It’s well known that sustainability is a buzzword in agriculture. Howard Halderman, president of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, talks about how sustainability also applies to farmland.

“To me, sustainability is the preservation of a farm for future generations. And really, sustainability is two different things. One is growing or enhancing the productivity of the farm over time. So you might be improving its fertility, or you might be improving its organic matter, so a lot of soil improvements. In addition, it means that that farm is financially viable long term, and that means success, both for the landowner as well as the farmer. Sometimes those are one and the same people.”

Programs are available to support landowners in improving their sustainability practices.

“So, the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, offers a variety of sustainability or conservation programs through the Natural Resource Conservation Service. There are offices in most counties around the country where you can access those programs. Sometimes, that’s the Conservation Reserve Program, where it’s a CRP, buffer strips, waterways, and a whole host of options exist there. In addition, there are also some carbon credit programs that various companies are offering, and so a farmer or a landowner could be paid for sequestering carbon, where we’re holding that carbon in the soil, and you can be compensated for that. And then, finally, there are programs where if you grow a crop sustainably, sometimes you can earn a premium for that crop that’s being grown under sustainable practices.”

Halderman talks about where to begin.

“I think that a landowner just needs to investigate what sustainability means for the soils and the farm operations that exist in their area and then look at how they can start to ease into it. This is not a wholesale change overnight, and so starting to make little tweaks and changes to your production practices is the way to start.”