As an Ag and Natural Resource Extension Agent, I try to promote sustainable efforts wherever I can. But there is a heavy red line between reality and theory. The producers I work with do not like using the expensive chemistry. They are caught in the economics of international competition for their products. The American farmer is the best in the world. He has no trouble feeding his nation with surplus left over for others. If American markets were closed then American farmers could go to organic clean methods and reduced pesticide use. Competition from other countries, where the pesticide use is often unchecked, drives the need for higher yields to keep our farmers economically viable.
What happens then if we drive the American farmer out of business because we expect more from him while being unwilling to pay for a better product? I think we end up eating Wonder bread made from chemically saturated Argentine wheat.
We are constantly looking for better ways to irrigate and avoid both point and non-point source pollution. We are looking for biologic controls of pests, both insects and weeds. Better nitrogen management, better livestock management, better management of all our precious resources. But what drives it all is what the consumers are willing to pay for the products they demand. If "cheap" is more important than quality, and a no matter what it takes attitude is prevalent, then how do our farmers stay competitive? The answer always seems to get back to volume of production. Produce a great deal of product on a small margin just to stay in business. If the American farmer goes out of business, then we are back to imported products with little or no quality control.
I don't feel it is any longer a question of "on farm ethics", but a bigger question of how we adjust our social values. Often times the things that need adjusting are controlled by conglomerates and politicians. I know this is just the beginning of this discussion and I don't have the whole answer. Lets keep trying and learning and someday we may find a balance.
This is a personal comment and should not been seen as representative of the University of Wyoming.
C. Kirk Faught, Ag and Natural Resource Agent
Ocean Lake Field Office, University of Wyoming
P.O. Box 158
Pavillion, WY 82523
307-857-3918
Kirk_Faught@agmail.uwyo.edu