Improvements in agricultural technologies and farming practices in the U.S. have significantly lowered the use of water, energy and greenhouse-gas emissions of food production. A recent article in the New York Times details why these large farm sustainability technologies and practices are good for sustainability and the environment.
According to the author of the article, Jayson Lusk, an agricultural economics professor at Oklahoma University, U.S. crop production is double what it was in 1970. And such production has been achieved with less land, water, pesticides and labor. In fact, American agriculture is reportedly using nearly half the labor and 16 percent less land than it did in 1970.
How is that possible? American farmers use soil sensors to measure water content, drones, satellite images, alternative management techniques such as low- and no-till farming, seeds derived from biotechnology, efficient irrigation and mechanical harvesters. These practices are one reason soil erosion has declined more than 40 percent since the 1980s.
These practices have also allowed larger farms – responsible for 80 percent of the food sales in the United States, though they make up fewer than 8 percent of all farms – to be “among the most progressive, technologically savvy growers on the planet. Their technology has helped make them far gentler on the environment than at any time in history. And a new wave of innovation makes them more sustainable still.”