ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Producers are extremely important to the health of our environment. A producer's land is his/her greatest and most valuable asset. Each producer depends on the health of his/her land to make a living. VGPA strives to protect and improve the lands of Virginia in order to safeguard the environment and keep our farmers farming.
Partnerships:
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a valued VGPA partner joining with us on issues like battling media misinformation, educating consumers and helping secure funding for best management pracitces (BMP). Over 85 percent of of VGPA's members are enrolled in some type of conservation practices such as continuous no-till or conservation tillage, winter cover crops or nutrient management plans.One partnership of note is also
On Farm Network Partnership:
VGPA works with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in launching the Virginia Bay On Farm Network. This is a voluntary, pro-active "participatory learning" program for farmers designed to help them collect scientific data on their individual operations. The goal of the project is to increase farmer profitability by decreasing input costs through increased efficiency of Nitrogen. The success of this project is simple: marrying farmer profitability with environmental goals. The On Farm Network project is supported through self-imposed farmer fees and private grant funds. This is just one example of how Virginia's farmers are pro-actively seeking ways to partner their farms and the environment for common goals.
Virginia Conservation: Did You Know?
- Nearly 60 percent of Virginia's grain acres are in continuous conservation tillage
- Virginia's corn farmers have increased their yields by over 100 bushels per acre since 1930 using less fertilizer, less pesticides and less land.
- Approximately 75,600 Virginia grain acres are currently in continuous "no-till" conservation practice. Only 5,630 of those acres are enrolled in government conservation programs.
Conservation tillage and other management practices reduced soil erosion 43 percent in the last 20 years.- Corn farmers across the country produced 70 percent more corn per pound of fertilizer today than they did 35 years ago.
- These same US corn farmers grow five times more corn that they did in the 1930s on 20 percent less land.
- Individuals or families own 85% of farms. Another 5% are family-owned corporations.
- American corn farmers produced the five largest corn crops in history during the past five years. Even after supplying all demands for corn - food, feed, export and fuel, America will have 10 percent of the 2008 corn harvest leftover as a surplus resource.
Carbon Sequestration:
Carbon is being traded on the Chicago Climate Exchange. Currently, the market is steady but not explosive; however, the demand for offsets is expected to climb considerably over the coming months and years.
Carbon is sequestered through Best Management Practices (BMP's) such as continuous no-till. If handled correctly, carbon sequestration can be a significant positive for Virginia's producers.
Soil Erosion:
Soil is the primary medium for crop growth and improperly managed soil will have a significant socio-economic impact.
Soil management has a direct impact on crop yield levels, food quality and safety, the environment and climate
change. Soil helps break down or “degrade” agriculture chemicals or other potential pollutants; it also serves
to hold carbon, and is the medium through which water, nutrients and microbes interact—it’s a buffer between
production inputs and, the environment.
Beneficial soil management is essential to maintain long-term productivity, long-term environmental stability
and food safety. This includes practices such as more efficient use of nutrients, pesticides and irrigation; crop
residue management; and field management practices such as terraces and contour farming that act as buffer
zones, underground drainage outlets and surface diversion.Facts:
- By leaving crop residue for field cover and eliminating tillage trips, farmers are better able to protect the soil from water and wind erosion, conserve moisture, reduce nutrient runoff, improve wildlife habitat and limit output of labor, fuel and machinery.
- Soil loss per bushel of corn produced between 1987 and 2007 has decreased by 69%.
- Soil erosion of U.S. agriculture land has decreased as a result of increasing adoption of conservation tillage and other soil conservation practices.
- A National Resources Inventory (NRI) report (2007) published by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) states soil erosion resulting from rainfall and runoff (sheet and rill erosion) has declined 42 percent between 1982 and 2003.
- Soil erosion from high winds has declined 44 percent during the same timeframe. The “most significant reductions,” according to the NRI report, occurred in two major river basins, the Missouri and Souris-Red-Rainy/Upper Mississippi, where approximately
half of the nation’s cropland is located.- Much of this decline in erosion has occurred by reducing tillage. Other conservation measures that have also been successfully used on corn acres include contour farming, grass waterways and terraces.
Water Quality: Coming Soon
Know your environmental resources:
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VGPA'S VOICE IN ACTION
Virginia Grain Producers Association
P.O. Box 16402 | Chesapeake, VA 23328 |757.421.3038 office | 757.421.2776 fax