Watch the webinar “HPAI and Its Impact on Food Production Industries”
Task Force Index
Pesticides in Surface and Ground Water
Introduction; the issue; pesticide varieties, uses, and resulting pollution potential; relating concentrations in water resources to human and ecosystem risk; and risk mitigation.
Wetland Policy Issues
Definition of wetlands, functions and values, agricultural conflicts, socioeconomic issues, conservation concepts, conclusions.
How Much Land Can Ten Billion People Spare for Nature?
Advances in farming technology combined with changing values and diets could ensure that the world’s population will use existing cropland more economically and thus save more land for natural or wilderness use in the next 50 years.
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children: Scientists’ Review
The five members of a CAST task force who reviewed the National Research Council (NRC) report agree that the report is a thorough, balanced, and objective summary of available information on the subject.
Admissible Scientific Evidence in Court
Concurs with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and National Academy of Sciences (NAS) amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court related to guidelines for determining what scientific evidence is admissible in a court of law.
U.S. Agriculture and the North American Free Trade Agreement
The members of a Council for Agricultural Science and Technology task force believe many of the fears of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are not well founded. There generally would be a gain to U.S. producers of grain, oilseeds, livestock, and possibly dairy, and losses for producers who compete with Mexican fruits and vegetables.
Water Quality: Agriculture’s Role
This report discusses modern agriculture’s impacts on the environment, especially surface and groundwater. This report increases the understanding of the science, risks, benefits, and realities of agricultural production and water quality protection.
Preparing U.S. Agriculture for Global Climate Change
Covers all aspects of the subject, emphasizing adaptation to changes, emission of greenhouse gases, the impact of climate change.
Pesticides: Minor Uses/Major Issues
This report recommends implementation of an innovative minor use pesticides strategy before 1997, so as to assure the continued availability to U.S. consumers of high quality, reasonably priced minor crops.
Food Fats and Health
This CAST report supports dietary recommendations to decrease food fat consumption from the present national average of 37% to less than 30% of the total caloric intake. The agricultural and food industries are responding by redesigning fresh and processed foods so that consumers can more readily meet these recommendations.