, Black Mountain, N.C.
28711; (828) 298-2399; e-mail culturesedge@earthaven.org
©1998 Committee for
Sustainable Farm Publishing
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