Program Information

With more than 90 percent of America's farms and ranches operated by individuals or families, maintaining and protecting the environment is vital to keep these businesses in the family for years to come.

ABCs of Agriculture informs about Virginia's farming community and how it affects you. ABCs of Agriculture are produced by the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) - an educational program which encourages and enhances agricultural literacy in Grades K-5 and 6-8.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the ABC’s of Agriculture! We’re here today to talk about the letter “E” for environment…

Every year… farmers are ranchers are doing more to protect the environment…

In fact, protecting the environment is just a regular part of the workday for many people involved in agriculture…

With more than 90 percent of America's farms and ranches operated by individuals or families, maintaining and protecting the environment is vital to keep these businesses in the family for years to come.

One way that Virginia farmers protect the environment is by using modern conservation and tillage practices. These practices keep residue such as leaves and stalks in the field.

Conservation tillage is used on more than 100 million acres and reduced tillage is used on more than 60 million acres. Conservation tillage continues to grow in popularity, greatly reducing field runoff and keeping crop protectants where they belong: in the field and out of streams. That helps protect water quality.

By early 2004, farmers, ranchers and other landowners had installed 1.54 million miles of conservation buffers under an Agriculture Department initiative.

Conservation buffers can improve soil, air and water quality while enhancing wildlife habitat.

With the modern farming techniques, such as global positioning satellites, biotechnology and conservation tillage, farmers are producing more food than ever before on fewer acres.

This lessened soil erosion, while increasing protection for our nation's waterways.

With rising energy costs becoming a fact of life, America’s farmers are making a difference with renewable fuels that benefit the environment, such as ethanol and biodiesel made from corn, soybeans and other crops…

In addition to all of these efforts, hundreds of thousands of trees are planted on farmland each year…

America's farmers and ranchers are working hard to protect our environment while still producing the world’s safest, most abundant and affordable food supply… for the ABC’s of agriculture… I’m Professor Brad… see you next time!

Virginia Standards