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OCR for page 89
-
Problem~ in I l c A^r r 't r
THE U S AGRICUUURAL SYSTEM has been beset by numerous economic and
environmental problems in the l980s. In the economic sphere, with
storage facilities filled with surplus crops, the cost of federal farm support
programs skyrocketed from $3.5 billion in 1978 to a peak of $25.8 billion in
1986, falling to $22 billion in 1987 (U.S. Department of Agriculture, l98Sf).
Financial stress hit tens of thousands of farmers and many rural communi-
ties. Some farmers still find it difficult to pay debt accumulated during the
prosperous 1970s. Many U.S. products are no longer competitive in world
markets. From 1981 through 1986, the United States' agricultural trade
surplus declined substantially. Although agricultural trade performance has
improved since then, this has come at considerable expense to U.S. taxpay-
ers. Competition among nations for worldwide markets is fierce and vola-
tile.
Agriculture is also causing serious environmental problems. Agriculture
is the largest single nonpoint source of water pollutants, including sedi-
ments, salts, fertilizers, pesticides, and manures. Nonpoint pollutants ac-
count for an estimated 50 percent of all surface water pollution (Cheaters
and Schierow, 1985; Myers et al., 1985~. Salinization of soils and irrigation
water from irrigated agriculture is a growing problem in the arid West. In
at least 26 states, some pesticides have found their way into groundwater
as a result of normal agricultural practice. In California alone, 22 different
pesticides have been detected in groundwater as a result of normal agricul-
tural practices. Nitrate from agricultural sources (principally manures and
synthetic fertilizers) is found in drinking water wells in levels above safety
standards in many locations in several states.
Agriculture presents other environmental problems. Major aquifers in
California and the Great Plains have been depleted because withdrawals
89
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90
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
exceeded recharge rates. Cultivation of marginal lands has caused soil ero-
sion. The use of certain pesticides on some crops and antibiotics in animal
production for disease control and growth promotion presents risks that
may be avoidable.
Agricultural leaders and policymakers are currently confronting questions
about contemporary production practices. These questions are the subject
of this chapter. It is important to note that many problems discussed in this
report are prevalent only in certain regions and under specific management
practices. Almost ah of these problems can be overcome. Nonetheless,
problems such as groundwater contamination wiD likely grow if current
practices are continued.
Many of these problems have developed in large part as a result of public
policies and thus may be overcome through policy reform. The important
link among all of these problems is that productive and profitable alterna-
tive practices are available in most cases and are already implemented in
some. The benefits of alternatives in addressing these problems are pre-
sented in subsequent chapters.
Publicly and privately funded agricultural research since World War II has
created a wealth of technology and information. This information and tech-
nology has led to vastly increased yields of a number of commodities and
has reinforced movement toward specialization. High deficiency and disas-
ter payments for most program crops reduced risks and further accelerated
specialization. The development of specialized large farm equipment made
it possible for individual farmers to grow one crop or a few related crops on
more acres. Because of these trends, farmers were able to take advantage of
market forces in the 1970s that stimulated demand for U.S. agricultural
commodities.
THE FARM ECONOMY
In their desire to accelerate industrial growth, many developing countries
neglected their agricultural sectors in the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s, a
growing number of developing nations needed to import food to feed rap-
idly growing populations. Many of them imported food from the United
States. Growing trade with Pacific Rim nations and trade agreements with
the Soviet Union further expanded available markets for the United States.
The 1970s also brought generally favorable weather for agriculture to the
United States and unfavorable conditions to many other countries. Tax
policies such as accelerated depreciation and cap*al gains preferences en-
couraged machinery purchases and cultivation and irrigation of previously
uncultivated or erodible land. Crop prices were wed above the loan rate;
expanded exports were used to offset the trade deficit created by oil im-
ports. The result was greater demand for U.S. commodities, higher prices,
and an all-out effort by U.S. farmers to increase production.
Farmland prices followed the upward movement of commodity prices,
inflation, and negative real interest rates. In some midwestern states, the
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PROBLEMS IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
175
150
125
100
Oh
:5 75
o
50
25
91
Gross farm income
_ I//////////// Production expenses ///
01~
1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986
YEAR
FIGURE 2-1 Gross farm income and production expenses. SOURCE: U.S. Department of
Agriculture. 1988. 1988 Agricultural Chartbook. Agriculture Handbook No. 673. Washington,
D.C.
price of farmland increaser! by 15 percent or more per year. Rising land and
commodity prices led farmers to increase purchases of inputs such as fertil-
izers, seeds, chemicals, and equipment. Production expenses and gross
farm income soared as farmers responded to a growing market (Figure 2-1~.
