What is Sustainable Agriculture? Sustainable agriculture is one that produces abundant food without depleting the earth’s resources or polluting its environment. It is agriculture that follows the principles of nature to develop systems for raising crops and livestock that are, like nature, self-sustaining. Sustainable agriculture is also the agriculture of social values, one whose success is indistinguishable from vibrant rural communities, rich lives for families on the farms, and wholesome food for everyone. Richard Earles, Paul Williams, Sustainable Agriculture: An Introduction. http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/sustagintro.html: National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, 2005

Sustainable farming is more than a set of idealistic principles or a limited set of practices. Sustainability can be observed and measured; indicators that a farm or rural community is achieving the three objectives of sustainability include: Economic Sustainability The family savings or net worth is consistently going up. The family debt is consistently going down. The farm enterprises are consistently profitable from year to year. Purchase of off-farm feed and fertilizer is decreasing. Reliance on government payments is decreasing. Social Sustainability The farm supports other businesses and families in the community. Dollars circulate within the local economy. The number of rural families is going up or holding steady. Young people take over their parents' farms and continue farming. College graduates return to the community after graduation. Environmental Sustainability There is no bare ground. Clean water flows in the farm's ditches and streams. Wildlife is abundant. Fish are prolific in streams that flow through the farm. The farm landscape is diverse in vegetation. Preston Sullivan, Applying the Principles of Sustainable Farming: Fundamentals of Sustainable Agriculture.  http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/trans.html#enviro:  National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, 2003