ISSN: 1063-262X

Agriculture and the Environment

AFSIC Notes no. 2

March 1992

Prepared By:
Jane Potter Gates and Jayne T. MacLean
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Information Centers Branch
National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture
Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2351

1991 Yearbook of Agriculture

The significant connection between agriculture and the environment is recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture. Appreciation of this connection can be seen in the publication of The 1991 Yearbook of Agriculture, entitled agriculture and the Environment.

In the "Introduction" to the 1991 Yearbook, Secretary of Agriculture Edward Madigan states that "taking care of our environment must be a cooperative effort to conserve the land, water, and air in a way that will best sustain the earth and all its people. The environment is everyone's business" (p. iv).

Environmental Pressures

Agriculture, i.e., the raising of plants and animals for food and fiber, remains the major activity that relates us to our environment. Although agreement exists that there is a finite amount of land suitable and available for food production, there is no agreement as to the reconciliation of the conflicting needs of short-term economics and long-term ecology. Prime agricultural land frequently falls into nonagricultural uses, such as housing. Untapped soil resources often require drainage, clearing, leveling, deep tillage, irrigation, desalinization, or other energy intensive management practices. There are no easy solutions.

Historical Conservation Efforts

People in the government have long been conscious of the possible dangers to the land through erosion and mismanagement. Washington and Jefferson were early conservationists who promoted crop rotation as one way of preserving the soil's natural fertility. The Department of Agriculture was established under President Lincoln, with promotion of proper farming practices one of its missions. Preservation of our natural forests and irrigation of arid lands were among the goals of Theodore Roosevelt's administration at the beginning of this century, while the history of the "Dust Bowl" reveals the concern of a large segment of the citizenry with the need for protection of the land. Programs aimed at reclamation, improved farming practices, and watershed development were put into place, including establishment of the USDA's Soil Conservation Service.

Agricultural Chemicals

Beginning in the forties, agriculture's ecological problems were compounded by increased use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and chemical fertilizers. For years the use of chemicals by farmers has been thought to be essential to assure abundant harvests of high quality. With the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, in 1962, the price of that assurance came under intensified scrutiny. Concerns over food safety and water quality became increasingly important to the citizenry, and the government responded with legislation such as the Food Security Act of 1985, the Clean Air Act of 1990, and the President's Water Quality Initiative.

Selected Readings on Agriculture and the Environment

The citations listed herein were selected from the National Agricultural Library's database, AGRICOLA, to reflect the progression of work and thought on the subject of agriculture and its relation to the environment over the last twenty years. Inclusion in the list does not necessarily convey approval, nor does omission from it indicate the opposite.

  1. Abstracts of technical papers [presented at the] invitational symposium [on] man and land in the environment. Madison, Wisconsin, American Society of Agronomy, 1976. 30 pp. NAL call no.: S22.15 1976b

  2. Agriculture and the environment: a study of farmer practices and perceptions. Highlights and summary. Washington, D.C., American Farmland Trust, 1990.24 pp. NAL call no.: S44l.A39

  3. Agriculture and the environment: the 1991 yearbook of agriculture. Washington, D.C., USDA, 1991. 325 pp. NAL call no.: 1 Ag84y 1991

  4. Agriculture cares: a growing partnership with our environment. [Washington,D.C.],USDA, [1990]. [7] p. NAL call no.: aS2l.C9A3

  5. Agriculture in the environment. Washington, D.C., U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 1971. 11 pp. NAL ERS; 481

  6. Altieri, Miguel A. Agroecology: the scientific basis of alternative agriculture. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1987. 227 pp. NAL call no.: S589.7.A47

  7. Atash, F. "Urban growth and farmland preservation; an assessment of alternative programs," Sustaining agriculture near cities. Edited by William Lockeretz. Ankeny, Iowa, Soil and Water Conservation Society, 1987. pp 199-208. NAL call no.: 494.5.U72S87

  8. Bayliss-Smith, T. P. The ecology of agricultural systems. Cambridge, England, Cambridge University Press, 1982. 112 pp. NAL call no.: S589.7b.B38

  9. Briggs, David J. and Frank M. Courtney. Agriculture and environment: the physical geography of temperate agricultural systems. London, Longman, 1985. 442 pp. NAL call no.: S589.7.B75

  10. Brown, Lester Russell and Gail W. Finsterbusch. Man and his environment: food. New York, Harper & Row, 1972. 208 pp. NAL call no.: S439.B76

  11. Carson, Rachel. Silent spring. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, [1987] cl962. 25th anniversary ed. 368 pp. NAL call no.: QH45 P4C3 1987

  12. Chesters, G. and L. J. Schierow. "A primer on nonpoint pollution." Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. Ankeny, Iowa, Soil Conservation Society of America. v. 40 (1): p. 9-13; 1985 Jan/Feb. NAL call no.: 56.8.J822

  13. Davidson, Joan, and Richard Lloyd, eds. Conservation and agriculture. Chichester, New York, Wiley, 1977. 252 pp. NAL call no.: S944.C65

  14. de Haen, Hartwig and Martin Scheele. "Environment: threat to agriculture?" Agricultural economics and policy: international challenges for the nineties. Amsterdam, Elsevier [71, 1991. pp 174-185. NAL call no.: HD1401.D4. No.7

  15. Earth Day--the beginning: a guide for survival. New York, Bantam, 1970. 233 pp. NAL call no.: OH54 I.E3

  16. The Environment committees: a study of the House and Senate Interior, Agriculture, and Science Committees. New York, Grossman, 1975. A Ralph Nader Congress Project. 395 pp. NAL call no.: HC110.E5R28