Agricultural lending organizations, responding to inflation and rising mar-
ket values of farm assets, were eager to make loans to farmers. Total farm
debt went from $52.8 billion in 1970 to a peak of $206.5 billion in 1983 (U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 1987c).
In late 1979, events began to change the economic, political, and social
environment of agricultural production. Policy changes caused increases in
real interest rates and the virtual end of inflation. Prices received for crops
began to level off and drop although input prices continued to rise through
1984 (Figure 2-2~. Demand for U.S. agricultural commodities declined as a
result of the increased value of the doDar; fixed loan rates; foreign compe-
tition from the European Community (EC), Argentina, Australia, and Bra-
zil; foreign debt; global recession; and reduction of U.S. loans to developing
countries to buy food. Commodity surpluses around the world sweDed, and
prices dropped. Falling commodity prices deflated land values, which fell
by 1986 to less than half their 1980 value in many agricultural areas.
In a few years, prosperity turned into economic recession. Many farmers
borrowed heavily in the 1970s to invest in land and machinery and take
OCR for page 92
92
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
50
40
In
o
. _
Q 30
G
In
5 20
o
10
o
Prices paid for inputs
]~ ~ Prices received for crops.
~ ~~ qL
U.S. agricultural exports ~
by,
:.....
.........
............
.:
.........
~:~
1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986
YEAR
175
-
1 50 `'
a,
Q
G
125 Oh
LL]
1 00 0
50
FIGURE 2-2 Input prices, crop prices, and agricultural exports. SOURCE: U.S. Department of
Agriculture. 1988. 1988 Agricultural Chartbook. Agriculture Handbook No. 673. Washington,
D.C.
advantage of high crop prices. The sudden change in the economic environ-
ment placed those with the greatest debt in the most vulnerable position.
The debt-to-asset ratio suddenly became a major criterion for a farm's
viability.
The financial plight of farmers also affected the farm credit sector. One-
fourth of ah farm loans $33.7 billion from the Farmers Home Administra-
tion (FmHA), federal land banks, production credit associations, commer-
cial banks, and life insurance companies were nonperforming or delinquent
in 1984 and 1985 (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1986a). The farm credit
system lost $4.6 billion in 1985 and 1936. Agricultural banks accounted for
more than half of 1985 bank failures, although they comprise only one-
fourth of aD banks (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1986a). New rules to
implement the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987, however, will help to keep
tens of thousands of farmers on their land. The act requires the FmHA, the
farmers' bank of last resort, to make aD feasible efforts to restructure loans,
including forgiving debt. Up to $7 billion in debt and interest may be
written off under this program.
Suppliers of farm inputs have also been hurt by bad debt and federal
supply-control programs that have reduced sales. Farm machinery sales, for
example, fen more than 50 percent from 1980 to 1985. In Nebraska and lowa
alone, hundreds of farm implement dealers have gone out of business since
1935. The industry has recovered somewhat since 1986 as farm income has
risen.
As of January 1, 198S, 4 percent of farms were technically insolvent be-
OCR for page 93
PROBLEMS IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
93
cause debt exceeded assets. An additional 4.9 percent of farms had debt-to-
asset ratios of 70 to 100 percent, and 10.0 percent had debt-to-asset ratios
of 40 to 70 percent (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1988~. Farms with
ratios above 70 percent generally experience serious financial problems.
Those with debt-to-asset ratios of 40 to 70 percent face declining equity
unless commodity prices are strong or production expenses fall, which they
have since 1983.
Although some farmers experienced financial hardship in the 1980s, many
prospered. Total net farm income was $37.5 billion in 1986 and a record
$46.3 billion in 1987 (see Figure 1-29~. Off-farm income totaled a record
$44.7 billion in 1986 (Van Chantfort, 1987~. Table 2-1 shows that most farms
had positive income in 1987, and that debt is now concentrated in farms
with sales over $250,000. This recorc! income and reduction in debt was
made possible, however, only by record levels of government support.
In 1987, 44 percent of aD farmers had no long-term debt. The average
debt-to-asset ratio, which reached 25 percent in 1985, fen to 22 percent in
1986 and 15 percent in 1987 (Figure 2-3~. Total farm debt fell from $206.5
billion in 1983 to $150 billion in 1988 (U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1988a).
