What Does The Term “Sustainable Agriculture” Mean?
By James Peterson, UNL Extension Educator The term “Sustainable Agriculture” is often bantered around a great deal without any real understanding of what it means. Many people feel that it means organic, but it’s more than that. A brochure entitled, “Exploring Sustainablility in Agriculture”, developed by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Project has an excellent description of the meaning of “Sustainable Agriculture” which is used in this article extensively. Throughout the world, farmers, ranchers, acreage owners and others are experimenting with a different form of agriculture, a more sustainable way of producing and distributing food and fiber, using a variety of approaches. Sustainable agriculture encompasses broad goals, which farmers and ranchers develop specific strategies to achieve. Using a great variety of farming strategies allows producers to meet their needs; in their operation, their environments and their communities. The primary goals of sustain
