What is Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture is paramount at Dakota Bio. But what does it mean? Well, most consider the goal of sustainable agriculture as meeting the world’s food and clothing needs without compromising future generations’ ability to do the same. Such an effort is noble but often difficult to implement in practical terms. At Dakota Bio, we’re up for the challenge.

As you peruse our products, you will come to realize what we mean by sustainability. It is not enough to think about the crops you are about to plant, but the long-term condition of the soil. Regulatory conditions change from state to state and country to country. But farmers have a large leeway in deploying sustainable agriculture.

The impact of sustainable agriculture is widely felt. After all, this form of agriculture was created to promote environmental health, profitability, and agribusiness equality. While farmers and other growers are responsible for these management practices, all sustainable agriculture actions can be adapted to current farming practices. The chemical sprayers and spreaders in use today can be shifted to distribute sustainable agriculture products. You might be wondering if it’s worth the effort.

Look at various crops such as soybeans. The rich nitrogen they require and produce create a never-ending cycle that sustain the soil for other crops. However, sustainable agriculture goes beyond rotating between soybeans, corn, and wheat. It is about understanding the principles that allow you to keep rotating these crops through the years.

While farming methods might change, the goal of sustainable agriculture remains the same. We want to develop processes that make farming easier for each new generation. But why does that seem to be hard to achieve for many farmers? The answer is because they have not fully embraced sustainable products to make their work easier. That is why Dakota Bio wants to introduce you to biologicals.

The following biologicals for sustainable agriculture are the cornerstones for this approach.

• Semiochemicals – These mimic pheromones and other natural substances that influence insect behavior. For instance, a semiochemical could mimic decaying or unhealthy plants to repel insects from eating the plants or using them as a host for their eggs.
• Natural products – Botanicals and related substances that are naturally produced from plants.
• Macrobials – Natural predators (usually beneficial insects) that feed on or parasitize crop pests.
• Microbials – Microorganisms that can be placed in soil to provide another line of crop defense by promoting nutrient uptake, increasing resistance to draught, etc.

Biologicals are a big focus at Dakota Bio. While we’ve defined some of the key players, it is important to understand how they integrate with sustainable agriculture. Biologicals provide a holistic approach to promote crop yield and fight pests. They achieve this by creating a pest management strategy that employs organic materials while lessening the dependence on inorganic chemicals.

These biologicals are safe and do not linger in the environment. That alone is a giant advantage for the sustainable agriculture movement. As times change, farmers are becoming more concerned with things like pesticides and how they fit into the growing health and environmental-conscious market. So, why not be the change that consumers want to see in the world?

In the end, agriculture requires many strategies to be successful. Starting with the goal of sustainable agriculture will help to make this effort a reality for your farm’s future. While this might be your first step into learning about sustainable agriculture, we encourage you to learn more. Contact us at Dakota Bio to see how our biologicals can best serve your sustainable agriculture goals.