Soils, society, and sustainability

Excerpt

FIFTY years ago, when we made our first national commitment to reducing soil erosion, American agriculture was deeply troubled. The country was in a deep economic depression, but the depression in agriculture had started earlier and struck more severely. By 1932 net farm income was the lowest it had been since 1910, when data were first collected. Farmland values were falling sharply, farm debt was high, and farm foreclosures were commonplace. One of the most common and saddest rural gatherings was the farm auction, neighbors looking on as the farm family lost both home and livelihood to satisfy debt.

This scene has too frequently been repeated this past year throughout our farming communities. It was reported recently that the federal bankruptcy court for the southern district of Iowa, which normally gets one farm case each year, had received 202 in the preceeding 12 months, and the number was growing.

Farm profits have been low in three of the past four years. In constant dollars, net income from farming in 1982 and 1983 reached the lowest levels since the Great Depression, and much of the 1983 income was due to record-high federal payments. Farm debt is four times what it …