In an effort to better address the environmental issues related to agriculture, an Agriculture and Environment Science and Policy Center has been created in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Falling under the college's Environment and Natural Resources Institute, the center will be a focal point for cross-disciplinary research and outreach on air and water quality, soil conservation, invasive species, climate change and other environmental issues of consequence to agriculture.

"Historically, we have treasured agriculture for many reasons beyond its role in providing food for our tables -- its contributions to the economic and social fabric of rural communities, scenic countrysides, and our heritage," said Jim Shortle, director of the college's Environment and Natural Resources Institute. "Increasingly, we also see the tremendous value of agriculture's contributions to the functioning of ecosystems, and the crucial importance of maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services from agriculture, such as carbon sequestration.

"But paradoxically, agriculture can be a significant cause of degradation of air, water, land and climate. The impacts of livestock agriculture are of particular concern. Agriculture is both an agent of environmental change, and affected by environmental change."

Shortle, distinguished professor of agricultural and environmental economics, points out that worldwide, agriculture has more effects on the environment than perhaps any other human activity. "The creation of the environmental institute was an expression of how Penn State thinks the environmental implications of agriculture are critically important," he said. "The influence of agriculture -- both good and otherwise -- cannot be downplayed."

Perhaps the most critical issue facing the new agricultural and environmental policy center is Pennsylvania's nutrient-management challenge and nutrient imbalance, as it relates to the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, according to Shortle.

"Agriculture is increasingly an important target of environmental-protection policies in Pennsylvania," he said. "At the same time, environmental goals are increasingly important in agricultural policies in this state. This evolution is occurring for many reasons, but chief among them is recognition that agriculture has enormous impacts on the environment, both positive and negative.

"From the standpoint of agricultural stakeholders, profitability is increasingly related to environmental concerns," he says. "Farmers are being asked to adopt environmentally friendly practices. We must help them, and society, find ways that will achieve and harmonize our goals for agriculture and for the environment."

5/25/2007