by The environmental impact of large-scale agriculture and farming operations is a hot topic among industry experts, politicians, and economists — and it’s easy to see why.
Currently, agriculture accounts for over 80% of the country’s water use, and practices like monocropping and chemical fertilizers are diminishing soil health in concerning ways.
However, the rising popularity of localized farming, increased consumer awareness of sustainability, and changing eating habits give small and independent farms a chance to reassess their farming practices.
Key Takeaways
- The impact of unsustainable farming
- The top 5 practices to avoid and tips to transition:
- The benefits of adopting sustainable farming practices
- How direct-to-consumer sales support sustainable farming
With a smart approach, small and family-owned farms can avoid unsustainable farming practices while remaining commercially viable.
Unsustainable Farming — Why It Matters Now
When we look at the environmental impact of farming, the first question many ask is, “How did we get here?”
As people moved to more urban areas, farms stopped serving the local community and were instead plugged into the corporate farming machine to survive. Combined with rising consumer demand for foods that are available year-round, many farms had to focus on quantity instead of quality — at the expense of the local environment.
A dust storm. In the 1930's and 1940's, the negative affects of the drought were accelerated by poor land use.
Put another way, smaller farming operations face pressure to slash costs and maximize profits. Unfortunately, that approach has had a significant impact on the environment and our health:
- Pollution: Farming and agriculture contribute over 663 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air, and the industry is a leading polluter in U.S. streams and groundwater. This pollution is also bad for the health of crops and livestock, which can affect quality.
- Land degradation: A lack of crop rotation, fallow fields, and other sustainable techniques are causing the health of soil and land to degrade, which eventually leads to a loss in productivity and yield.
- Reduced food quality: Focusing on quantity over quality has made our meat and produce less nutritious. It’s also led to many notable food safety issues and recalls.
- Freshwater use: Water scarcity is a growing concern, and with farms and agriculture businesses using the most water, it’s only a matter of time before problems arise.
Every year, we see new heat records being broken and experience record rains and droughts. Poor land use and unsustainable farming practices make us less able to adapt to unexpected changes and events.
5 Unsustainable Farming Practices To Avoid
Implementing sustainable farming practices is important for the planet and the economic health of the small farm industry. Improving how farms are run also improves the quality of the products we produce, which in turn helps small farms differentiate themselves from corporate competitors.
However, transitioning from a traditional farm to a more sustainable one won’t happen overnight. Instead, consider making incremental changes and finding alternatives to these five unsustainable practices.
1. Overusing Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides
Synthetic fertilizers (containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) are invaluable for stimulating quick growth and higher yields — both necessary to meet the demands of the corporate farming industry.
A large number of pesticides are used to maintain monocultures and other staple crops.
Unfortunately, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are also extremely hard on the land. While good for plants in the short term, these fertilizers often kill the microorganisms in the soil that make it healthy. This creates a negative cycle, with farmers needing more fertilizers to grow the same crop.
Additionally, rain and other watering also cause toxic nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into groundwater. A 2019 study found that 94% of rivers in the US had traces of pesticides in them.
What We Can Do
Soil health is of the utmost importance to farmers, and there are several ways we can help mitigate the harms of the overuse of agrichemicals:
- Compost farming: With more crop variation and diversity, you’ll have more compost material to create organic fertilizer that regenerates soil health. If you raise animals, their waste can also be turned into compost for crops.
- Crop rotation: Crop rotation promotes growing seasonally, introducing new microorganisms to the soil.
- Promote seasonality: Educating customers on the benefits of eating seasonally is essential to success. Promote seasonal eating in your marketing strategy, and include recipes and suggestions to make it as easy as possible for customers.
2. Reliance on Hormones and Antibiotics
For meat farmers, antibiotics and hormones have become standard practice for livestock that are fed grain and other feed that isn’t naturally in their diet. However, there is also an over reliance on antibiotics, with 66% of the world’s antibiotics used on farm animals.
Overuse of antibiotics can help bacteria grow more resilient, creating more deadly and drug-evasive variants. Additionally, today’s consumers are more sensitive to hormone and antibiotics in food, so curbing their use is an excellent way to build customer trust.
Related Read: 3 Keys to Quality Grassfed Beef
The more we can do to promote sustainable livestock practices and stop using antibiotics unnecessarily, the better off we’ll be.
What We Can Do
Minimizing our use of antibiotics and growth hormones doesn’t just make our meat farms more resilient — it also makes the end product taste better. Here are a few things to consider:
- Grass-fed, grass-finished feed: Many beef farmers use grain as a cheap way to fatten cattle before harvest, but these last-minute diet switches can cause health issues. Instead, focus on feeding cattle a natural diet from start to finish.
- Maximize space and minimize stress: With more space to roam and feed, animals will not need to compete for food and experience less stress-related illness. Overall, the less stressed an animal is, the less likely it is to get sick.
