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Where have we been? Where are we now? What have we learned?

Where have we been? Where are we now? What have we learned?. Douglas Jackson-Smith Utah State University. Times Have Changed. Expanded attention to environmental footprint of agriculture BMPs & conservation practices Conservation Tillage, Crop Rotation Improved resource use efficiencies

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Where have we been? Where are we now? What have we learned?

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  1. Where have we been?Where are we now?What have we learned? Douglas Jackson-Smith Utah State University

  2. Times Have Changed • Expanded attention to environmental footprint of agriculture • BMPs & conservation practices • Conservation Tillage, Crop Rotation • Improved resource use efficiencies • Total factor productivity • Energy intensity • Substantial growth in ‘alternative’ prod systems • Organics, alternative livestock, local

  3. What is Sustainable Agriculture? • Two Tracks • Treatment of ‘sustainable agriculture’ as alternative to mainstream agriculture (ALT) • Organics • Alt livestock production systems • Alt FOOD systems • Treatment of ‘sustainable agriculture’ as any instances of environmental improvement in mainstream agriculture (SOFT) • Conservation programs = sustainable agriculture? • Precision agriculture • High output systems can have low impact/unit output

  4. “Alternative” Sust. Agr. Track • Drivers • Market demand, Producer Innovation • Public Research & Policy (SARE, Alt Markets) • Strengths • Focused energy, filled gaps • Producer-focused efforts (often lead the way) • Often transformative • Limitations • Tiny Footprint (<1% land, livestock, output) • Can divert attention from rest of ag sector

  5. “Soft” Sust. Agr. Track • Drivers • Policy Incentives & Regulation • Private & Public Research • Strengths • Incremental Changes, large footprint • Addresses specific problems • Limitations • Limited def. of sustainability (narrow focus) • Can generate unintended consequences (fails to capture synergies, predict tradeoffs)

  6. New NRC Report • Sustainability = not particular practice, but property of systems, evaluated with respect to four goals • Production • Environment • Economic Viability • Social Welfare • Tradeoffs & synergies likely • Recognize value both tracks to move us forward • Incremental • Transformative

  7. What Kind of Science Needed? • KEY FEATURES • More Environmental, Economic, Policy, Social Science • TRANSdisciplinary science & “systems” studies • Integrating parts • Emergent systems properties (especially resilience) • Across scales (field  farm  landscape) • Fully engage farmers & stakeholders • Adaptive & participatory Science

  8. Hardly New • Ruttan“Agricultural Research Policy” (1982) • “Alternative Agriculture” NRC Report (1989) • CAST Report “Confronting Ag Research” (1994) • 10 Separate NRC Reports (since Alt Agr) 2009: Transforming Agricultural Education for a Changing World. 2008: Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Research at NIOSH. 2003: Frontiers in Agricultural Research: Food, Health, Environment and Communities. 2002: Publicly Funded Agricultural Research and the Changing Structure of US Agriculture. 2000: NRI: A Vital Competitive Grants Program in Food, Fiber and Natural Resources Research. 1999: Sowing the Seeds of Change: Informing Public Policy in the Economic Research Service of USDA. 1996: Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: Public Service and Public Policy. 1995: Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: A Profile. 1994: Investing in the NRI: An Update of the Competitive Grants Program of the USDA. 1989: Investing in Research: A Proposal to Strengthen the Agricultural, Food and Environmental System.

  9. Science Responses – SOFT Path • Most research = still productivity oriented • Some expanded beyond production to include specific environmental aspects • More multidisciplinary projects • Tendency for parallel play • Most = solving narrowly construed problems • Few systems comparisons or holistic analyses

  10. Science Responses – ALT Path • Very small fraction of the private & public science effort • Facilitated producer innovation (esp. SARE) • Some on-farm collaboration w/ scientists • Limited visibility in peer reviewed agricultural science journals • Alternative marketing & food systems focus of much social & economic research

  11. Why Slow Response? • Incentive Systems for Private Science • Incentive Systems for Public Science • Research Funding Opportunities • Disciplinary constituencies for traditional programs • Designing innovative science programs • Funding panels • Encouraging submissions • University Institutional Environments

  12. Bringing Two “Tracks” Together • MAINSTREAMING ‘ALT’ SUSTAINABILITY • Many lessons relevant for all production systems • Soften boundaries: purist approaches limit impacts • Maintain producer leadership but connect more to visible science • DEEPENING ‘SOFT’ SUSTAINABILITY • Broadening from production and environmental goals • Understand systems properties; tradeoffs, synergies

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