Human Health 
Landscape Health Farm Profitability
Policy Research from the Multiple Benefits of Agriculture Initiative
Publications on Related Issues Links & Other Resources
Agriculture’s Multiple Benefits
Pasture-raised livestock systems and diverse crop rotations provide public benefits of improved water quality, reduction of flooding, enhanced wildlife habitat, reduced air pollutants, and reduced global warming potential. Farmers benefit through increased profit potential, taking pride in clean streams, and improved quality of life for the family. Communities benefit from scenic and healthy
landscapes and more positive economic and social interactions between farms and community members. And finally, consumers purchase food that supports landscape, human and animal health.
Here you will find fact sheets, articles and publications that address the multiple benefits that can result from diversified farming systems and pasture-raised livestock. This Web page addresses Human Health, Landscape Health and Farm Profitability as they relate to pasture-raised livestock and diversified cropping systems. This site also includes Policy Research from the Multiple Benefits
of Agriculture Initiative, convened by the Land Stewardship Project, and conducted with partners from academic, nonprofit, agency and farming backgrounds. This page also contains information on Publications on Related Issues as well as Links & Other Resources.
top
Human Health
Agriculture can have a direct positive effect on human health. For example, meat and milk produced on grass and legume pastures is proving to be healthier and full of elements that could help our bodies fight disease. In addition, diverse agricultural systems can help cut livestock farming’s reliance on antibiotics, reducing the presence of drug-resistant bacteria in the environment.
For more information, check out:
• Fact Sheet: Pasture-raised Dairy and Meat Products are Good for You and the Environment (pdf document)
• Report: Antibiotics, Agriculture and Resistance: There is growing evidence that factory livestock farming produces more than cheap food—it also pumps out a bumper crop of antibiotic-resistance bacteria (pdf document)
top
Landscape Health
Perhaps one of the most clear-cut indicators of a healthy agricultural system is a healthy landscape. Research conducted by the Multiple Benefits of Agriculture initiative, as well as studies conducted around the world by various scientific institutions, shows that diverse agricultural systems that utilize pasture-based livestock systems can improve water quality, clean the air, reduce gases
that cause climate change, and improve wildlife habitat. We have compiled here some of those research findings:
• Article: Perennial crops fill a niche in the landscape
• Article: New report: Livestock farms good for water quality, habitat
• Peer reviewed paper: Multifunctional Agriculture in the United States
(used with permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.)
• Press Release: Water Quality Could Benefit From More Grass & Hay Cover
• Fact Sheet: Pasture-Raised Livestock: An Innovative Strategy for Farmers to Comply with the Clean Water Act (pdf document)
• Peer reviewed paper: Agricultural land use effects on sediment loading and fish assemblages in two Minnesota (USA) watersheds (abstract of paper published in the Environmental Management journal)
• Fact Sheet: How Farms Can Improve Water Quality (pdf document)
• Peer reviewed paper: Setting an effective TMDL for suspended sediment: an assessment of sediment loading and effects of suspended sediment on fish (abstract of paper published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association)
• Report: Minnesota Agriculture and the Reduction of Greenhouse Gases (pdf document)
• Bibliography: Water, Grass and Livestock: An Annotated Bibliography of Riparian Grazing Publications (pdf document)
• Report: Sustainable Farming Systems: Demonstrating Environmental and Economic Performance (pdf document)
• Study: More Year-Round Plant Cover Could Produce Environmental, Economic
Green
top
Farm Profitability
Diverse farming systems such as pasture-based livestock production are proving to be financially viable, especially when compared to high-input, energy-intensive methods of production. A pasture-based livestock enterprise can be set up and operated at a fraction of the cost of its full confinement counterpart. Such systems also can help rural economies by keeping more money in the community.
For more information check out:
• Peer reviewed paper: Multifunctional Agriculture in the United States
(used with permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.)
• Fact Sheet:Grass-Based Beef and Dairy Production (pdf document)
• Guide: Monitoring Sustainable Agriculture with Conventional Financial Data (pdf document)
• Literature Review: Comparative Regional Economic Impacts from Agriculture (pdf document)
top
Policy Research from the Multiple Benefits of Agriculture Initiative
Multiple Benefits of Agriculture Initiative
The Multiple Benefits of Agriculture Initiative, an interdisciplinary effort directed by the Land Stewardship Project, has since 1998 been working to quantify the benefits from diversifying the agricultural landscape in watershed settings. Based on this research, the initiative is making recommendations on performance-based policies.