Federal programs can have a great effect on the agricultural economy. In
general, they are slow to alleviate the economic problems of farmers with
the greatest need. This has been evident in the 1980s. WeD over one-half of
all major commodity producers have been enrobed in the programs since
1983. But 60 percent of direct government payments in 1985, for example,
went to only 14 percent of all operators with net cash incomes averaging
nearly $130,000 (Agricultural Policy Working Group, 1988~. This is largely
because federal payments are based on farm yields and sales. Even though
Congress has limited certain categories of federal payments to $50,000 per
farm, many growers have found ways to reorganize their operations to avoid
this and other limitations.
TRADE
U.S. agriculture built a substantial trade surplus during the 1970s as the
manufactured goods sector slipped into a deepening trade deficit. The U.S.
agricultural trade balance deteriorated in the 1980s, however, falling from
$27 billion in 1980 to $6 billion in 1986 (U.S. General Accounting Office,
1986b). The United States depends primarily on grain and oil seed exports;
growth in this market is slowing as the U.S. share declined from 72 percent
in 1979 and 1980 to 50 percent in 1986 (U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1986b).
The trade situation has improved since 1986; exports are expected to
increase to about $33 billion in 1988, with the trade surplus rising to be-
tween $12 billion and $13 billion. The U.S. agricultural trade balance has
increased, in part because of a drop in market prices for most export com-
modities. Government subsidies, credit guarantees, and product promotion
OCR for page 94
94
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
TABLE 2-1 Farm Financial Conditions by Farm Size, Region, and Commodity
Percentage of Farms in Each Financial Condition
.
Favorable Negative Marginal Vulnerable
(Positive Income Income- Solvency- (Negative Income
and Favorable Favorable Positive and Marginal
Factor Solvency) Solvency Income Solvency)
Farm size
2 $250,000 59 14 20 7
$40,000-249,999 64 12 17 6
< $40,000 71 19 6 4
Region
-
Northeast 68 22 7 3
Great Lakes 59 1 15 7
Com Belt 71 12 13 5
Northern Plains 64 17 15 5
Appalachia 76 16 5 3
Southeast 73 18 6 4
Delta 72 16 8 4
Southern Plains 69 20 8 4
Mountain 64 20 10 6
Pacific 67 18 9 7
Farm type
Cash grain 65 14 14 7
Tobacco 78 9 8 5
Cotton 65 11 15 9
Vegetable, fruit, nut 71 16 9 3
Nursery-greenhouse 80 12 6 2
Other field crops 65 17 10 7
Beef, hog, sheep 70 20 7 3
Dairy 63 12 20 5
Poultry 73 6 16 6
Other livestock 58 30 5 7
NOTE: The income measure used in these statistics is net cash farm income; marginal solvency
indicates a debt-asset ratio of 40 percent or more. Favorable solvency indicates a debt-asset ratio of
40 percent or less. Adding across, numbers may not total exactly to 100 percent because of
rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1988. Financial Characteristics of U.S. Farms, January 1,
1988. Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 551. Economic Research Service. Washington, D.C.
also supported increased exports. The rise in export volume, however, far
exceeded the increase in the value of exports in current doDars largely due
to the declining value of the dollar (Figures 2-4 and 2-5) (U.S. Department
of Agriculture, 1987e).
Meanwhile, the United States is increasing its imports of high-value prod-
ucts such as processed foods and horticultural products. The United States
accounts for about 10 percent of the value of world trade in high-value
markets, primarily through exports of soybean meal, tobacco, cigarettes,
cattle hides, and corn-gluten feed. Imports of supplementary high-vaTue
commodities (crops also produced in the United States) have increased from
OCR for page 95
Pfi
by
C)
111
20
95
/ '
/ '
o
1 970
Net cash income to
total farm debt
An.
Farm debt-to-asset ratio
-
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ,1 1
1975 1980 1985 86 87
YEAR
FIGURE 2-3 Farm debt-to-asset and net-cash-income-to-total-farm-debt ratio. Data exclude
households. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1988. 1988 Agricultural Chartbook.
Agriculture Handbook No. 673. Washington, D.C.
180
160
140
120
100
/ ~
/
-
-
-
80 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 977
-
OCR for page 96
96
180
160
140
An
LL
i, 1 20
100
80
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
J
-
1 , 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987
YEAR
FIGURE 2-5 Value of U.S. agricultural exports. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Agriculture.
1988. 1988 Agricultural Chartbook. Agriculture Handbook No. 673. Washington, D.C.
