Environmental Quality
Devoting land to crop production can diminish habitat for
wildlife. Soil erosion, nutrient and pesticide runoff, and
irrigation can pollute the air and water, degrade soil quality, and
diminish water supplies. The degree of the environmental problems
associated with agriculture vary widely across the country.
ERS analyzes the use and efficacy of conservation practices and of
Federal programs and policies in combating the harmful effects of
agriculture as they relate to:
- Soil quality, as compromised by wind and water erosion;
- Water quality, as compromised by chemical/pesticide and
nutrient runoff;
- Air quality, as compromised by soil particulates, farm
chemicals, and odor from livestock
- Wildlife habitat, as compromised by fragmentation, monoculture
(which reduces landscape diversity), and diverting water for
irrigation; and
- Wetlands, as compromised by conversion to cropland
ERS also evaluates the suite of policy tools that can be used to
encourage farmers to adopt practices that protect and enhance
environmental quality. An extensive research program has been
developed around markets for environmental services (see
The Use of Markets To Increase Private Investment in Environmental
Stewardship). The program addresses such issues as potential
supply of environmental services from agriculture, demand for
environmental services from the public, and market design
mechanisms such as trading and auctions that allow market forces to
allocate resources more efficiently to the provision of
environmental services.
ERS has extensively studied costs and producer responses to
other policy approaches such as regulations on animal operations,
which are increasingly being used where chronic environmental
problems such as nitrogen in the environment have not responded to
voluntary approaches (see
Nitrogen in Agricultural Systems: Implications for Conservation
Policy). ERS also evaluates the environmental implications
of energy and commodity policies that provide economic incentives
to producers that may be at odds with the goals of conservation and
environmental policies (see
Grassland to Cropland Conversion in the Northern Plains: The Role
of Crop Insurance, Commodity, and Disaster Programs).
We've recently redesigned our website. You may be interested in
browsing the material that was available in the Environmental Interactions with Agricultural
Production briefing room, which is available in our
archive.