Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

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Since the National Research Council published the report Alternative Agriculture in 1989, there has been a remarkable emergence of innovations and technological advances that are generating promising changes and opportunities for sustainable agriculture in the United States. At the same time, the agricultural sector worldwide faces numerous daunting challenges that will require innovations, new technologies, and new ways of approaching agriculture if the food, feed, and fiber needs of the global population are to be met.

This report, Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century, assesses the scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving agricultural sustainability and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production. It also evaluates the transferability of principles underlying farming systems and practices that could improve the sustainability of small-scale agricultural systems in less developed countries, with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. The report includes case studies of different kinds of farms and farming systems in different regions of the United States that actively pursue the goal of sustainability and revisits some farms originally featured in Alternative Agriculture. We want to thank the farmers who so generously shared their expertise and experiences and to wish them well in their future farming endeavors. We also want to thank the consultants who conducted and documented the farmer interviews.

The study committee included 15 members with expertise in food production and agribusiness; crop, soil, and horticultural sciences; water-use and water-quality science; farming systems and agroecology; agricultural economics and social science; and federal farm, trade, international development, environmental, and regulatory policies (Appendix B). Two of the committee members are farmers. The committee also solicited information from a wide range of experts (Appendix C) with complementary expertise and experience. We are grateful for their willingness to give of their time and knowledge. During the development of the report, the committee held two workshops. The first focused on the state of the science on agricultural methods and systems for improving sustainability, and a

second was on the lessons learned and transferability of agriculture practices and systems to improve sustainability of agriculture in developing countries. Two public committee meetings, in which other experts were invited to provide the committee with information on U.S. agricultural economics and policies, and their effect on farming systems, farmers’ behavior, and the environment, were also held. Some of the committee members also attended the Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) conference in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2008 to gather information.

Challenges that the committee immediately faced included understanding and interpreting the rapid changes and developing crises in the global economy and their effect on sustainable agriculture. For example, when the committee began its study, global price of crude fuel oil rose from about $75 per barrel to a peak of $147 in July 2008. This increase caused harmful reverberations across the global agriculture sector and shortages of corn, rice, and other food, especially in developing countries, and a significant increase in the demand for biofuels. It was immediately followed by the global economic crisis, which, among other impacts, restricted farmers’ access to credit, lowered land values, and lowered prices for biofuels when fuel oil costs declined by half. On a more positive note, the committee faced a virtual cascade of new information and programs relating to sustainable agriculture, such as important new advances in science and in federal and state programs and policies. The new federal farm bill places greater emphasis on agricultural sustainability, organic agriculture, and renewable energy and fuels, and support is growing for regional and local food production systems.

The committee notes that although most farms have the potential and responsibility to contribute to different aspects of sustainability, U.S. agriculture needs both incremental and transformative changes to address the many challenges of the future. Incremental changes—such as pest-resistant varieties, conservation tillage, integrated pest management, and use of crop diversity including cover crops, crop rotations, and other biologically integrative technologies and practices—have been increasingly used in many regions, but have not yet been adapted to some fragile areas and to low-rainfall cropland. Transformative changes include the development of new farming systems that represent a dramatic departure from the dominant systems of present-day American agriculture and capitalize on synergies and efficiencies associated with complex natural systems and broader social and economic forces using integrative approaches to research and extension at both the farm and landscape levels. Examples include development and broad adoption of water-conserving production systems in areas of water shortage and overdraft, landscape-scale reduction of nutrient and other materials runoff from agricultural lands that contributes to major hypoxic zones, and assessment of the potential and cost for broad adoption of alternative animal production systems that address many environmental and social concerns of some dominant production systems.

The committee believes that its report identifies many of the most important challenges that U.S. agriculture faces today, but it is well aware that unforeseen threats as well as new opportunities could surface tomorrow. We hope that the sponsors of this study, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation, as well other groups and organizations, will find the report’s conclusions and recommendation to be of value in their efforts to understand and develop sustainable agricultural systems that will meet the food, feed, fiber, and biofuel needs of a growing global population.

On behalf of the committee, we would like to express our thanks and appreciation to Robin Schoen, director of the Board of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR), and

Evonne Tang, the senior program officer responsible for our study. Without their planning, organization, and editing expertise, this large and complex report would have been impossible. We also want to thank all the BANR study staff for their support and assistance with our meetings and in preparing the final report.

Julia L. Kornegay, Chair

Richard R. Harwood, Vice-Chair

Committee on Twenty-First Century Systems Agriculture

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This report has been reviewed in draft form by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Drs. R. James Cook and Harley W. Moon. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.