15[
in
Cat
.° 10
._
Q
· _
On
J
o
C]
o
1977 1979 1981 1983
Total
Tobacco ~
~ Other
I. · .;.
\ ~
~ Fruits, nuts, and vegetables /
_ /////
~//J//~
ITCH I 171 ~ Veins and beer
Sugar
lLLLLLL1 1 1 1
no! ·-~
YEAR
1985 1 987
FIGURE 2-6 Value of supplementary commodity imports. SOURCE: U.S. Department of
Agriculture. 1988. 1988 Agricultural Chartbook. Agriculture Handbook No. 673. Washington,
D.~.
OCR for page 97
PROBLEMS IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
80
LL]
6 ILI
z ~ 60
llJ C.)
() Z
—
IL ~
lo
6 ~ 40
~ O
O ~
Q
IL
~ O
cD 20
o
97
1986
1 982
r
·~.
_ :-:.
Fit .
. ~ i,
i-`,: ~
~ .
of'
g`,
'`
`'4'3
`~
,\ ~C,
~ l
~~-
2~'>
,\'
,\ Id,
\,~',~,
,,3
a,\_
!~:,_`,
~ ',,
,,%~`,
_~;
c'`,%\C,
':
1 984
Am.- ~
. ,,-
:-:-:~: '/
.22'' f
:-:-:. '/ .
.,..-. ~
·:-:. ,,
~ of.
·~e ~ ~
·:-:- /, .
a::-: ,, ;
.-.-. ~ ,
~ ,
.-.. ~ .
. ,..-..., ~
al,
,,'
,,,''
~,~,21
'age,,\
a.`,
t1t2
,',,'i
,',\;2i
,~,,,~,
.
United States European Canada
Community
COUNTRIES
Japan
FIGURE 2-7 Average producer subsidy equivalents for grains, livestock, dairy, oilseeds, and
sugar. The European Community is Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and West Germany.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1988. 1988 Agricultural Chartbook. Agriculture
Handbook No. 673. Washington, D.C.
$7 billion in 1977 to almost $14 billion in 1987 (Figure 2-6~. The total value
of agricultural imports reached $20 billion in 1987.
Increasing competition is also contributing to the rising cost of federal
agricultural subsidies. The government spent $25.S billion in 1986 and $22.0
billion in 1987 for price supports and related activities. Of this amount,
$11.S billion in 1986 and $16.7 billion in 1987 were direct payments to
farmers (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1988~. Nonetheless, U.S. agricul-
tural subsidies as a percentage of producer income are far less than those
of the EC, Canada, and Japan (Figure 2-7~.
NATURAL RESOURCES
The diversity in plant and animal products produced in the United States
has increased in the past three decades, but individual farms have become
more specialized. Technology has contributed to a shift from multi-enter-
prise farming operations to those having as few as one or two income-
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98
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
generating crops or products. Recently, however, this trend of specialization
has slowed down. Over the past decade, many farmers have adopted alter-
native methods more consistent with the goals of profitability with less
government support and greater natural resource and human health protec-
tion.
The following section is a brief review of the adverse consequences that
some current agricultural practices have on natural resources and the envi-
ronment. It must be emphasized that many conventional agricultural prac-
tices are environmentally sound and are components of certain alternative
strategies. The following analyses are not intended to be fully comprehen-
sive; however, they do illustrate the factors that must be considered in any
agricultural production system.
Water Quality
Surface Water
Water pollution is probably the most damaging and widespread environ-
mental effect of agricultural production. Agriculture is the largest nonpoint
source of water pollution, which accounts for about half of all water poDu-
tion (Cheaters and Schierow, 1985; Myers et al., 1985~. Under sections 304(f)
and 305(b) of the Clean Water Act of 1972 as amended, 17 states and Puerto
Rico identified agriculture as a primary or major nonpoint source of water
pollution, and 27 states and the Virgin Islands identified it as a problem
(Table 2-2) (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1984~. Surface water
damage from agriculture is estimated at between $2 billion and $16 billion
per year. These estimates are approximate, however, and may underesti-
mate the long-term costs of pollution.
Precipitation- and irrigation-induced runoff carries sediment, minerals,
nutrients, and pesticides into rivers, streams, lakes, and estuaries. Most
experts consider erosion's effects on water resources to be greater than its
potential effects on productivity (National Research Council, 1986c; Schnei-
der, 1986~. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calculates that the
economic cost of off-farm water pollution due to agricultural erosion is from
two to eight times the value of erosion's effect on productivity (U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture, 1987a). This comparison, however, is crude.
