Chapter 9 Soil and Agriculture: Agricultural Policy
description
Transcript of Chapter 9 Soil and Agriculture: Agricultural Policy
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
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