This one-page Ag quickCAST contains excerpted material from its companion CAST document (IP 51), Food, Fuel, and Plant Nutrient Use in the Future.

Future food, fiber, and fuel demands will not be met by expanding cropland area; continued advances in nutrient use efficiency will moderate increased nutrient demand. With a growing population, dwindling arable land, and an increased demand for biofuels, the world cannot count on an expansion of harvested area to fill the demands of the world’s growing population.

Despite current uncertainty about the United States’ economic future, most reports suggest that growth will resume and competition for freshwater will continue.As one of the largest users of water in the United States, agriculture will be impacted significantly by changes in water availability and cost.

This new CAST Special Publication (SP 30), “Sustainability of U.S. Soybean Production: Conventional, Transgenic, and Organic Production Systems,” documents the ecological and economic implications of the various systems used in U.S. soybean production. Soybean production has changed in the United States since its first introduction in the mid-1880s. Initially, the crop was produced mainly for forage and received only minimal inputs

This Special Publication describes the biology and agronomic practices in alfalfa that should be considered in developing coexistence strategies to allow growers to have choices, specifically between genetically engineered (GE), conventional, and GE-sensitive markets in the United States.