Sediment deposition and nutrient loading are major agricultural water
pollution problems (CIark et al., 1985; U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1987a). Agriculture accounts for more than 50 percent of suspended sedi-
ments from ad sources discharged into surface waters (U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1987a). In predominantly agricultural regions, these percent-
ages are higher; in other regions, agriculture's contribution is less. Nation-
wide trends in surface water sediment deposition between 1974 and 1981
were significantly related to cropland erosion within basins. They were not
closely related to estimates of total basin erosion from forestIand, pasture-
land, or rangeland (Smith et al., 1987~.
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PROBLEMS IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
TABLE 2-2 Agriculture (Including Feedlots) as a Nonpoint Source of Water
Pollution by State or Territory
Agriculture Identified as a Primary or
Major Nonevent Source of Water Pollution
99
Agriculture Identified as a Nonpoint
Source Pollution Problem
Delaware Montana Alabama Nevada
Idaho North Dakota Arizona New~ersey
Illinois Ohio Arkansas New Mexico
Indiana Oregon California New York
Iowa Puerto Rico Colorado North Carolina
Kansas South Dakota Florida Oklahoma
Kentucky Utah Georgia Pennsylvania
Minnesota Vermont Hawaii South Carolina
Mississippi Washington Louisiana Tennessee
Maine Virgin Islands
Maryland Virginia
Michigan West Virginia
Missouri Wisconsin
Nebraska Wyoming
-
SOURCE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1984. Report to Congress: Nonpoint Source
Pollution in the U.S. Office of Water Program Operations, Water Planning Division. Washington,
D.C.
The principal consequence of sediment loading is increased turbidity,
which causes decreased light for submerged aquatic vegetation. Species
that depend on aquatic vegetation for breeding and food can thus experi-
ence stress and decline. Sediment also has direct economic consequences
when it fills reservoirs, clogs navigable waterways, reduces recreational use
of waters, and increases operating costs of water-treatment facilities. Be-
tween 675 million anct 1 billion tons of eroded agricultural soils are depos-
ited in waterways each year (National Research Council, 1986c; Schneider,
1986; U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1986a). The USDA (l98Se) estimates
that the removal from production of 30 minion to 40 minion acres of highly
erodible land through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will reduce
sediment delivery to surface waters by as much as 200 million tons per year.
Phipps and Crosson (1986) and the USDA (1987a) estimate that between
50 and 70 percent of all nutrients reaching surface waters, principally nitro-
gen and phosphorus, originate on agricultural land in the form of fertilizer
or animal waste. Nitrate, which is relatively soluble, is carried in solution
by water; phosphorus is most often carried attached to sediment. From
1974 to 1981, 116 stations from the National Stream Quality Accounting
Network and the National Water Quality Surveillance System reported
increasing nitrate concentrations; only 27 stations reported decreases. Ele-
vated nitrogen levels were strongly associated with agricultural activity and
atmospheric deposition of nitrogen in rainfall. Phosphorus deposition has
been less consistently observed because increases are closely linked to levels
of suspended sediments. Nitrate moves with water; thus, nitrogen move-
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1Z4
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
After heavy applications of pesticides over can cause severe damage in some crops,
many years, Colorado potato beetles are now notably potatoes. Credit: Mycogen
resistant to most registered insecticides and Corporation.
In the early 1900s, for example, the major pests of cotton were the boll
weevil and cotton leafworm (Nelson, 1962~. Since 1945 and the extensive
use of toxaphene, DDT, methyl parathion, and other insecticides on cotton,
the cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, cotton aphid, and spider mite have
become more serious pests than they were previously (National Research
Council, 1975~. In particular, the cotton bollworm and tobacco budworm
populations have grown because pesticides destroyed their natural enemies.
In 197S, it was estimated that in; California 24 of the 25 top agricultural pests
were secondary pests. The pesticides that wiped out their predators created
or aggravated their role or dominance as pests (Van den Bosch, 1980~.
More than 440 insect and mite species and more than 70 fungus species
are now known to be resistant to some pesticides (National Research Coun-
cil, 1986a). The committee expects that the problem will worsen. Pest pop-
ulations already resistant to one or more pesticides generally develop resis-
tance to other chemicals more rapidly, especially when the compounds
work in the same way as previously used pesticides (National Research
Council, 1986a). To counteract this, increased pesticide resistance in insect,
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PROBLEMS IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
125
mite, and fungus populations, larger doses and more frequent applications
of the previously used pesticides become necessary. It often becomes nec-
essary to combine pesticides or substitute a different type of pesticide to
achieve control. In some cases, more expensive, toxic, or ecologically haz-
ardous pesticides have to be used. This starts a cycle of shifting resistance
and increased use of pesticides. For these reasons, increasing levels of
pesticide resistance in pest populations have significant environmental and
economic costs.