A. Two Watersheds Study
At the core of this research initiative is modeling research that predicts the benefits that could be produced by different farming systems in two Minnesota watersheds: Wells Creek watershed in the southeast and a sub-watershed of the Chippewa River in the western part of the state. This modeling study has provided extensive insights into the impacts a diverse agricultural landscape could
have on all aspects of a watershed: environmental, economic and social. Here is a list of reports, and presentations that outline the results of the Wells Creek/Chippewa River research thus far:
• Executive Summary: The Multiple Benefits of Agriculture: An Economic and Social Analysis (pdf document)
• Complete Report: The Multiple Benefits of Agriculture: An Economic and Social Analysis (pdf document)
• Article: Agriculture’s Untapped Potential: Working farmland can produce many economic, environmental benefits
Watershed Maps
We have developed maps that show the effects of various land use scenarios in the Chippewa River study area and Wells Creek study area (pdf documents):
• CHIPPEWA RIVER STUDY AREA—Hydrographic and Cultural Features
• CHIPPEWA RIVER STUDY AREA—Potential Restorable Wetland Areas
• CHIPPEWA RIVER STUDY AREA—Scenario A: Extension of Current Trends
• CHIPPEWA RIVER STUDY AREA—Scenario B: Best Management Practices
• CHIPPEWA RIVER STUDY AREA—Scenario C: Community and Economic Diversity
• CHIPPEWA RIVER STUDY AREA—Baseline Through Scenario D
• WELLS CREEK WATERSHED—Baseline: Current Land Use and Cover
• WELLS CREEK WATERSHED—Hydrographic and Cultural Features
• WELLS CREEK WATERSHED—Potential Restorable Wetland Areas
• WELLS CREEK WATERSHED—Scenario A: Extension of Current Trends
• WELLS CREEK WATERSHED—Scenario B: Best Management Practices
• WELLS CREEK WATERSHED—Scenario C: Community and Economic Diversity
• WELLS CREEK WATERSHED—Baseline Through Scenario D
B. Public Policy Recommendations
The Multiple Benefits of Agriculture research has reinforced the idea that new policy tools are needed that promote public investment in farming systems that provide a range of benefits for society and incentives for farmers to produce these benefits. Based on its research, the Multiple Benefits initiative is making policy recommendations to decision makers and government officials. Here is
some of the policy related work that has resulted:
• Press Release (10/5/07): Report Finds Rewarding Farmers Based on Real Results Increases Environmental Benefits
• White paper: An Assessment of Performance-Based Indicators and Payments for Resource Conservation on Agricultural Lands. This is a paper prepared for the Multiple Benefits of Agriculture initiative that provides a general overview of the types, use and conditions for employing bio-physical indicators for measuring the impact of resource conservation practices on environmental outcomes. The paper also examines the potential for implementing a performance-based payment system for conservation activities on agricultural lands. (pdf document)
• Concept paper: Performance Based Approaches to Agricultural Conservation Programs dealing with Non-Point Source Pollution, Including Utilization of the Provisions of the Conservation Security Program (a paper prepared for the Workshop on Performance-Based Farm Policies, Nov. 14, 2005, Ames, Iowa, pdf document)
• Peer reviewed paper: Do conservation practices and programs benefit the intended resource concern? (abstract of paper published in Agricultural and Resource Economics Review)
• Peer reviewed paper: Setting an effective TMDL for suspended sediment: an assessment of sediment loading and effects of suspended sediment on fish (abstract of paper published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association)
• Report: Multifunctional Agriculture in the International Context: A Review (pdf document)
• Report: Public Seeds—Public Goods: A report on the relationship between public germplasm and sustainable agriculture (pdf document)
C. Willingness to Pay for a Diverse Agriculture
Many of the economic benefits of improved environmental quality are not reflected in market-based transactions. Therefore, few market mechanisms exist for people to reveal their willingness to pay for these kinds of improvements in environmental quality. In this case, estimating the total economic value of improvements in environmental goods and services requires a method that utilizes non-price
(non-market) data. A stated-preference estimation technique known as contingent valuation is employed. The Multiple Benefits of Agriculture initiative used a contingent valuation study to quantify and describe citizens’ willingness to pay for improved environmental benefits from Minnesota farms.
