Preventing pollution by changing farming practices, rather than treating problems after they have occurred, should be the primary approach to solving water pollution problems caused by farming practices. The goal of pollution prevention should be to reduce the total mass of nutrients, pesticides, salts, and trace elements that are lost to the environment. Solutions that reduce loadings of one pollutant by increas- ing the loadings of a different pollutant or that reduce loadings to surface water by increasing loadings to groundwater are not likely to be acceptable or effective in the long term. Profitability and Productivity National policies should take advantage of opportunities to protect soil and water quality while sustaining profitable production of food and fiber. Policymakers face a dilemma.
Society needs and wants the food and fiber that agriculture produces.
Unfortunately, comprehensive national data on soil degra- dation and water pollution caused by farming practices are often lacking. Available data are sufficient to cause concern but often not sufficient to confidently determine priorities. Given this dilemma, national policy should, in the short term, take advantage of opportunities to refine the management of farming sys- tems in ways that protect soil and water with minimal or even positive effects on profitability. The committee found a diverse set of technolo- gies and management methods that promise to improve soil and water quality and, at the same time, maintain or even enhance profit. The magnitude and nature of these opportunities, however, vary from region to region, crop to crop, and farm enterprise to farm enterprise.