Agriculture
Globally, the agricultural sector consumes about 70% of the planet’s accessible freshwater. Because water is vital for the success of agriculture, proper water management techniques are necessary to meet food and fiber material demands around the world. Resources available here pay special attention to efficient irrigation and sustainable agriculture techniques.
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Agriculture Resources
Additionality in Agricultural Conservation Programs
Published:
September 8, 2014U.S. Department of Agriculture
Additionality measures the extent to which conservation program payments actually encourage adoption of practices that farmers would not otherwise adopt. Considering additionality in conservation program design could help make programs more cost effective, but only if additionality is considered...Read more
Water Conservation in Irrigated Agriculture: Trends and Challenges in the Face of Emerging Demands
Published:
September 1, 2012U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. agriculture accounts for 80-90 percent of the Nation's consumptive water use (water lost to the environment by evaporation, crop transpiration, or incorporation into products). Despite technological innovations, at least half of U.S. irrigated cropland acreage is still irrigated with less...Read more
Regional focus:
United StatesConservation Practices that Save: Irrigation Water Management
Published:
May 1, 2006U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural water supply is emerging as a critical natural resource issue. Irrigated agriculture is essential in meeting our food and fiber production needs. Irrigation water management encourages the application of water in an amount that meets the need of the growing plant in a manner that...Read more
Western Irrigated Agriculture: Production Value, Water Use, Costs, and Technology Vary by Farm Size
Published:
September 2, 2013U.S. Department of Agriculture
The largest irrigated farms in the region averaged about 3,300 acres, of which 1,020 were irrigated in 2008; the smallest farms averaged 244 acres, of which 47 were irrigated. Use of improved water-management practices can help producers maximize the economic efficiency of their irrigation systems...Read more
Estimating Water Quality Benefits: Theoretical and Methodological Issues
Published:
September 1, 1992U.S. Department of Agriculture
Knowledge of the benefits and costs to water users is required for a complete assessment of policies to create incentives for water quality improving changes in agricultural production. A number of benefit estimation methods are required to handle the varying nature of water quality effects. This...Read more
Improving Air and Water Quality Can Be Two Sides of the Same Coin
Published:
September 1, 2005U.S. Department of Agriculture
Air quality policies have traditionally focused on urban areas and industrial emissions. Extending these laws to cover agriculture would require an understanding of how farmers respond to different policy incentives. Farmers have many choices in deciding on what to produce and the production...Read more
Agricultural Adaptation to a Changing Climate: Economic and Environmental Implications Vary by U.S. Region
Published:
July 1, 2012U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural production has always been affected by variability in weather, and U.S. farmers have adopted production practices and strategies appropriate to their local climate. Adaptive behaviors will allow producers to mitigate costs of climate change and even to capitalize on new opportunities...Read more
Conservation-Compatible Practices and Programs
Published:
February 1, 2006U.S. Department of Agriculture
In recent years, the Federal Government has increased its emphasis on conservation programs that reward good stewardship on working farmland. This report examines the business, operator, and household characteristics of farms
that have adopted certain conservation-compatible practices, with and...Read more
Water Use and Pricing in Agriculture
Published:
July 1, 2006U.S. Department of Agriculture
Irrigated agriculture remains the dominant use of freshwater in the United States, although the share of water consumed by irrigation is declining. National irrigated cropland area has expanded by one-third since 1969, while irrigation water application rates have declined by about 15 percent...Read more
Managing Manure To Improve Air and Water Quality
Published:
September 1, 2005U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal waste from confined animal feeding operations is a potential source of air and water quality degradation from evaporation of gases, runoff to surface water, and leaching to ground water. This report assesses the potential economic and environmental tradeoffs between water quality policies...Read more
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