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Conclusions: Sustainable Agriculture and "A Sense of Place" in the Cannon River Region |
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Home -- Sustainable
Ag and
Research Project: Conservation Farming in Northfield, MN -- Watershed
Conservation
Educational
Program Development for Conservation Farming in Northfield, MN
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This is a
hopeful project. While the problems of soil erosion, water quality
degradation, and the decline of rural communities in America are large,
the men and women I spoke with are all working hard to practice good stewardship
of the land while maintaining productive farms and contributing to their
communities. Some of the many ways farmers in Northfield are working
toward sustainability on their farms include cop rotations incorporating
perennial crops, conservation tillage, nutrient management, integrated
pest management, and vegetated conservation buffers.
Farmers in Northfield face many challenges in implementing sustainable practices while maintaining profitability on their farms. Among the major barriers to conservation I identified in speaking with sustainable farmers include 1) federal farm policy that rewards expansion of highly erosive row cropping systems and penalizes soil-conserving crop rotations, 2) low food prices and narrow profit margins that force cultivation of more acres in order to earn a living, 3) local soil conditions that may make conservation tillage difficult, and 4) large capital investments required to make the initial switch to conservation tillage equipment. In the task of creating an enabling environment for conservation farming in Northfield, farmer education, the development of local food systems, and changes in federal farm policy all have a role to play. There is a need for one-on-one conservation planning in order to help farmers identify potential environmental problems and solutions on their farms, and application assistance to help farmers make use of government cost share and conservation incentive programs such as the CRP, EQIP, and the CSP. Education of consumers is also needed in order to increase membership in community-supported agriculture farms (CSAs) and use of farmer’s markets. Finally, a federal farm policy that prioritizes soil and water stewardship would also help farmers in Northfield as they work toward ecological, economic, and social sustainability on their farms. A common theme that surfaced in my interviews with farmers is that a ‘sense of place’ is what enables them to farm sustainably. No field is homogeneous, and intimate knowledge of the land is necessary in order to choose cropping patterns and farming methods appropriate to varied topographic and soil conditions. The men and women I spoke with possessed a keen awareness of those pieces of their land where a small hill or exposure to the prevailing winds merited additional attention to preserve precious topsoil. However, in order to develop a truly sustainable agriculture in Northfield, consumers must also develop a ‘sense of place’ by making food choices that support local farmers using sustainable agricultural methods. Raising the environmental and social conscience of citizens has a major role to play in developing a local food system in which sustainable farmers receive a fair price for their product reflecting the labor and investments in conservation practices that they put into their farms. Our best hope for a sustainable future lies in making connections between the food that nourishes our bodies and agricultural practices that nourish the land.
--- Home --- Methodology --- Literature Review --- Watershed Conservation on Northfield Farms --- In Pictures: Northfield Farms --- Educational Program Development for Conservation Farming in Northfield, MN --- Acknowledgements --- Literature Cited --- Unless otherwise noted, all photos on this site were taken by the author (Megan Gregory). |