What is Sustainable Agriculture? Author : John Ikerd

Around the world, farmers and ranchers are experimenting with a different form of agriculture, a more sustainable way of
producing and distributing food and fiber.
Their approaches are so varied that they defy a 25-word description. Instead, sustainable agriculture encompasses broad
goals, and farmers and ranchers develop specific strategies for achieving them. Using a great variety of farming strategies
allows producers to meet their needs: in their operations, their environments and their communities. The primary goals of
sustainable agriculture include:
• Providing a more profitable farm income
• Promoting environmental stewardship, including:
- Protecting and improving soil quality
- Reducing dependence on non-renewable resources, such as fuel and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and
- Minimizing adverse impacts on safety, wildlife, water quality and other environmental resources
• Promoting stable, prosperous farm families and communities
How producers reach those goals is as different as prairie flowers dotting a Midwest landscape.
A cattle rancher might divide his rangeland into sub-sections for his herd to graze in a rotational strategy to better man-
age natural resources like streams and soil while improving animal productivity. A field crop farmer might plant different
crops each season – and include “cover crops,” non-cash crops grown for their benefit to the soil and ability to suppress
weeds – to break up pest cycles, improve soil fertility and cut costs. A fruit and vegetable grower might try a new approach
to selling her harvest, such as directly to restaurants in a nearby city, to gain a larger share of the consumer food dollar.
No single practice works in every field. No one recipe works on every farm. There are thousands of ways to farm more sus-
tainably. This publication explores just 10. To view 50 in-depth profiles, check out The New American Farmer at
www.sare.org/newfarmer.