WASTES IN RELATIONTO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 



INTRODUCTION 



An enduring cliche proclaims that the only cer- 

 tainties in man's existence are death and taxes. 

 Massive evidence is being accrued in our affluent 

 society that a third inevitable should be added — 

 wastes. 



Wastes are ubiquitous. They occur on the farm 

 and in the factory, in the high-rise apartment and 

 on the rural estate, on the city streets and the open 

 highway, in murky mines and verdant forests, in 

 sedate offices and carefree parks, in the waters of 

 lakes and streams, and in the air around us. 



One can take the optimistic view that these 

 wastes are merely resources for which we have not 

 found a use. This view offers hope that with under- 

 standing, adequate technology, and the proper 

 economic and legal constraints, there is a possibil- 

 ity that the problems inherent in the production, 

 management, and disposition of wastes may be re- 

 solved. This is a good objective. But the probabil- 

 ity of attainment is another matter. 



We set great store by the operations of the mar- 

 ketplace. As is proper, net profit is a key guideline 

 to decision. In the process, that which was previ- 

 ously a resource may become a waste. Waste dis- 

 posal problems proliferate. 



Within the agricultural economy, animal ma- 

 nures provide a case in point. Only a few decades 

 ago, manure was esteemed as a prime source of 

 soil fertility. Much technical information was 

 available on proper handling to attain maximum 

 benefits on the land. Even today, the "Plain Peo- 

 ple" of the Pennsylvania Dutch region carefully 

 husband manure supplies toward maintaining 

 highly productive lands. But these people have 

 virtually a religious dedication to conserving and 

 improving their land and their farms. They are. 

 first of all, devoted stewards of the land, and only 

 secondarily participants in the marketplace. They 

 have no problems on how to dispose of animal 

 wastes. 



But these conscientious Amish are exceptions to 

 the conventional thinking in commercial and agri- 

 cultural enterprises. 



With the abundant availability of synthetic 

 nitrogen fertilizers at low cost following World 

 War II, it became more economical for the farmer 

 to supply plant nutrients to his fields from the 

 fertilizer bag rather than meet the expense of haul- 

 ing manure from barnyard or feedlot. Further, 

 the general trend in mechanizing and streamlining 

 production was given impetus by labor shortages 

 during and after the war. Poultry enterprises, 

 cattle and hog feedlots, and dairies became enor- 

 mous by previous standards. Manure accumulated 

 in vast quantities. Disposal of the stuff became a 

 problem in terms of both engineering efficiency and 

 esthetics. 



Whether wastes are looked upon as resources, 

 or resources as wastes, is, in the words of the 

 Canadian Council of Resource Ministers, "a mat- 

 ter of attitudes." 



Drive along a rural road on a balmy Sunday 

 afternoon. Cast an eye along the roadside. All to 

 be seen is not natural beauty. Many a traveler has 

 obviously contributed to the mess of cans, bottles, 

 and other assorted refuse along the way. The rea- 

 soning, or lack of reasoning, that compels humans 

 to contribute to this desecration of the landscape 

 would make a most interesting study. 



As mentioned previously, disposition of wastes 

 is a "matter of attitudes." There is a venturous, 

 covetous streak not far below the surface of our 

 people; a streak that erupts now and then into 

 wholesale exploitation of resources. We read of 

 the appalling slaughter of buffalo merely for sport 

 or for their hides during the latter part of the 

 r.Hh century. We see in the cut over areas of the 

 Lake States the dismal sequel to the rapacious 

 slashing of virgin forests in that region around 

 the turn of the century. We see ugly scars upon the 

 landscape in the form of barren and hideous s] 

 banks from irresponsible strip mining of years 

 ago — spoil banks that even now are contributing 

 silt and acid to streams. There is in all of t; 

 examples an utter disregard toward wastefulness. 



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