A vast amount of agricultural land in the USA will change hands in the coming years as established farmers age and transition out of farm ownership. As a result, beginning farmers are likely to continue to face numerous obstacles as they try to find and purchase the property. Two of the greatest barriers include the high price that farm property usually commands and the steady conversion of farmland to non-agricultural uses (e.g., suburban development). Non-profit organizations and government agencies have used conservation easements extensively to protect against conversion of agricultural land, but, too often, that does not ensure affordability for beginning farmers. Accordingly, advocates have developed supplemental land transfer tools intended to enhance conservation easements and help beginning farmers gain access to land. In this exploratory research, we look at two of these novel tools, namely Conservation Buyer Programs (CBPs) and the option to purchase at agricultural value (OPAV). Specifically, we present case studies about two entities that use OPAV and two that use CBPs in order to understand how these tools function and whether they improve land access for beginning farmers. Interviews with professionals and beginning farmers who have worked with these tools in four states inform our analysis and add depth to previous scholarship. We found that OPAV and CBPs can improve access to agricultural land for beginning farmers under certain circumstances. These tools, however, are not panaceas to the challenge land affordability presents, nor are they the only tools used by the entities we studied. CBPs alone have rarely been used to help new farmers; yet, they have been paired effectively with a conservation easement and OPAV. Additionally, we found a similar tool, the simultaneous sale, has been quite effective when paired with OPAV, and less costly than the traditional conservation buyer approach. All of these tools expand the land access toolbox in important ways, but given the paucity of existing scholarship on this topic, additional research is needed. Practitioners and researchers must think critically about whether these tools are the most effective instruments to employ in the effort to get beginning farmers on the land.

One of the greatest challenges in crop science worldwide is to generate a balance between crop production and environmental preservation. Agroforestry systems present promising strategies for balancing environmental health and crop production. The aim of this study was to evaluate yield components and the juice quality of five sugarcane crop years cultivated in the understory of Aleurites fordii, in two intercropping systems and a monocropping system. A field experiment was conducted from November 2011 to June 2016 in the city of Frederico Westphalen—Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Information generated in this study confirms the viability of the cultivation of sugarcane in agroforestry systems, and provides information for farmers which can be used to assist in the planning of more ideal agroforestry arrangements. Agroforestry systems should consider the benefits of both forest and cultivated plant species. In this study, A. fordii trees had greater growth in the intercrop II system; however, this system promoted reductions in sugarcane yield components due to the lowest relative amount of solar radiation intercepted by sugarcane plants. For sugarcane production, the use of an intercropping system with 12 × 12 m2 arrangements should be prioritized, because it promotes greater sugarcane yields when compared with 6 × 6 m2 intercropping systems; however, significant differences were not observed when the system (12 × 12 m2) was compared with the monocropping system for most of the analyzed variables. This study sought to provide new sustainable alternatives for farmers in order to increase the diversification of rural properties and maintain the preservation of existing agroecosystems.

Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) have emerged as a leading institutional approach for advancing sustainability globally. This paper examines three prominent MSIs that have developed sustainability metrics and a standard for US agriculture: Field to Market, the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops and the National Sustainable Agricultural Standard Initiative. Using data from interviews and content analysis of initiative reports, two sets of analyses are presented. First, building on Paul Thompson's tri-partite theorization of sustainability, how each initiative is conceptualizing agricultural sustainability is analyzed. We find that two contrasting visions of sustainable agriculture for the USA have emerged from the three MSIs. One vision is a resource sufficiency approach focused on eco-efficiencies and the other vision is a functional integrity approach that emphasizes the maintenance of resilient agricultural and ecological systems. Second, we examine the governance practices of the MSIs to explain why such divergent conceptualizations of sustainability have been mapped out. We find that far from being a neutral forum, the internal dynamics of MSIs often reflect and reproduce existing power relationships among stakeholders. In concluding, we suggest that incremental improvements in sustainability can be achieved using MSIs, but more transformative changes may require other forms of governance.

