X3&fehcastdr''Farming, 'Saturday, 'November'ti,' Ir9^61 r 9^6
WHAT’S IN
A NAME?
Sustainable agriculture. When
you hear this term, what do you
think of?
Organic fanning? “Convention
al” agriculture? Something in
between?
The dictionary definition of sus
tain is “to keep in existence; main
tain.” Based on this definition, any
farmer in the U.S. will be practic
ing sustainable agriculture if they
want to stay in business.
However, as I perceive the gen
eral perception to the term “sus
tainable agriculture,” it seems that
most people would describe some
system of organic fanning. This
idea is most likely rooted in the
environmental movement that
started in recent years and used the
terms sustainable and organic
interchangeably, particularly
when referring to farming
operations.
The Federal Government
defined sustainable agriculture in
the 1990 Farm Bill as “an inte-
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grated system of plant and animal
production practices having site
specific application that will, over
the long term, satisfy human food
and fiber needs; enhance environ
mental quality and the natural
resources base upon which the
agricultural economy depends;
make the most efficient use of non
renewable resources and on-farm/
ranch resources; and integrate,
where appropriate, natural biologi
cal cycles and controls: sustain the
economic viability of farm/ranch
operations; and enhance the qual
ity of life for farmers/ranchers and
society as a whole.” Based cm this
definition, it is easy to see why
there is such a wide perception of
exactly what sustainable agricul
ture is.
The main thrust of a sustainable
agricultural program is examina
tion of the production system as a
whole rather than looking at the
individual pieces. But what exact
ly does this mean?
Suppose you apply a fertilizer to
your fruit or vegetable crop. You
then evaluate the effectiveness of
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the fertilizer during harvest either
through produce quality or the
amount of produce harvested. But
using a systems approach you
would also consider the impact of
the fertilizer on the environment.
Was there any runoff during
later rainfalls? Did any of the fer
tilizer reach the groundwater supp
ly? Obviously, evaluation of some
of the many potential impacts of
our farming practices are not easily
achieved.
Am I saying that fruit and veget
able growers need to start monitor
ing water runoff and groundwater
for fertilizers? Hardly. My main
point here is to both define what is
meant by sustainable agriculture
and to have you start thinking
about your farming practices bey
ond the immediately visible
results. You will probably be see
ing more references to sustainable
ADC Meeting In Lancaster
SOUTHAMPTON (Bucks Co.)
Atlantic Dairy Cooperative is
gearing up for its 1996 annual
meeting, which will be held Nov.
21-22 at the Holiday Inn/Lancas
ter Host Resort in Lancaster, Pa.
The theme of the 79th annual
meeting, “Platform for Progress,”
reflects Atlantic’s commitment to
providing progressive programs
and services to dairy fanners. The
cooperative’s platform revolves
around its goal of maximizing
overall returns to members.
During the 19% fiscal year, At
lantic marketed a total of 4.5 S bil
lion pounds of milk, of which 3.82
billion pounds was produced by
the cooperative’s members. The
net margin stood at $5.8 million,
the equivalent of IS cents per
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agriculture in the future as
researchers and society continue to
examine how farming impacts the
environment, society, and the
economy.
I’m certain many of you have
already adopted practices that fit
the definition of sustainable agri
culture. Some changes, such as the
reduction in pesticide inputs, may
have been forced upon you by the
loss of registrations for some
chemicals. Additional chemicals
will probably lose registrations in
the future. However, newer chemi
cals are generally targeted toward
a specific pest or group of pests
and thus have the reduced environ
mental impacts desired in a sus
tainable agriculture system.
Many of the current Integrated
Pest Management (IPM) programs
involve timing chemical applica
tions to pests at certain population
levels. This results in fewer pesti
hundredweight.
The annual meeting will begin
on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 9:45 a.m.
with reports by Atlantic’s officers
and staff. At this time, a complete
financial report will be presented
by Michael A. John, chief finan
cial officer.
Robert M. Dever, chief execu
tive officer, will present his report
during the afternoon session,
which begins at 1:20 p.m. Follow
ing Dever’s report, Thomas M.
Suber, senior vice president of the
U.S. Dairy Export Council, will
provide an update on his organiza
tion’s work in securing overseas
markets for U.S. dairy products.
The annual banquet will begin
Thursday night at 6:15 p.m. in the
Showroom, William Perry, vice
of Utitz, PA
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cide applications and a potential
reduction in environmental
impacts. However, fewer spray
applications also means a reduc
tion in production costs. This
could result in more profit to you,
the fanner. So both the farmer and
the environment will benefit in this
system.
IPM is an excellentexample of a
practice in a sustainable agricultur
al system. The use of disease
resistant varieties is another. If you
use either of these practices, you
are using parts of a sustainable
agricultural system.
As I wrote earlier. I expect that
many Lancaster County farmers
are already using one or more prac
tices that fit the definition of sus
tainable agriculture. And as long
as new sustainable production
practices are financially beneficial
to the farmer, they will continue to
be adopted quickly.
president of governmental affairs
and member relations for Milk
Marketing Inc., will serve as mas
ter of ceremonies. The guest
speaker will be Jeanne Robertson,
a former basketball coach turned
motivational speaker.
The program on Friday will in
clude presentations by Jane Bro
sius, farm partner and wife of
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agri
culture Charles Brosius, and
Dorothy Stambaugh and Kim
Jureckson on “Home Decorating
on a Budget.”
For further information about
the meeting and/or a registration
form, please contact Jean Palum
bo, Atlantic Dairy Cooperative, at
(215) 322-0200.
dE>
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