Sustainable Agriculture

With farmland accounting for nearly half of the total land area in the U.S. at 1.2 billion acres, the output of farms contributes $164.7 billion annually to the U.S. economy. Given the environmental footprint and proximity to natural resources, sustainable agriculture provides an opportunity to reduce pollution, promote biodiversity, protect soil health, and address climate change.

Sustainable agriculture accomplishes these goals through techniques such as crop rotation, cover crops, saturated buffers, and reduced tillage. These techniques can focus on a specific area or concern, like soil erosion or water quality, or take a wider view of the entire farm. Implementing these strategies can save millions of dollars in drinking water treatment costs, flood damages, and impacts on ecological services and recreational tourism within the Mississippi River corridor.