Environmental Quality Research

Devoting land to crop production can diminish habitat for wildlife. Soil erosion, nutrient and pesticide runoff, and irrigation can pollute the air and water, degrade soil quality, and diminish water supplies. The degree of the environmental problems associated with agriculture vary widely across the country. ERS analyzes the use and efficacy of conservation practices and of Federal programs and policies in combating the harmful effects of agriculture as they relate to: 1) soil quality, as compromised by wind and water erosion; 2) water quality, as compromised by chemical/pesticide and nutrient runoff; 3) air quality, as compromised by soil particulates, farm chemicals, and odor from livestock; 4) wildlife habitat, as compromised by fragmentation, monoculture (which reduces landscape diversity), and diverting water for irrigation; and 5) wetlands, as compromised by conversion to cropland.

Open to all. 

Up-to-date research on environmental quality will provide support to tribes applying for grants or doing research or setting priorities for vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning. The economic analyses can be helpful in projecting impacts to sectors, particularly if they have an explicit climate change component.