Spring Break
Economists, farmer point to positive trends in local and global agriculture
By: Chris Hokanson
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News
Farmer Brad Stufflebeam points to a return to local, community farming as the future of agriculture. Small farms, not large, corporate ones, provide communities with greater variety and greater accountability, he said.
Stufflebeam, who owns Home Sweet Farm in Brenham and serves as president of the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, spoke Thursday at the Association for Social Entrepreneurship's Agriculture Teach-In. He, along with agricultural econmists Bruce McCarl and James Richardson, discussed agriculture's role in the changing global climate, the world's economy and the community.
McCarl, professor of agricultural economics at A&M and a member of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said that global warming is the major problem, and it will affect agriculture in a big way.
"Over the last 25 years, we've seen more precipitation coming in more intense storms, and that's not good for agriculture," he said. "Agriculture needs nice, steady rainfall, and we're seeing less and less of that."
McCarl said that while warming is good for agriculture in northern areas like Canada, because killing frosts are non-existant in areas they used to be prevalent, areas like Texas will be severely affect by drought and more intense hurricanes. More intense and longer heat waves, longer periods between rainfall events, an increase in hurricane intensity and a large increase in sea level will all contribute to a worsening situation, he said.
Because of the need for lower emissions, the need for biofuels has risen dramatically, Richardson said. The regents professor of agricultural economics and director of A&M's Agriculture and Food Policy Institute, Richardson said shared a presentation he is slated to share to several U.S. Congressional committees this week. Greater demand for biofuels means higher prices for feedstocks like corn, he said, so many areas of agriculture are benefitting, such as corn farmers. But because more and more corn is going into ethanol production and corn prices are higher, industries which rely on corn for feed, like the beef and dairy industries, are suffering.
Stufflebeam, who owns Home Sweet Farm in Brenham and serves as president of the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, spoke Thursday at the Association for Social Entrepreneurship's Agriculture Teach-In. He, along with agricultural econmists Bruce McCarl and James Richardson, discussed agriculture's role in the changing global climate, the world's economy and the community.
McCarl, professor of agricultural economics at A&M and a member of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said that global warming is the major problem, and it will affect agriculture in a big way.
"Over the last 25 years, we've seen more precipitation coming in more intense storms, and that's not good for agriculture," he said. "Agriculture needs nice, steady rainfall, and we're seeing less and less of that."
McCarl said that while warming is good for agriculture in northern areas like Canada, because killing frosts are non-existant in areas they used to be prevalent, areas like Texas will be severely affect by drought and more intense hurricanes. More intense and longer heat waves, longer periods between rainfall events, an increase in hurricane intensity and a large increase in sea level will all contribute to a worsening situation, he said.
Because of the need for lower emissions, the need for biofuels has risen dramatically, Richardson said. The regents professor of agricultural economics and director of A&M's Agriculture and Food Policy Institute, Richardson said shared a presentation he is slated to share to several U.S. Congressional committees this week. Greater demand for biofuels means higher prices for feedstocks like corn, he said, so many areas of agriculture are benefitting, such as corn farmers. But because more and more corn is going into ethanol production and corn prices are higher, industries which rely on corn for feed, like the beef and dairy industries, are suffering.
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com