Survey: Sustainable Practices on the Rise
June 9, 2010 According to the new Rabobank U.S. Farm & Ranch Survey, more than 70 percent of U.S. agricultural producers now report that they have taken a range of measures on sustainable ag practices – the highest level since the survey began in 2008.
According to the survey, after a small decline in steps taken toward sustainable ag in the Rabobank Fall 2009 U.S. Farm & Ranch Survey, 72 percent of all U.S. ag producers now report that they have taken steps toward sustainable ag – the highest since the inception of the measurement.
“U.S producers understand that to be in the ag business for the long term means taking care of the land,” said Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory Vice President Sterling Liddell.
The most significant steps are using direct seeding (64 percent), minimizing use of chemicals (42 percent), crop rotation or diversification (39 percent) and reduced energy inputs (39 percent).
The survey also found that those who were most likely to have taken steps toward sustainable ag practices were:
- Tenant farmers – 80 percent
- Row-crop farmers – 79 percent
- Farmers in the Western Region – 77 percent
- Farms with gross farm income of $1 million and more – 77 percent
- Farms run by someone less than 40 years old – 76 percent
- Farms with more than 3 employees – 74 percent
- Dairy producers – 73 percent
“Since larger producers tend to lead trends, it’s encouraging that they are making sustainable ag practices a part of their operations,” said Liddell.
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