Brazos River Bottom cotton producers' knowledge, attitudes and practices of sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Environmental concerns about agriculture have produced legislation in the form of the 1985 and 1990 Farm Bills (Food Security Act and Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act respectively) and other legislation which have influenced how food and fiber are produced in Texas. Farmers are now faced with new pressures and relatively new alternatives that promote more sustainable practices in agriculture. To understand the problems that agricultural producers face in meeting these pressures, it is important to identify farmers' knowledge,, attitudes, and use of sustainable agriculture practices. To accomplish this a survey technique was used involving a random sample of 30 cotton producers in Texas' Brazos River Bottom region. The relationship between the production of agricultural commodities and the natural environment is undergoing profound changes. Due to an increase in environmental and food safety concerns, many changes in United States agricultural policy are taking place. The objective of the study was to assess cotton producers' knowledge, attitudes, and practice of sustainable agriculture in the Brazos River Bottom. Brazos River Bottom cotton producers had knowledge of sustainable practices but, in some cases, did not understand sustainable agriculture as a concept. Their attitudes toward the environment were that they ; 1) were partially responsible for and needed to do their part to take care of the environment, and 2) were often over criticized and over penalized for environmental degradation. Brazos River Bottom cotton producers were not practicing sustainable agriculture on a large scale because; 1) the information sources that promote and encourage sustainable agriculture were not reaching these farmers, 2) governmental regulations were, in some instances, preventing or discouraging the implementation of sustainable practices, and 3) they believed that their current practices were more economically beneficial than sustainable agriculture practices.