Pesticides can also cause crop losses. This can occur when the usual
dosages of pesticides are applied improperly; when herbicides drift from a
treated crop to nearby, susceptible crops; when herbicide residues prevent
chemical-sensitive crops from being planted in rotation or inhibit the growth
of subsequent crops; and when excessive residues of pesticides accumulate
on crops, causing the harvested products to be destroyed or devalued in the
marketplace.
Beetles have seriously damaged potato plants toxic than routinely used insecticides protects
in the foreground, despite insecticide the healthy plants. Credit: Mycogen
treatments. A new biological insecticide that Corporation.
controls the Colorado potato beetle and is less
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126
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
Food Safety
Many of the chemical agents introduced into the food supply, including
pesticides, fertilizers, plant-growth regulators, and antibiotics can be harm-
fu] to humans at high doses or after prolonged exposure at lower doses.
Although cancer-causing chemicals have attracted the most concern, agri-
cultural chemicals can also have behavioral effects, alter immune system
function, cause allergic reactions, and affect the body in other ways.
Concern about the adverse effects of synthetic chemical pesticides on
human and animal health began in the 1950s when it was discovered that
organochIorine pesticides such as DDT are very persistent in the environ-
ment and can damage animal systems. In the following years, the use of
pesticides increased dramatically, largely because of their affordability, ef-
fectiveness, ability to cut labor costs, and a variety of economic incentives
for higher yields. Pest resistance also led to more applications per growing
season. Increased use placed a growing burden on regulatory agencies to
ensure the safety and proper use of the compounds, and set the stage for
subsequent dietary exposure and environmental problems.
The two major problems facing policymakers attempting to regulate pes-
ticides are the lack of data on the health hazards of pesticides and a lack of
accurate exposure data. A National Research Council (NRC) panel esti-
mated that data to conduct a complete assessment of health effects were
publicly available for only 10 percent of the ingredients in pesticide prod-
ucts, mainly because of a lack of testing of older, widely used pesticides
(National Research Council, 1984~. Pesticide producers and the EPA held
more confidential data at that time, however. And since 1984, more data
have been generated on the chronic health effects of these compounds. To
date, insecticides accounting for 30 percent, herbicides accounting for 50
percent, and fungicides accounting for 90 percent of aB agricultural use
have been found to cause tumors in laboratory animals (National Research
Council, 1987~. There is still much scientific debate, however, over the
extrapolation of the results of these studies to adverse effects in humans.
Lack of accurate human exposure data further complicates the problem. A
recent NRC report found little data on the actual levels of pesticides present
in the human diet (National Research Council, 1987~. Although residue
studies are being conducted, a complete picture of residue patterns in the
food supply is still lacking.
Based on available data, pesticide residues in the average diet do not
make a major contribution to the overall risk of cancer for humans (National
Research Council, 1982, 1987~. The risk, however, may not be insignificant
and in most cases can be substantially reduced. Fungicides pose a particu-
larly difficult chronic health problem. They account for more estimated
oncogenic risk than herbicides and insecticides combined, but few effective
alternatives are available or under development (National Research Council,
1987~. Further complications in risk assessment are that fungicides are often
used in combinations, and residues of several oncogenic fungicides and
other pesticides are commonly detected on the same crop.
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PROBLEMS IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
127
Although little research has been done, there is evidence of synergistic
interactions among pesticides and their contaminants with other com-
pounds and with each other (DuBois, 1972; Knorr, 1975~. In 26 percent of
15 fruits and vegetables tested by the Florida Department of Agriculture,
residues of two or more pesticides (including DDT, which was banned for
agricultural use in 1972) were detected. This may understate actual residues,
however, because the analytical method used cannot detect some com-
pounds widely used on these crops. Although several pesticides are often
present on a given food, pesticides continue to be regulated individually
(Florida Department of Agriculture, 1988; Mott, 1984~.
Organic fertilizers (manures and sewage sludge) and some inorganic fer-
tilizers present health hazards if used inappropriately. These hazards in-
clude increased nitrate levels in some foods and water, which pose a health
problem when they are converted to nitrite through the action of bacteria
and enzymes in the stomach. Nitrate can also be further metabolized during
digestion to form nitrosamines, which are strongly carcinogenic. The poten-
tial accumulation of nitrate in parts of some crops is generally greater when
nitrogen is supplied in the synthetic chemical form because there is usually
more nitrate available for uptake (Hodges and Scofield, 1983~.
