Fall 1994 (v6n4)
	From the Director Lessons from Down Under Twenty-five years ago astronauts were able to land on the moon because the lunar mission had become a national vision. Society has not had a vision of a most important human activity-agriculture. As a society, we need to consider how we would like agriculture to be practiced and the rural landscape to look in the future. On my recent sabbatical leave to Australia , I drove and flew over the Northern Territory, an area one-sixth of Australia's land mass, but with only 180,000 people. The Northern Territory has 26 cattle stations or large cattle ranches. There are about three or four major towns in total. The rest of the land area is mostly unpopulated "bush land." As I looked out at the Northern Territory, I couldn't help noticing the contrast with much of the farmland in the United States. In the Midwest, Northeast and many places in California, the landscape is dotted with rural communities and surrounded by many small to medium-sized family farms. I wondered if the industrialization of agriculture might lead to the demise of this rural landscape. Industrialization tends to lead toward fewer and larger farms and fewer rural communities-a landscape more similar to that of the Northern Territory. Is this what we want? Society needs to address the issue of where agriculture is headed, and how the landscape might look, based on different scenarios. During the last century, many new agricultural technologies and policies led to increased production but also resulted in depleting the rural landscape and moving people off of farms. Some think this should continue in the name of "progress," and others think this may not be in our best interest. The future of agriculture and its effect on the rural landscape is a major question, not just for people in agriculture, but for society as a whole. It is also a major question that land grant universities need to address. While we have become very adept at looking at the small pieces, we need to consider the effects of our research on the larger picture as well. In this issue of Sustainable Agriculture, we include several articles that do look at the big picture. Monica Moore's article (see page 4) describes the Pesticide Action Network's study of pesticide use reduction plans in several European countries and how they might contribute to the transition to more sustainable agricultural practices in California. Input was gathered from a broad range of people in agriculture to develop a draft pesticide use reduction program for the state of California. Further work is now being done to assess incentives and funding mechanisms associated with the plan. The development of a pesticide use reduction plan as an explicit policy goal is one way of contributing to a vision of sustainable agriculture in California. David Campbell's article (see page 12) reviews two recent government reports that describe the potential picture of California's future agriculture. One describes the rapid population growth and loss of prime farmland expected over the next several decades. The other predicts the effects of the resulting urban development on total water resources and their distribution. According to these reports, agriculture, one of California's largest industries, will likely get smaller share. In response to these reports, a vision of a more sustainable, resource-conserving agriculture that is connected with nearby communities looks promising, as Campbell points out. We in the land grant universities need to solicit input from a broad cross-section of society to inform our research and education priorities. By doing so, we are articulating a vision of where we do want to be regarding the future of California agriculture.-Bill Liebhardt, director, UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. [ Back | Search | Feedback ]