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Chapter 9 Soil and Agriculture: Agricultural Policy

Chapter 9 Soil and Agriculture: Agricultural Policy. Rena Chen and Hsinyo Yin. Agricultur e. Most widespread type of human land use (38% terrestrial land ) Contributes to soil erosion, air and water pollution, etc. Land Degradation. Government subsidies: Compensate farmers for losses

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Chapter 9 Soil and Agriculture: Agricultural Policy

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  1. Chapter 9 Soil and Agriculture:Agricultural Policy Rena Chen and Hsinyo Yin

  2. Agriculture • Most widespread type of human land use (38% terrestrial land) • Contributes to soil erosion, air and water pollution, etc.

  3. Land Degradation • Government subsidies: • Compensate farmers for losses • Produce surplus food to drive down prices • Bureau of Land Management (BLM): • Ranchers pay inexpensive fees to graze livestocks

  4. Draining of Wetlands • Wetlands drained to grow crops (less than ½ remain) • Swamp Land Acts (1849, 1850, and 1860): promote settlement and farming • US Department of Agriculture (USDA): provided funds to drain wetlands

  5. Protection of Wetlands • Function of Wetland: Improve water quality, control flooding, recharge water supply • Wetlands Reserve Program: offers payment to landowners who protect, restore, or improve wetland areas

  6. Current Event: Restoration of Wetlands in San Francisco Bay • 20 year project to restore 10,000 acres of salt evaporation ponds into wetlands in Napa-Sonoma Marshes • Pipeline transport treated wastewater to pond to dilute the salinity

  7. Current Event: Restoration of Wetlands in San Francisco Bay • Home to egrets, herons, ducks, salmon, Dungeness crabs, etc. • Serve as a buffer that reduces flooding

  8. Healing scars left by decades of overgrazing Wildfires Before the 1990s, this Western landscape thrived Ranching families struggled to make a living The Science Behind The Story

  9. Treatment 1 Treatment 2 Treatment 3 Treatment 4 Restoring The Malpai Borderlands

  10. Malpai Borderlands hosts a scientific conference each year Controlled burns Grassbanking Reseeded damaged areas Sustainable ranching The Better Malpai Borderlands

  11. Returning to post-colonial condition Clearing the site brings back habitat species like the bobolinks Project was funded $9,000 state grant from the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Restoring The Grasslands

  12. Soil Conservation • Conservation Reserve Program: pay to cultivate on reserves with grass and trees • Generate income for farmers • Improve water quality • Provide habitat for wildlife • Contracts1: selected farmers receive loan to improve farmland (10-15 years) • 1 dollar invested saves 1 ton of topsoil 1 The Beginning Farmer. (2008, March 13). In Taking Land out of the CRP. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from http://thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com/2008/03/taking-land-out-of-crp.html

  13. Challenges continue to rise Soil degradation Better technology Soil conservation techniques Conclusion

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