Indicators Highlight Links Between Agricultural
Resources and the Environment
Keith
Wiebe
Agricultural production both depends on and
influences a wide range of natural and other resources.
These resources include land, water, and genetic
material, as well as knowledge, production technologies,
and management skills. The links between agricultural
resources and the environment depend critically
on the decisions made by the diverse operators of
the Nation’s 2.1 million farms. Farm operators’
decisions are shaped in turn by market conditions,
public policies, and the specific characteristics
of individual farms and households. When making
production decisions, farm operators have clear
incentives to consider the impacts on their own
well-being and that of their households, but weaker
incentives to consider impacts that occur off-site
or farther away.
The difference in incentives raises
ongoing challenges in managing the Nation’s
agricultural resources and motivates ongoing efforts
to balance public and private goals. For example,
voluntary programs designed to improve environmental
quality often rely on increasing farmers’
incentives to adopt practices that have off-site
(and often distant) benefits. USDA expenditures
on conservation programs have risen nearly tenfold
over the past two decades, and their composition
and emphases continue to evolve in response to changing
conditions and priorities. Concise and accurate
information on agricultural resources and the environment
can help public and private decisionmakers better
understand the complex interactions between public
policies, economic conditions, farming practices,
conservation, and the environment.
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ERS publishes research reports,
databases, and other materials on a variety of specific
topics relating to agricultural resource use and
the environment. The 2006 edition of Agricultural
Resources and Environmental Indicators draws
on these detailed sources to provide a comprehensive
overview of patterns and trends in land, water,
biological resources, management skills, and commercial
inputs used in the agricultural sector. AREI
2006 also describes public policies and programs
as well as economic factors that affect resource
use, conservation, and environmental quality in
agriculture. Twenty-eight chapters synthesize, update,
and provide links to more detailed information available
in ERS reports, databases, and briefing rooms on
the ERS website.
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