Rewarding Environmentally Friendly Farming

May 23, 2000

Among the items published in this month's Agricultural Outlook from USDA is an article noting the growing interest in expanding government programs that would improve the environmental performance of agriculture and at the same time provide income support to farmers.

Government "agri-environmental" payments programs compensate producers for maintaining beneficial impacts of agriculture or mitigating adverse environmental impacts. Net benefits of agri-environmental payments programs will be greater if policymakers, in designing programs, assign higher priority to activities and practices more valued and/or less costly, the article says.

The cost-effectiveness of such programs also can be enhanced by building in flexibility . i.e. giving farmers latitude in selecting or developing practices tailored to their own farming operations.

Agricultural Outlook for June also includes an article noting the rapid growth in organic food demand. This presents the organic industry with a major challenge: to ensure an adequate supply while maintaining product integrity as commodities move along the marketing chain from growers to retailers.

Assurance or organic integrity may require certification that the commodity was grown organically, marketing and manufacturing techniques that preserve organic identity and implementation of a national standard that defines exactly what "certified organic" means.

The full text of Agricultural Outlook is available today http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/erssor/economics/ao-bb/2000/ao272s.asc