Addresses the ecological implications of several programs established in the 1985 Food Security Act, including the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Sodbuster, Swampbuster, Conservation Compliance, and Acreage Reduction Program (ARP).

Reviews by 44 leading scientists support and criticize the 1989 National Research Council report, Alternative Agriculture. The authors represent the disciplines of agricultural engineering, food science, toxicology, animal sciences, crop and soil sciences, economics sociology, weed science, entomology, and plant pathology.