Listed here are details from that study:
Results: Multiple Benefits from Agriculture: A Survey of Public Values in Minnesota
Appendix B:
Appendix B: Mail-survey Instruments ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS FROM AGRICULTURE: THE MINNESOTA SURVEY
Appendix B: Mail-survey instruments (“Low Benefits” Insert) THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF FARMING PRACTICES
Appendix B-2: Mail-survey instruments (Benefits insert) THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF FARMING PRACTICES
Appendix C: Personal-interview-survey instrument MINNESOTA SURVEY ON MULTIPLE BENEFITS FROM AGRICULTURE
Appendix C-2: Personal-interview-survey instrument, visual aids
Appendix D: Cover letter and follow-up letters for mail survey
Appendix E: Contact letter for personal interview survey
Appendix F: Estimation Techniques: Logistic and Censored Logistic Regression
Appendix G: Frequency Tables of Responses to Selected Questions
Appendix H: APPENDIX H VERBATIM COMMENTS: OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS VERBATIM COMMENTS FROM MAIL SURVEYS
D. Logan Creek
The Multiple Benefits of Agriculture initiative will complete a follow-up phase in 2004 in a small sub-watershed within the Whitewater watershed in southeastern Minnesota. This rolling area is experiencing a transition out of hay and into more soybeans and corn. It is part of a Total Maximum Daily Load Implementation Plan approved for fecal coliform. The study will run analyses through the
Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model and estimate impacts on wildlife species using the Conservation Planning Tool. An economic analysis will combine costs of transition, impacts of farm programs—including the new Conservation Security Program—and compare the public’s willingess to pay for significant environmental improvements on farms. Watch this Web page for results
from that study.
• Briefing paper: Results and Policy Implications of Modeling Diversified Farming Systems in Watersheds in OH and MN. Click here for a pdf copy of this paper.
• Peer reviewed paper: Multifunctional Agriculture in the United States
(used with permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.)
top
Publications on Related Issues
The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems
Contributors to this groundbreaking collection of writings promote the idea that restoration of a relationship between farming and the natural world enhances the sustainability of both communities and landscapes.
The Monitoring Tool Box
Produced by the Monitoring Project, the Monitoring Tool Box is meant as a springboard for monitoring a farm field, a suburban garden, your personal goals, and anything else having to do with the land and the people on it.
top
Links & Other Resources
Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS)
The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems is a sustainable agriculture research center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Center for Integrated Natural Resources & Agricultural Management (CINRAM)
The Center for Integrated Natural Resources & Agricultural Management (CINRAM) is a partner-based organization that catalyzes the development and adoption of integrated land use systems. CINRAM links the expertise of the University of Minnesota with the experience and insights of people and organizations who work with, and have an understanding of, opportunities and issues across the landscape.
Defenders of Wildlife
The Biodiversity Partnership, a project of Defenders of Wildlife, is an attempt to bring together in one place a broad range of information about current broad-scale conservation planning efforts and the challenges involved in developing effective biodiversity conservation strategies. This website provides both a broad overview of these topics and links to more detailed information.
Donald C. Reicosky
Donald Reicosky is a soil scientist at the North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory in Morris, Minn. This is a USDA/Agricultural Research Service facility.
Eatwild.com
Eatwild.com is dedicated to promoting grass-fed beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry and dairy products. It is owned and operated by Jo Robinson, an investigative journalist who specializes in science-based health information.
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP)
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) promotes resilient family farms, rural communities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy.
Kellogg Field Biological Station (KBS)
KBS is Michigan State University's largest off-campus education complex and one of North America's premier inland field stations. The station is administered through the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Natural Sciences. The Station is home to one of the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research sites, and is committed to science and ecology
education, conservation of natural resources and sustainable agriculture research and demonstration.
KBS' mission is to develop programs in research, education and extension directed toward a comprehensive understanding of natural and managed ecosystems and the conservation of natural resources.
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
The Leopold Center is a research and education center with statewide programs to develop sustainable agricultural practices that are both profitable and conserve natural resources.
Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA)
The Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA) is a unique partnership between the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota and the Sustainers' Coalition, a group of individuals and nonprofit organizations. The purpose of MISA is to bring together the diverse interests of the agricultural community with interests from across the University
community in a cooperative effort to develop and promote sustainable agriculture in Minnesota and beyond.
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture is a nonprofit organization working to improve the economic and social prosperity of Pennsylvania food and agriculture.
Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota (SFA)
The SFA is a farmer-run, nonprofit organization based in Minnesota. The SFA was founded in 1988 in southeast Minnesota by farmers wishing to create an information-sharing network about sustainable farming practices.
The Winrock International Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural and
Environmental Policy
Winrock's Wallace Center uses sound policy analysis, research, and evaluation to further sustainable and equitable agriculture and food systems, promote natural resources management, strengthen rural communities, and shape U.S. agricultural and food policy agendas. Educational programs and policy reports foster debate and understanding.
top 
