Of course, no system is perfect. Organic farmers, often viewed by the public as a panacea for sustainable agriculture, must deal with problems of soil erosion and reduced yields. Long-term sustainability will only be achieved if farmers are allowed to make economically viable choices in the short term. Without these short-term options farmers can be forced into mining, rather than nurturing the land. Lingering frontier-day myths about the boundless resources of the plains must be rejected and the development of superior farming systems must be encouraged.
Pesticides are an important tool of conservation-minded farmers.
Without doubt less expensive glyphosate, the non-selective herbicide used in place of tillage to control weeds, gave farmers the means to adopt zero tillage. The economic advantages of IPM help farmers earn a living in both an environmentally and socially responsible way. At present, neither would be possible without pesticides. Each farm is a system. No single part of the system, like soil, location, climate, crops, weeds or tillage, can be viewed independently from the others.