Sustainable Agriculture By geenahannahgrant

What is Sustainable Agriculture? We can survive and achieve without compromising future generations Three main goals: ▫Environmental Health ▫Economic profitability ▫Social and economic equity Components: ▫Water (quality as well as usage) ▫Energy ▫Air (burning, tillage) ▫Soil (erosion, exhaustion)

Animal Production Practices Management Planning ▫A successful ranch should plan efficiently the complex tasks of managing livestock  Includes: mobility, daily feeding, health concerns, breeding operations, seasonal feed and forage sources, and complex marketing. Animal Selection ▫Must breed animals that are fairly compatible with one another especially in respects to favorable environments Animal Nutrition ▫Feed costs can be kept low by monitoring animal condition and performance and understanding seasonal variations in feed. ▫Reducing farm- generated by products

Animal Production contd. Reproduction ▫Improving herd performance by using top notch germplasm will in turn reduce health concerns Herd Health ▫Weight gains and reproductive success depend greatly on the health of the herd. Grazing Management ▫Keeping the space ideal with fenced in portions but comfortable living space Confined Livestock Production ▫Insuring the health and waste of the animals are kept in check to allow the confined livestock area to be healthy and idealistic to breed.

Sustainable Agriculture in Plants Selection of site, species and variety ▫pest resistant plants help immensely ▫soil type and depth should also be taken into account Diversity ▫monoculture farming has advantages regarding efficiency and management  If the crop has a bad season then it could be greatly detrimental. Plant different crops! Soil Management ▫Keeping soil healthy including the additions of organic matter keep the soil healthy and the plants happy.

Advantages Better for the environment ▫Conserves water ▫Manages soil ▫Reduced reliance on non-renewable energy Encourages interactions between farmers ▫Specialized crops and animals on each farm

Disadvantages Long transition process ▫Farmers must take a series of small steps to make their farms realistically sustainable Everybody must work together ▫Policymakers, researchers, retailers, consumers, farmers, laborers ▫In reality, this is difficult

Disadvantages contd. Does not work well in developing countries with corrupt government and/or high levels of poverty ▫Farmers are just trying to get by each day, not focused on changing their farming style ▫NO government incentive or control as long as money is being made Takes TIME and MONEY, which some people don’t have