Donald C. Taylor

Sustainable agricultural development in China

Abstract An immense and increasingly well-to-do population has forced China to relent in strictly following the principles of organic farming that so strongly characterized its agriculture for centuries. The environmental and fossil-fuel energy problems accompanying Chinas remarkable rural economic development during the 1980s have caused an intensive reexamination of the countrys agricultural development policies. Emerging from this reexamination is the concept of “ecological” agricultural development involving the hybrid pursuit of “conventional” innovative and modern technologies from the West, and traditional organic practices from times past in China. This article portrays the background for and current status of Chinese agricultural development, characterizes and presents illustrative results from Chinas strategy for ecological agricultural development, and highlights similarities and contrasts between ecological agriculture in China and sustainable agriculture in the West.

Feedlot manure nutrient loadings on South Dakota farmland

A key determinant of whether livestock manure is an asset or liability for agricultural producers and for society more generally is the amount produced relative to the nearby farmland area to which it can be economically transported for application. The objectives of this study are to estimate manure N and P loadings on the cropland and rangeland associated with 78 feedlot farm operations in South Dakota and to determine if they are greater for larger feedlots. A substantial fraction of the feedlot operators studied apply plant-available N and P in livestock manure at rates that exceed crop and grass fertility requirements, and intensity of manure nutrient loadings on cropland is strongly and positively related to feedlot size. These findings raise a warning regarding possible nonpoint-source pollution of vulnerable water resources from manure produced by fed cattle in larger feedlots.