Chapter 9 Soil and Agriculture:Agricultural Policy

Rena Chen and Hsinyo Yin

Agriculture

• Most widespread type of human land use (38% terrestrial land )

• Contributes to soil erosion, air and water pollution, etc.

26%

12%62%

Land on Earth

GrazingCroplandOther

Land Degradation• Government

subsidies:– Compensate farmers

for losses– Produce surplus food

to drive down prices• Bureau of Land

Management (BLM):– Ranchers pay

inexpensive fees to graze livestocks

Draining of Wetlands

• Wetlands drained to grow crops (less than ½ remain)

• Swamp Land Acts (1849, 1850, and 1860): promote settlement and farming

• US Department of Agriculture (USDA): provided funds to drain wetlands

Protection of Wetlands• Function of Wetland:

Improve water quality, control flooding, recharge water supply

• Wetlands Reserve Program: offers payment to landowners who protect, restore, or improve wetland areas

Current Event: Restoration of Wetlands in San Francisco Bay

• 20 year project to restore 10,000 acres of salt evaporation ponds into wetlands in Napa-Sonoma Marshes

• Pipeline transport treated wastewater to pond to dilute the salinity

Current Event: Restoration of Wetlands in San Francisco Bay

• Home to egrets, herons, ducks, salmon, Dungeness crabs, etc.

• Serve as a buffer that reduces flooding

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE STORY Healing scars left by decades of

overgrazing Wildfires Before the 1990s, this Western

landscape thrived Ranching families struggled to make a

living

RESTORING THE MALPAI BORDERLANDS Treatment 1 Treatment 2 Treatment 3 Treatment 4

THE BETTER MALPAI BORDERLANDS Malpai Borderlands hosts a scientific

conference each year Controlled burns Grassbanking Reseeded damaged areas Sustainable ranching

RESTORING THE GRASSLANDS Returning to post-colonial condition Clearing the site brings back habitat

species like the bobolinks Project was funded $9,000 state grant

from the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife

Soil Conservation

• Conservation Reserve Program: pay to cultivate on reserves with grass and trees– Generate income for farmers– Improve water quality– Provide habitat for wildlife

• Contracts1: selected farmers receive loan to improve farmland (10-15 years)

• 1 dollar invested saves 1 ton of topsoil

1 The Beginning Farmer. (2008, March 13). In Taking Land out of the CRP. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from http://thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com/2008/03/taking-land-out-of-crp.html

CONCLUSION Challenges continue to rise Soil degradation Better technology Soil conservation techniques