This paper uses the framework of the Just–Pope production function to evaluate the impacts of climate change on yields of the rainfed Aman rice crop in Bangladesh. It analyses disaggregated district-level data on climate variables and Aman rice yield over a 48 year time horizon. The results reveal that changes in maximum temperatures have had positive and negative effects on yield in the linear and quadratic functional forms, respectively. However, the elasticity values in the variance function confirm that maximum temperature is risk-increasing for Aman rice while minimum temperature is likely to decrease yield variability. Rainfall has become risk-increasing for Aman rice. Based on three climate change scenarios, this paper also reveals that future climate change is expected to increase the variability of Aman rice yields. Finally, statistically significant dummies for different in-country climate zones require zone-specific adaptation policies to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change.

Sustainable intensification of African farming systems has been high on the agenda of research and development programs for decades. System innovations such as integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and conservation agriculture have been proposed to tackle the complex challenges farmers face. In this study, we assess how different factors at the plot, farm and institutional level can influence the adoption of ISFM. We employed a stratified sampling approach to randomly select 285 and 300 farmers in Tamale, northern Ghana and Kakamega County, western Kenya, respectively. These two locations were selected to understand the underlying reasons for their divergent adoption levels. Ordinal regression models were used to identify determinants of adoption. In Tamale, adoption rates of ISFM are much lower than in Kakamega. Only 3% of the farmers fully adopted the recommended practices compared with 36% in Kakamega. The low availability of improved seeds is a major reason for the lower uptake of the complete ISFM paradigm in Tamale. The econometric analysis revealed that plot level variables such as soil carbon, soil texture, slope and plot area had a significant effect on the number of adopted ISFM components at both locations. Moreover, family labor availability is also an important factor. Other farm and household characteristics, such as off-farm occupation, livestock ownership, and membership in associations, matter for Kakamega only. Key policy recommendations include promotion of locally available organic resources and improved access to improved seeds in Tamale.

The relationship between diversification and labor productivity is a pressing issue for diversified farming systems (DFS), which must compete with the high labor productivity of specialized and mechanized industrial farming systems. Synergies between multiple production systems represent an alternative pathway for enhancing labor productivity, contrasting with the economies of scale achieved by industrial farming. Facing a lack of technical and institutional support for managing diversified systems, DFS turn to grassroots agroecological networks for support. Permaculture is a grassroots network with an emphasis on diversified production that—despite its international scope and high public profile—has received little scholarly attention. In this exploratory study we assessed the relationship between diversification, labor productivity and involvement with permaculture, using data from 196 enterprises (i.e., distinct sources of income or aspects of a farm business) on 36 permaculture farms in the USA. We characterized diversification in two ways: by income at the level of the whole farm, and by labor for production enterprises only. By fitting a multilevel model of labor productivity (enterprises nested within farms) we assessed the evidence for synergies in production, i.e., positive relationships between diversification and returns to labor. Results indicated that both production diversity and level of involvement in the permaculture network had significant positive effects on labor productivity. This effect disappeared, however, when both diversity and participation were at their highest levels. Results also indicate that high levels of diversification shift tree crops from the lowest labor productivity of any type of production enterprise to the highest. Through this first ever (to our knowledge) systematic investigation of permaculture farms, our results provide support for the presence of production synergies in DFS, and for the role of permaculture in helping farmers achieve these synergies.

Control of cucurbit pests, such as striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittatum), spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi) and squash bug (Anasa tristis), in organic systems is difficult due to a lack of effective insecticide options. This has led to the development of many integrated pest management techniques, such as use of row covers, crop rotation and cover crops. This study explored the novel use of strip tillage and row covers to reduce pest pressure in summer squash (Cucurbita pepe) and muskmelon (Cucumis melo) production systems. Results showed that although strip tillage reduced striped cucumber beetle and squash bug numbers, there was a yield reduction in both crops compared with the plasticulture system. Row cover increased marketable yield in both systems, with the highest yield being in the plasticulture system. Unmarketable fruit directly attributed to insect damage was higher in the plasticulture systems, but was not significantly different when compared with the strip tillage system. Although there are many documented positive attributes of strip tillage, results from this study indicate that a combination of plasticulture and row cover may be a superior system for organic cucurbit production.