  17. Food and environment : reconciling the demands of agriculture with global conservation. Italy, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1977. 44 pp. NAL call no.: HD9000.5.F64; F&N C-1929

  18. Food 2000, global policies for sustainable agriculture : a report of the Advisory Panel on Food Security, Agriculture, Forestry, and Environment to the World Commission on Environment and Development. London, Zed Books, 1987. 131 pp. NAL call no.: S494.5.S86W67

  19. Gilding, Thomas J. "Changing technology: pesticide use and the environment," Agriculture in a World of Change: Proceedings of Outlook '91. Washington, D.C., USDA, 199 1. pp 608-613. NAL call no.: 1.90 C2OU8 1991

  20. Green,Bryn. Countryside conservation: the protection and management of amenity ecosystems. London, G. Allen & Unwin, 1981.249 pp. NAL call no.: QH77.G7G74

  21. Guardia, Enrique J. "Food safety and the environment", Agriculture in a World of Change: Proceedings of Outlook '91. Washington, D.C., USDA, 1991. pp 608-613. NAL call no.: 1.90 C2OU8 1991

  22. Harris, Jonathan M. World agriculture and the environment. New York, Garland, 1990. 227 PP. NAL call no.: S439.H37

  23. Haynes, Richard and Ray Lanier, eds. "Ethics of agriculture and the environment, resource use, and sustainability," Agriculture, Change and Human Values. Gainesville, Florida, University of Florida, 1983. V 2, pp 528-725. NAL call no.: S40l.A45 V.2

  24. Krome, Margaret, ed. Proceedings of a statewide conference on sustainable agriculture farming systems : exploiting the impacts on farm profitability and the environment. Black Earth, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Rural Development Center, 1987. 20 pp. NAL call no.: S45 l.W6S7 1987

  25. Lenihan, John, and William Whigham Fletcher, eds. Food, agriculture, and the environment. New York, Academic Press, 1976. V 2. 130 pp. NAL call no.: QH540.E57.

  26. Lewis, Charles A. "Healing the urban environment : a person/plant viewpoint," Journal of the American Planning Association, Washington DC, American Planning Association. v. 45 (3): p.330-338; 1979 July. NAL call no.: HT166.AlA4

  27. McCaskill, Von. "Fertilizer and pesticide use and the environment," Agriculture in a World of Change: Proceedings of Outlook '91. Washington, D.C., USDA, 199 1. pp 608-613. NAL call no.: 1.90 C2OU8 1991

  28. Manning, William J. The impact of environmental stresses on agriculture. Amherst, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Univ Coop Ext Serv Publ No 89. 1973. 50 pp. NAL call no.: 275.29 M38 1L

  29. Mellanby, Kenneth. Fanning and wildlife. London, Collins, 1981. 178 pp. NAL call no.: S455.M45

  30. Ritter, W. F. "Reducing impacts of nonpoint source pollution from agriculture : a review." Journal of environmental science and health : Part A : Environmental science and enginesting. New York, Dekker. v. A23 (7): p. 645-667; 1988. NAL call no.: TD 172.J6

  31. Rosenberg, Norman J. "Global climate change holds problems and uncertainties for agriculture," U.S. agriculture in a global setting - an agenda for the future. Edited by M. Ann Tutwiler. Washington, D.C., National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, Resources for the Future, 1988. pp 203-218. NAL call no.: HD176l.U17

  32. Smit, B., L. Ludlow and M. Brklacich. "Implications of a global climatic warming for agriculture: a review and appraisal," Joumal of Environmental Quality. Madison, Wisconsin, American Society of Agronomy v. 17 (4): p. 519-527; 1988 Oct/Dec. NAL call no.: QH540.J6

  33. Spencer, Cathy. "Help wanted : an activist's guide to a better earth," Omni Magazine Supplement. New York, New York, Omni Publications v. 11 (12): pp.[16]; 1989 September. NAL call no.: AP2.055

  34. Sweeten, John M. and Frank J. Humenik, eds. Agriculture and the environment: an examination of critical issues for food policy. St. Joseph, Michigan, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1984.117 pp. NAL call no.: S44 l.A4

  35. Terms on environment related to agriculture. Rome, Italy, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1972. No. 22. 122 pp. NAL call no.: S41 I.F6 No.22

  36. United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research, and Envirornnent. Agriculture and water use: present and future issues : hearing before the Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research and Environment of the Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, first session, October 25, 1983. Washington, D.C., U.S.G.P.O. 1984. 92 pp. NAL call no.: KF27.S3978 1983

  37. United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research, and Environment. Environmental health in the 2 1st century: heating before the Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research, and Environment of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, second session, April 6, 1988. Washington, D.C., U.S.G.P.O., 1988. 190 pp. NAL call no.: KF27.S3978 1988h

  38. United States. Soil Conservation Service. Action for a better environment. Champaign, Illinois, USDA Soil Conservation Service, 1972.18 pp. NAL call no.: aS624.13U5

  39. Winteringham, F.P.W., ed. Environment and chemicals in agriculture: proceedings of a symposium held in Dublin, 15-17 October 1984. London, Elsevier, 1985. 407 pp. NAL call no.: S583.2.E58

  40. Your best environment quik-quiz. [Washington, D.C.], United States Department of Agriculture, 1978. [24 pp] NAL call no.: aS944.Y6

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