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volved in sustainable farming understand the importance of doing
everything possible to protect and preserve wildlife habitats—two
concepts that are very much intertwined. “When agricultural op-
erations are sustainably managed,” says the WWF, “they can pre-
serve and restore critical habitats, help protect watersheds, and
improve soil health and water quality.”
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A farm that is widely acclaimed as a model of sustainability is
Davis Ranch, which is located in California’s Central Valley. The
farm spans thousands of acres, with rice the most prominent crop.
A host of other crops—including tomatoes and walnuts—are also
grown at Davis Ranch. Yet the family-owned farm is dedicated
to much more than growing crops. Its owners are committed to
farming sustainably and taking numerous measures to protect
wildlife habitat.
One measure Davis Ranch’s owners have taken is to plant
hedgerows adjacent to rows of crops. Hedgerows are wild shrubs
growing closely together to form boundaries, and on Davis Ranch
these provide foraging opportunities for Swainson’s hawks. Trees
for nesting are plentiful around the farm fields, and this has at-
tracted many different species of birds. Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF) research associate Scott Sellers visited Davis Ranch
and observed, “On the clear blue day you could see and hear
birds in every corner of the expansive property.”
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Davis Ranch
also has created and preserved habitat for the giant garter snake,
as well as built a habitat for monarch butterflies.
The environmental science group Union of Concerned Scien-
tists (UCS) refers to the growing trend of sustainable agriculture
as a “transformation” that is taking place on farms throughout the
United States. For decades most of the nation’s food has been
produced using industrial agriculture methods, which involve
growing the same crops year after year and using chemical fertil-
izers and pesticides. “This system is not built to last, because it
squanders and degrades the resources that it depends on,” says
the UCS. “But a growing number of innovative farmers and scien-
tists are taking a different path, moving toward a farming system
that is more sustainable—environmentally, economically, and so-
cially.”
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The UCS identifies four major components of sustainable
