Two decades ago, it seemed that not a month went by without some farmer or another challenging the term “sustainable agriculture.” Farmers wrote letters to editors in farm papers asserting that there was no definition for this ridiculous term; it meant whatever a person wanted it to mean. In fact, then as now, sustainable agriculture advanced straightforward principles – of elevating environmentally sound, economically profitable and socially responsible agricultural systems.
Various farmers and more than one agricultural researcher buttonholed me back then to say that agriculture had to feed the world and this fanciful approach undercut agricultureâ??s serious responsibilities. Some perceived sustainable agriculture as anti-technology and opposed to change. It was a contentious time in agriculture, born of the farm crisis – the terrifying hemorrhaging of farmers during the 1980s – and the growing awareness of environmental damage from many federal agricultural policies.
Into this hostile climate was born the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last week.