Efficient phosphorus (P) recycling from rural and urban areas is becoming an increasing issue due to the scarcity of natural P deposits. Based on a life cycle assessment (LCA), we analyzed the environmental performance of 17 different P supply and recycling approaches from urban wastes, biosolids and slaughterhouse wastes compared with the two conventional inorganic fertilizers phosphate rock and triple superphosphate. The results show that many recycled P fertilizers (RPFs; e.g., digestates from urban organic wastes, biosolids and their ashes, meat and bone meal (MBM) and its recycling products) are competitive in terms of LCA results compared with conventional P fertilizers. For each of the P recycling sources, one or more treatment options were identified, which have more favorable LCA results than the conventional references. For sewage sludge, we found that direct application of the stabilized biosolids, and incineration with application of the ash showed the lowest LCA impacts per kg P; their treatments even generated net credits from added values. The same applies for the anaerobic digestion treatment of urban organic wastes. For MBM, low environmental impacts were identified for each of the analyzed treatment options, especially for anaerobic digestion, incineration, feeding with application of manure and direct application. Similarly, low environmental impacts and net credits were found for directly applied biomass ash. Some organically based RPFs demonstrate added values, i.e., as nitrogen and potassium fertilizer effect, energy gains during the treatment, or a humus sequestration potential. If these added values are considered in the LCAs, 11 out of 17 RPFs will have advantageous effects for the majority of addressed impact categories.

Unavailability of irrigation water for early sowing has remained a constant problem in cold arid deserts of Ladakh. In order to get a solution to this problem, a 2-yr farmers’ participatory research trial with best bet agronomic management on artificial glacier water harvesting technology was conducted. The technology involves collecting water from natural glaciers that melt during late December. The water is diverted toward a shed constructed with stone embankments set up at regular intervals. The area is chosen where there is minimum interference of solar radiation, generally between two mountain slopes or ridge that is on the leeward side. The melted water is that melts from the natural glacier impeded by the embankments and get frozen here. This frozen water starts melting in late March and is used for both pre sowing and initial crop water requirement. It also ensures early sowing of wheat by creating additional 45-day window which leads to introduction of long- and medium-duration wheat varieties to replace decades old locally grown short-duration varieties. The work was initiated with a benchmark survey of 100 farmers to get an understanding of present irrigation scenario, crop management practices and date of sowing. Data from 99 farmer participating trial of wheat conducted after or from bench mark survey clearly indicated that the effect of water shortage can be seen on yield and yield attributing characters due to unavailability of pre sowing irrigation and water requirement at imperative growth stages and may also lead to terminal heat stress in wheat crop. Out of total number of irrigations applied, initial two irrigations can be compensated by artificial glacier water harvesting technique, leading to a revolution in the agriculture scenario of the tribal population by introduction of long- and medium-duration wheat varieties in cold arid desert of Ladakh for the very first time. It was observed that wheat seeding done in first fortnight of April gave better yields in comparison to late seeded wheat. Moreover, the long-duration varieties (LDVs) or medium-duration varieties (MDVs) sown under late condition gave better yield in comparison to locally grown short-duration varieties sown at same time. Yield potential of LDVs and MDVs of wheat under late sowing was found quite low in comparison to early-sown wheat, still when compared with the performance of locally grown wheat the yields were more even if the local varieties were sown early. The outcome of this study will help the farmers of tribal, cold arid community in harvesting better wheat yields by timely sowing of the wheat crop accompanied with better bet agronomic management practices. Government initiative is further required to ensure better outreach of complete crop management strategies to the tribal farming community of the region in order to ensure food security and improve their socioeconomic status.