Nitrate percolation to groundwater and runoff from fields and feediots
are major water contamination problems. Organic and inorganic fertilizers
can cause these problems. Some sewage sludges, particularly those from
industry, can contain high levels of heavy metals. These metals, which
include cadmium, chromium, lead, and others, are toxic to most life forms
and can accumulate in soil and in plant and animal tissues. The EPA has
established guidelines for the agricultural application of sludges that con-
tain heavy metals to avoid toxic accumulations in soil, forages, and vegeta-
bles. Additionally, sludges that are not dried and/or completely composted
can result in contamination of the soil with human pathogens (Maya, 1983;
Poincelot, 1986; Vogtmann, 1978~.
In addition, a wide variety of food-borne illnesses constitute a significant
health problem in the United States. It is estimated that all types of food-
borne illnesses are responsible for 33 million human illnesses and 9,000
human deaths in the United States each year (Young, 1987~. A significant
percentage of these can be attributed to pathogenic bacteria of animal ori-
gin. The bacterial pathogens listeria and saImonelIae, found in contami-
natec! dairy products, and salmonelIae and campylobacter, found on some
meat and poultry, have taken a significant disease toll in recent years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, bacteria from animal products
account for approximately 53 percent of all outbreaks of food-borne illness
for which a source was determined (Tauxe, 1986~.
Antibiotics
There has been scientific debate and concern about the subtherapeutic
use of antibiotics in animal feed for nearly 20 years (Ahmed et al., 1984;
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128
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, 1981; Jukes, 1973; Ken-
nedy, 1977; National Research Council, 1980~. The focus of concern is the
frequent development of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria as a
consequence of antibiotic use in animals and in humans. Because many
antibiotics used in animal feed are also used in human medicine, antibiotic-
resistant pathogenic bacteria, particularly salmonellae, could develop and
cause infections in animals and humans. The effectiveness of antibiotics for
disease therapy would thus be diminished (Institute of Medicine, 1989;
Murray, 1984~.
Hirsch and Wigner (1978) demonstrated the transmission of resistant
pathogens from animals to humans. This has been the subject of a thorough
review (Feinman, 1984~. But there are still few studies that document the
incidence of human disease caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens of
animal origin. Disease in humans due to antibiotic-resistant salmoneliae of
animal origin is difficult to confirm and appears to be rare. Holmerg et al.
(1984), however, demonstrated that antibiotic-resistant salmoneHae caused
disease in humans who consumed meat from animals harboring saimonel-
lae. In a study of 542 human cases of salmoneHosis in 1979, 28 percent of
the bacteria isolated were resistant to at least 1 antibiotic. Resistance to 2 or
more antibiotics was found in 12 percent of the salmoneliae strains (Tauxe,
1986~.
In addition to an apparent increase in the incidence of salmoneHosis in
humans, there are data to show that antibiotic resistance in the bacteria in
animal intestinal microflora can be transmitted to humans because the same
antibiotic-resistant bacteria are found in the human intestinal tract (Institute
of Medicine, 1989~. This increases the concern that antibiotic resistance in
animal pathogens might spread from animals to humans. The risk that this
transmission poses to human populations is a matter of intense scientific
debate. Meanwhile, antibiotic use continues to increase.
A recent report by an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee assessed
human health risks resulting from the subtherapeutic use of penicillin and
tetracyclines in animal feeds (Institute of Medicine, 1989~. Although the
IOM committee recognized that there is little direct evidence implicating
subtherapeutic use of antimicrobials as a potential human health hazard,
the committee found substantial indirect or circumstantial evidence indicat-
ing a potential human health risk from subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in
animal feeds. This evidence includes the following:
The use of antimicrobials in a variety of closes generates a strong selec-
tive pressure for the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria.
· Antimicrobial resistance among isolates of salmoneliae from farm ani-
mals is prevalent because of extensive antimicrobial use on farms.
· Animal and poultry carcasses in meat-processing plants are often found
to be contaminated with intestinal pathogens resistant to antimicrobials.
Human infections from salmoneliae or other enteric bacteria may follow
handling and ingestion of improperly cooked meat or food products
from animals contaminated with these organisms.