- Don’t use antibiotics preventatively: Even when following sustainable farming practices, many farmers give perfectly healthy animals antibiotics as a habit. Ultimately, this doesn’t help the animal and promotes dangerous antibiotic resistance.
3. Monoculture Farming
Monoculture farming is when you grow one crop type per field season by season. While the practice is widespread, it hurts soil quality, promotes deforestation, and requires the use of more agrichemicals to work.
The harm from monocultures inspires many farmers to look for alternatives, such as intercropping, permaculture, and regenerative agriculture practices.
Moving away from monocultures is not only better for the planet, but better for business as well. With more ways to connect directly to customers, farmers who diversify their crops can offer a wider range of products that cater to local preferences and needs.
What We Can Do
Monocultures may work for large, corporate agriculture operations, but they limit a small farm’s ability to appeal to customers and grow. Here are a few things to consider:
- Multi-crop and seasonal growing: By diversifying crop systems, you can promote soil health while expanding the number of products you offer.
- Permaculture: Permaculture is the idea of creating landscapes that are self-contained ecosystems, combining crops with human structures, native plants, and more, that provide harvests year-round. This practice also encourages more pollinators and more biodiversity.
- Partner with restaurants: Know who already appreciates seasonal growing? Chefs. As part of a move away from monoculture, consider reaching out to local restaurants that might be looking for in-season vegetables.
4. Excessive Tillage
The rise of farming machinery also increased tillage. Tillage involves using a tractor to stir the soil to control weeds and prepare for sowing. However, excessive tillage decreases soil quality and accelerates erosion.
If soil is tilled too much, it can make it all but infertile. However, if a field has been tilled too much, it may be more complex than stopping tilling and hoping for the best. Adopting no-till farming requires a different mindset and a few years to start seeing benefits.
However, the investment is worth it. Healthier soil will equate to healthier plants and higher yields.
What We Can Do
The more we take a holistic view of our land and diversify our crops, the easier it will be to avoid the damages of excessive tillage. Here are a few starting points:
- Enroll in the CRP: To help the transition, consider signing up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which pays rent for unused land to promote sustainability and control soil erosion.
- Fallow fields: Instead of tilling fields, leave fields unplanted and undisturbed along with any crop residue. This allows soil to replenish while providing extra nutrients for the soil and food for local wildlife.
- Plant trees near and in fields: Trees naturally promote more water absorption in soil, create shady spots for animals (and workers), and promote soil health.
5. Overusing Land
To maximize profits, the instinct is often to use as much of the land as possible. However, this practice puts more pressure on the soil and removes vital buffer zones to protect various crop species and surrounding areas.
Meat farmers who try to use their land may find their pastures being depleted too quickly, necessitating more grain-feeding for cattle or stressful conditions for animals.
As we move towards diversifying our crops and working more sustainably, we should also consider using our land to be more efficient, productive, and less harmful to the surrounding environment.
What We Can Do
Like all parts of sustainable farming and agriculture, you can’t just wake up in the morning and decide just to use less land. Instead, consider these suggestions as goals to work towards incrementally.
- Maintain buffer zones: Maintain buffer zones between various fields and between fields and the surrounding areas to protect wildlife and cross contamination between crop species.
- Rotational grazing: If you raise livestock, regularly moving them to different pastures gives the land time to rest and regenerate.
- Retire farmland: Diversifying crops and moving away from monoculture farming uses land more efficiently, which might even let you retire entire areas of land.
Benefits of Sustainable Farming
The economics of farming are changing. Technology has allowed small farms to easily connect and sell directly to consumers. New farming techniques like vertical farming and hydroponic farming also allow locally-grown food to enter previously impossible markets.
Embracing sustainable farming practices has many benefits for smaller farming operations, including:
- Reduced pollution
- Healthier and tastier food
- Better soil health
- Encourage pollinator and local wild life health
- Higher crop yield
- Less dependence on chemical inputs
- Better irrigation and water conservation
While sustainable farming has numerous benefits, it doesn’t come without its hardships. Transitioning to sustainable farming practices can incur higher initial costs and require more customer buy-in — but that shouldn’t scare you off.
The future of farming is local, and online sales and changing customer needs are helping farmers pave a new path forward.
How Direct-to-Consumer Sales Support Sustainable Farming
Despite the growing pains, adopting sustainable farming practices leads to a more diverse, higher-quality range of products — which is exactly what consumers are looking for.
In a time when food markets have been particularly volatile, the rising popularity of farm-to-fork and other direct-to-consumer sales gives farms a viable path to financial independence and growth.
Put another way, adopting sustainable farming practices gives your farm more flexibility in the wake of a changing climate and consumer preferences.
Online sales for fresh food have completely upended the landscape for farms, giving them more ways than ever to market themselves and sell directly to customers locally and nationwide.
Leveraging fresh food e-commerce platforms like GrazeCart allows farmers to try new business models that appeal directly to consumers.
If you’re looking for a simplified way to sell directly to customers, try a free 14-day trial of GrazeCart today or watch a demo to see it in action.
