Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition (1999) / Chapter Skim
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Environmental Performance Standards for Farming and Ranching
Environmental Performance Standards for Farming and Ranching
Pages 89-95
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From page 89... ...
The effort to develop farming and ranching systems that sustain the natural resource base and reduce the adverse effects of agricultural production on the environment has highlighted the need for better measures of resource condition and, ultimately, for indicators of environmental performance. Two National Research Council (NRC)
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From page 90... ...
No comprehensive index of soil quality yet exists that captures fully soil's function in the ecosystem. Soil and Water Quality notes that it would be "impossible and unnecessary to monitor changes" in all of the soil attributes that relate to critical ecosystem functions (National Research Council, 1993a, p.
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From page 91... ...
do not facilitate a comprehensive assessment of soil quality. WATER QUALITY The difficulties involved in developing performance standards for water quality are even more daunting than those related to standards for soil quality.
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From page 92... ...
The capacity of rangelands to produce commodities and satisfy societal val ues depends on the integrity of internal nutrient cycles, energy flows, plant community dynamics, an intact soil profile, and stores of nutrients and wastes. (National Research Council, 1994, p.
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From page 93... ...
However, both also call, with some degree of urgency, for intensification of efforts to understand the functioning of managed farm and ranch ecosystems. The selection both of indicators of condition and of performance standards is hampered by ignorance of the causal mechanisms that link farming and ranching practices with resource degradation.
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From page 94... ...
To date, the agricultural community has resisted the development of such standards, preferring voluntary adoption of best-management practices to what appears might be unprecedented mandatory regulation of farming practices. In the long run, though, it will likely be less costly to farming and ranching to work to performance standards rather than to design standards.
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From page 95... ...
Washing ton, D.C.: National Academy Press. National Research Council.
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