Monoculture shows financial, environmental costs to US
Monoculture鈥攖he cultivation of a single crop in a given area鈥攁llows farmers to industrialize their production systems. According to the United States Department of Agriculture鈥檚 (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA), corn and soy make up聽聽in the United States, accounting for about 60 million hectares (150 million acres). Planting just one or two crops may decrease labor costs, but results in externalized environmental, social, and health costs.
According to the USDA National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), total soil losses from erosion on agricultural land聽, and represented about 1.56 billion tonnes (1.725 billion tons) as of 2007. In the same year, 28 percent of all cropland聽聽above acceptable soil loss tolerance rates.
聽estimated a loss of 1 kilogram (2.32 pounds) of nitrogen and .45 kilograms (1 pound) of phosphorus for each ton of soil eroded, costing farmers US$.63 and US$.64, respectively, in 2012. On the other hand, growers could obtain a聽聽of US$4.93 per ton by improving water quality through better soil management. Diversifying farms is one way to prevent erosion and maintain soil quality.
Monoculture systems dominate the agricultural landscape of the US, contributing to a large portion of this erosion. However, the opportunities to improve adoption of conservation practices鈥攕uch as cover cropping, conservation tillage, and crop rotation鈥攚ithin monoculture systems are huge.聽, the total cost of preventing .9 tonnes (one ton) of soil erosion is US$7.03 per acre, but farmers that participate can save society US$42.40 per acre in water quality improvement costs.
To grow just one or two crops on the same land, farmers rely heavily on fertilizer inputs.聽, founding director of the聽, explained聽聽at the 2015 Food Tank Summit: 鈥淥ne ton of ammonium nitrate costs a US farmer about US$387. The benefit to the farmer is between US$666 and US$2,666 per U.S. ton, but the negative costs鈥攖he damage to the environment, pollution, human health, depletion of natural capital鈥攁re between US$990 and US$5,172 per U.S. ton of ammonium nitrate. So in other words, if the damage done was charged to the farmer or the nitrogen fertilizer manufacturer, it would completely cancel out the business case for using it and transform agriculture all over the world, but that鈥檚 not happening.鈥�
Monoculture also relies on pesticides to control weed and insect populations. However, pesticides also reduce beneficial pollinator populations. A Cornell University study attributes an estimated US$520 million worth of聽聽to pesticide use, due to the elimination of natural pest predators. Health聽聽of pesticide application are estimated to be US$1.1 billion per year. The World Health Organization (WHO)聽聽glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide commonly used in monoculture systems, a probable carcinogen. Monoculture disproportionately causes these costs through higher use of pesticides within systems that lack crop diversity.
But it's possible to rein in these external costs and reduce the harm to our health and environment, without abandoning farmers who are already struggling to make ends meet. Diversified systems聽聽between organic and conventional systems, and restore valuable ecosystem services, reducing farmers鈥� input costs and offsetting externalities. According to one聽, the global net value of ecosystem services could exceed fertilizer and pesticide costs, even if used on only 10 percent of global arable land.
A system-wide understanding of the true costs of monoculture to human health and the health of the environment requires more research and economic analyses. In the meantime, it鈥檚 vital to support small farmers that are practicing agroecology and incorporating crop diversity. Organizations such as the聽聽take a robust approach to diversifying farms and addressing food insecurity through participatory research and education. The USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) pledged to聽聽to insurance plans for 2016. By diversifying diets and supporting local farmers, consumers can 鈥渧ote with their forks鈥� to support diverse agricultural operations that prevent externalized costs.
