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Description Farms and ranches cover about half the land mass of the United States, not counting Alaska. Across the globe, one-third of land available is covered by pastures and agriculture. If farmers and ranchers do not see the need to preserve the land they have, then we might as well give up the cause now. Many of the families who have been involved in farming and ranching would like to see the tradition continue. Most know good practice of preserving the land - rotating and resting croplands, limiting the amount of livestock on a particular piece of land, keep livestock away from riverbeds, keeping native trees to 'shade-grow' crops, mix different types of crops on the same piece of land to reduce pests, reducing pesticides and herbicides, and many other methods. Larger corporations, propped up by large subsidies are forcing prices ever downward, and placing family owned ranches and farms out of business. The Endangered Species Act forces the government to set aside land for species to recuperate from it's damaged environment. Unfortunately, this also encompasses private, as well as public lands. It is a difficult to tell owners they cannot use their lands for anything without running into the issue of eminent domain. It is a very difficult subject, especially in the open areas of the western US. However, some are more than willing to put aside land for the animals they know belong there. They also have the option to put an easement on some of their land for a tax benefit and also for the benefit of the children, who traditionally inherit the land. Genetically modified crops are a hot issue in the news. Europe has fortressed themselves from growing or importing any genetically modified crops and even almost all products. In the US, the inclusion of products from genetically modified crops are perverse. Some genes have been altered to create a natural pesticide or herbicide to protect the plants. Who knows how this affects us human consumers. While the effects of genetically modified crops on humans are still debated, one has to wonder whether nature has created all the crop types necessary for human consumption. The major crops grown today have been influenced by human cross-breeding, no doubt, but this has been a slow steady experiment that has occurred over the past 10,000 years. Done with enough forethought, altering plant genes to help alleviate world malnutrition with no danger of side-effects would be the greatest boon that gene altering could produce. A last major issue regarding ranching is the use of public lands. Much of our public lands, mostly national forests are leased for grazing rights. While some see this as helping ranchers, many others see it as a subsidy that allows watersheds to be ruined by livestock. The livestock also competes with the endemic mammals for food.
Helpful Books
"The Fatal Harvest" by Kimbrell "Biologically Active Natural Products: Agrochemicals" by Cutler "Welfare Ranching" by Wuerthner and Matteson
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