Earth Day on the Plains: Let’s celebrate agriculture’s contributions to the environment

Earth Day occurs April 22.

You may have heard of Earth Day. It was established in 1970 as a grassroots calling to bring attention to the global issue of smog pollution brought on by industrial development.

Local gatherings and peaceful demonstrations of tens of thousands of Americans during Earth Day played a major role in the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency later that year. (Just so you know, the EPA wasn’t always as cantankerous to agriculture as it has become in the last few decades.)

Earth Day has become a rallying point for environmentalists. Not that this is a bad thing; this year’s events around the world are “…dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about plastics,” the Earth Day website proclaims. Moreover, “…from poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the survival of our planet.”

A noble mission, indeed.

Earth Day on the Plains

The streets of Washington D.C., Los Angeles and urban areas around the world may be packed with people celebrating Earth Day. In the fields and farmsteads of America, farmers and ranchers have a much different take on this annual event. Folks in the High Plains take great pride in feeding, clothing and fueling this country in an environmentally sensitive manner. The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance has compiled a list of ways in which this nation’s producers have done much to improve their own environment. For example:

Today’s beef farmers use 33 percent less land than they did 40 years ago.

Today’s pig farmers use 41 percent less water than they did 50 years ago.

If we went back to raising chickens the way we did 100 years ago, the chicken industry’s environmental footprint would be increased three-fold.

Adoption of genetically modified crops has reduced pesticide applications by 36 percent the last 20 years.

GMO crops helped preserve 51 million acres of land from crop production in 2014.

There is a 90 percent decrease in soil erosion in soybean, cotton and corn acreage thanks to GMO crops.

As technology improves and becomes less expensive, we will see dramatic increases in production and efficiency in coming years. Fewer pesticides. Less water used. Healthier foods.

American farmers accomplish these feats, needing neither public demonstrations nor fancy social media campaigns to make that happen. They will just do what they need to do to ensure their farms and ranches carry on in a sustainable manner, with little fanfare.

If that’s not celebrating Earth Day, I don’t know what is.

Bill Spiegel can be reached at 785-587-7796 or email [email protected].