OCR for page 129
PROBLEMS IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
129
In assessing human health risk, the committee used a risk mode! that
estimated the number of deaths from salmonellosis attributable to use of
antimicrobials in animal feeds for prophylaxis and growth promotion and
concluded that the likeliest estimate was in the range of 40 deaths per year
(Institute of Medicine, 1989~. Further, it found that increased difficulty of
treatment probably led to 20 additional deaths per year. The committee
estimated that less than half of these deaths were from the use of antimicro-
bials in growth promotion. It recognized, however, that the distinction
between the use of these antimicrobials for growth promotion and prophy-
laxis may not be great. The committee did not estimate incidences of mor-
bidity because even fewer data were available. For the same reason, it did
not estimate deaths due to other infectious organisms that cause food-borne
illnesses and are known to develop resistance to the antimicrobials. The
committee's conclusions suggested that reductions in subtherapeutic anti-
biotic use would lessen the severity of human disease complications follow-
ing infection with salmoneHae. Because data are limited, it is not possible
to predict accurately the magnitude of public health gains that would result
from a reduction of antimicrobial use in livestock agriculture.
Human health concerns from antibiotic use go beyond bacterial resis-
tance. Drug residues in food may also present risks. Many types of animal
drugs are available to lay persons or farmers without the necessity of a
veterinarian's prescription. Furthermore, it appears that even antibiotics
limited to veterinary prescriptions are also widely available to lay persons
(U.S. Congress, 1985~. An example of the inappropriate use of antibiotics is
the use of chioramphenicol. Chioramphenico! was never approved for any
use in food-producing animals; however, residues of chioramphenico! have
been detected in animal food products (U.S. Congress, 1985~. The drug's
sale in large containers, which was designed for the treatment of clogs, was
banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1986 in an
attempt to discourage the mixing of chioramphenicoT with animal feed (U.S.
Food and Drug Administration, 1986~. ChIoramphenicol nonetheless con-
tinues to be used in food-producing animals. Recent surveys of milk in New
Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania found residues of chIoram-
phenico! in 15 to 20 percent of the samples analyzed (Brady and Katz, 1988~.
Its only FDA-approved use is for pet animals under veterinary care.
University- and government-sponsored studies have found sulfametha-
zine residues in meat and milk (Brady and Katz, 1988~. Sulfamethazine is
available over the counter only in combination with other antibiotics, for
use in swine and cattle. It is not aBowed for use in lactating dairy animals.
Surveys of commercial milk, however, revealed that in certain parts of the
country, greater than 50 percent of the samples had detectable sulfametha-
zine residues. The human health hazard from these residues is not clear,
although the compound may be carcinogenic in rodents (U.S. Food and
Drug Administration, 1988~. Further, approximately 3 percent of the human
population is allergic to sulfamethazine and many other antimicrobial drugs
that may contaminate food products (Bigby et al., 1986~.
The FDA surveillance programs for the detection of violative residues of
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130
ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE
ah veterinary antibiotics and chemicals are limited. Field investigations into
tissue residue violations have revealed areas where the FDA may need to
concentrate its enforcement activities. Dairy cows culled from herds had
the highest rate of violative residues, followed by Bob veal calves (calves
slaughtered at less than 4 weeks of age). In addition, 18 percent of the
violative tissue residues in meat were from intramammary medication. Of
these residues, 85 percent were derived from gentamicin, a drug not ap-
proved by the FDA for intramammary use and legally available only through
veterinarians (Paige and Kent, 1987~. These problems point out the need to
improve the effectiveness of the FDA's regulation of animal drugs.
SUMMARY
Many economic and environmental factors have converges! in the l980s to
make alternative farming practices more appealing. Exports have declined
since 1981. Although the situation is improving, sectors of the agricultural
economy continue to experience hardships. Despite the fact that net farm
income has reached record levels, federal programs support an unprece-
dented percentage of total net farm income.
Nonpoint surface water pollution and contamination of groundwater by
agricultural chemicals are recognized as environmental problems. Soil ero-
sion remains serious in certain regions. In subhumid and arid regions,
irrigation practices continue to deplete aquifers and cause salinization of
agricultural land and water. Antibiotic and pesticide residues in food pre-
sent risks that, while difficult to quantify and evaluate, can be reduced
through alternate management systems. The ecological effects of certain
pesticides are considered to be significant in some regions, although they
remain largely unstudied.
In response to these factors, some farmers are beginning to implement a
range of alternative practices. The scientific bases for the major components
of alternative agricultural systems are presented in Chapter 3.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
drinking water
