Agriculture’s Environmental Costs

And how they are managed

In my grad school, there was a gentle rivalry between the agricultural economics profs and the ones who worked on forestry economics. The forestry profs chided the agriculture ones about supporting the raping and pillaging of the land, who accepted that yes, their discipline was harder on the environment than forestry.

This is the opposite of the usual perception.

The big story is often about the cutting of virgin forests to support the production of toilet paper. What often…