Farmers celebrate Earth Day every day

Most Americans celebrate Earth Day on April 22. Farmers and ranchers celebrate Earth Day every day.

Agriculturalists grow and raise renewable commodities 365 days a year in a manner that protects the land and promotes conservation.

“Farmers and ranchers are used to carefully considering all of their input costs in farming operations. This includes our energy costs,” said Arizona Farm Bureau Vice President Tim Dunn and a Yuma grower. “As a result, whatever we can do to minimize those costs helps us to improve our bottom line and conserve for the future. Because of this, we preserve our land and promote conservation for future generations.”

After all, noted Harold Maxwell, manager of Booth Machinery in Yuma, "if we weren't stewards of the land, it would have quit producing."

In that stewardship, farmers and ranchers not only make a living for their families, they feed and clothe the growing population of the world while protecting the ecosystem and providing wildlife habitat.

Over the years, the industry has learned a lot that enables it to be ever better stewards of Earth's natural resources, Maxwell said. Agriculture practices have changed substantially since the Dust Bowl.

In 1968, Paul Ehrlich in his book, The Population Bomb," predicted that by the 1970s and '80s, hundreds of millions of people would starve to death.

He didn't take into account the work of plant breeder Norman Borlaug, who is credited with saving millions of lives by bringing agricultural self-sufficiency to many developing nations. Borlaug, deemed the father of the green revolution, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. He died in September 2009 at the age of 95.

Maxwell said his Project CENTRL will be visiting the area in Mexico where Borlaug conducted some of his groundbreaking research out of an adobe hut in the middle of a field.

"No one has done more for mankind," Maxwell said of Borlaug.

Today's American farmers are able to produce more food on the same acreage they did 50 years ago. In doing so, they've been able to help feed a world population that has gone from 3 billion in 1959 to an expected 6.8 billion in 2010, Maxwell said.

Furthermore, he said, the world rate of famine and undernourishment has gone from 33 percent in 1970 to 18 percent in 1998.

Consider …

The very act of agriculture

In Yuma, as in other agriculturally-dominated parts of the state, the very act of agriculture demonstrates farming practices are renewable.

Arizona agriculture is the premier business of converting sunlight into energy for all crops grown in this state and across the country. Yuma is one of the best places to observe this, especially during the winter months when this area is the nation’s winter lettuce bowl.

“Acres of green fields are the original solar panels,” said Yuma grower Terry T. Easterday of Easterday Farms, LLC. “The added value from agriculture is that the sun's energy can be converted into many different usable products, allowing for more options for its storage and transport to the end user.”

Easterday points to another very common practice in agriculture. “When we utilize crop residues and manure in our growing programs, we are taking a waste product and converting it back into another usable food or fiber. When I see a green field, I see the sun and plants at work, improving our air quality and storing the sun's energy for our future use.”

Geothermal and water conservation

Gary Wood of Desert Sweet Shrimp in Gila Bend uses geothermal energy for his operation.

“My use of geothermal energy is minimal because of the size of my operation,” said Wood. “I have taken advantage of it for my nursery ponds from time to time and it works really well. If someone was dealing with only small ponds and they were covered, the use of geothermal energy could be put to use very effectively.”

Additionally, the Arizona shrimp farm, in conjunction with the University of Arizona, designed a plot of 120 olive trees, spaced along 10 rows. From the shrimp pond, they irrigated the olive saplings. Their research showed effluent-treated trees from the shrimp pond grew larger than well-watered trees.

They’re using the nitrogen and phosphorus in the waste from the shrimp to replace the nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers that farmers would otherwise have to buy. The research project supplied close to 100 percent of nutrients needed for the trees.

One farm’s quest to use renewable energy

Back in 2005, one of Arizona’s most well-known farm operations went not only green but also renewable.

Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek began purchasing “renewable energy” to operate their business. In a partnership with SRP’s EarthWise Energy program, Schnepf Farms, in their news releases, believed their effort to be “the first business in the state and one of the first farms in the country.”

Mark Schnepf, a third-generation farmer and owner, said, “We have been inviting people to visit our family farm for over 50 years. Now when they visit, they will know that everything we provide for them on the farm is either organically grown, operated by renewable energy and baked by power that is the cleanest for our environment. We wanted to take our operation a step further and invest in clean renewable energy.”

The purchase of renewable energy through the SRP EarthWise Energy Program comes from a diverse mix of local renewable energy sources including solar, wind, landfill gas, geothermal and low head hydro. The energy produced is sent to SRP’s main system, where it becomes part of the primary energy supply for customers.

Although purchasing of “green power” is more expensive, “it is worth it,” said Carrie Schnepf, co-owner.

ENVIRONMENTAL FARM FACTS

• Farmers and ranchers are the first environmentalists, maintaining and improving the soil and natural resources to pass on to future generations. Arizona counts in its farm family ranks, third-, fourth-, fifth- and even sixth-generation farmers and ranchers.

• Farmers use reduced tillage practices on more than 72 million acres to prevent erosion.

• Farmers maintain over 1.3 million acres of grass waterways, allowing water to flow naturally from crops without eroding soil.

• Contour farming, planting crops on hillsides instead of up and down, keeps soil from washing away. About 26 million acres in the United States are managed this way.

• Cattle ranchers and others control water runoff with sod waterways and diversions, erosion control structures and catch basins.

• Just as urban families recycle grass, newspaper and aluminum, farm families have practiced recycling for a long time by applying manure to fields to replace nutrients in the soil.

• Agricultural land provides habitat for 75 percent of the nation's wildlife.