Farming with the Wild
(Page 2 of 5)
December 2008/January 2009
By Daniel Imhoff
Moving Forward
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Building alliances between historical adversaries will no doubt require tearing down decades-old walls and stereotypes: Environmentalists, on the one hand, are often lumped with wealthy urbanites and bureaucrats who dispatch regulations from distant power centers. Farmers and ranchers, on the other hand, are frequently perceived as narrow-minded and steeped in a sense of entitlement.
What may in fact help to bring both camps together is a sense of unity in common goals and common foes. Common goals would include maintaining arable farmland within healthy rural communities, keeping rural lands open and free from subdivision and development, restoring native habitat on private and public lands, and creating a more natural urban-rural interface. Common foes might include land-exploiting agribusiness corporations, massive concentrated animal feedlot operations and global versus regional food systems.
At this crossroads early in the 21st century, we face a revolution of no small proportions in how our food and fiber will be produced and at what economic, social and biological costs. Farmers cannot be expected to shoulder the brunt of this burden. Ultimately, success must come through collaboration and the articulation of a new vision for agriculture: consumers who support local producers because they are protecting biodiversity; skilled ecologists who can point the way toward restoration; local resource conservation districts; and programs that promote and practice restoration in rural areas.
Striking a Balance
In simple terms, a farm should be as wild as it possibly can be while simultaneously accomplishing its goals of agricultural production. At the same time, no farm should break its social contract by degrading soils, polluting or depleting aquatic systems, or eliminating critical habitats upon which both the future of agriculture and biodiversity depend. Individuals and groups around the country are increasingly finding ways that farming and ranching operations and rural areas can directly benefit from the presence and proliferation of native species and habitat.
No farm can be “too wild.” Rather, a key management question will be whether a farm is “wild enough.” In other words, has the agricultural operation optimized the natural services of a healthy ecosystem that allow it to prosper? Pollinators and beneficial insects are absolutely critical for the long-term success of sustainable agriculture and are dependent on the presence of permanent vegetation. Barn owls, raptors, snakes and other predators help to control rodents that can cause crop losses. Fire has proved to be a valuable management tool in reinvigorating and improving the nutritional quality of grasslands and pastures, and in controlling shrubs and invasive weed species. Healthy riparian systems are essential for agriculture, protecting against floods, providing stable banks, clean water and habitat for fish and wildlife. Winter-flooded fields can become migratory waterfowl habitat while also reducing weed pressures. These are merely a few examples.
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