Note: Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Chapter 1: A Systems (Holistic) Approach to Sustainable Agriculture -- 1.1 Energy Efficiency -- 1.2 A Systems Definition of Agricultural Sustainability -- 1.3 Is Energy Efficiency the Key to Sustainability? -- 1.4 Why Does Agriculture Need Energy Subsidies? -- 1.5 Energy as a Limiting Factor -- 1.6 Other Views of Sustainability -- 1.6.1 Critique of the Definitions -- 1.6.2 Panarchy -- 1.7 What Is a System? -- 1.7.1 Mechanical Systems -- 1.7.2 Biological Systems -- 1.7.2.1 Human Bodies -- 1.7.2.2 Feedback in Human Bodies -- 1.7.2.3 Ecological Systems -- 1.8 Control in Ecological Systems -- 1.8.1 Homeostasis -- 1.8.2 Optimum Efficiency for Maximum Power Output -- 1.9 Boundaries of Ecological Systems -- 1.10 The Value of a Systems (Holistic) Approach -- 1.10.1 Holism: The Foundation for Ecosystem Analysis -- 1.11 Holistic Properties of Sustainable Systems -- 1.11.1 Energy Use Efficiency -- 1.11.2 Stability -- 1.11.2.1 Resistance and Resilience -- Natural Ecosystems -- Agricultural Ecosystems -- 1.11.3 Nutrient Cycling Efficiency -- 1.11.4 Diversity and Stability -- 1.11.5 Succession -- 1.11.5.1 Succession in the Piedmont -- 1.11.6 Productivity -- 1.11.7 Respiration and Decomposition -- 1.11.8 Pollution Discharge -- References -- Chapter 2: A History of Unsustainability in Agriculture -- 2.1 Pre-History -- 2.2 Mesopotamia -- 2.3 The Mediterranean -- 2.4 The Middle Ages and Medieval Europe -- 2.5 The Mayan Civilization -- 2.6 The Industrial Revolution - Energy Intensification -- 2.6.1 Plows -- 2.6.2 Dams and Levees - Formations Used to Store and Divert Energy -- 2.7 The Agricultural Revolution in North America -- 2.7.1 The Nineteenth Century -- 2.7.2 Subsidies -- 2.7.3 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations -- 2.8 The Green Revolution -- 2.8.1 Commercial Nitrogen Fixation -- 2.8.2 Pesticides. , 2.8.3 Herbicides -- 2.8.4 Social Aspects of the Green Revolution -- 2.9 The Second Green Revolution -- 2.9.1 Thermodynamic Considerations -- 2.9.2 Sustainability of Green Revolutions -- 2.9.3 A Tale of Two Botanies -- References -- Chapter 3: Political and Economic Challenges to Creating a Sustainable Agriculture -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Dilemmas of Two Farmers -- 3.3 The Large Scale Commodity Farmer -- 3.3.1 Subsidies -- 3.3.1.1 Is a Completely Free Market the Answer? -- 3.3.2 Tariffs -- 3.3.3 Cultural/Mindset -- 3.3.4 Social -- 3.3.5 Transition Costs -- 3.3.6 Lack of Evidence -- 3.3.7 Risk Aversion -- 3.4 The Small Scale Organic Farmer -- 3.4.1 Regulations -- 3.4.1.1 How USDA Regulations Hurt Small Sustainable Farmers -- 3.4.2 Financing -- 3.4.3 Access to Land -- 3.4.4 Competition -- 3.4.4.1 Specialization and Quality Control -- 3.4.5 Marketing -- 3.4.6 Information -- 3.5 Some Intractable Barriers -- 3.5.1 Vested Interests -- 3.5.2 Reductionistic Science -- 3.5.3 Misdirected Government Policies -- 3.5.4 Failure of the Economic System -- 3.5.5 The Law of Supply and Demand -- 3.5.6 A Short-Term Economic Horizon -- 3.5.7 The Abundance of Resources -- 3.5.8 Attitude Toward Nature -- 3.5.8.1 Are Farmers Environmentalists? -- 3.5.9 The Tragedy of the Commons -- 3.5.10 Irrational Exuberance -- References -- Chapter 4: Energetic Services of Nature that Increase Agricultural Sustainability -- 4.1 Types of Value -- 4.2 Nutrient Recycling - A Market Value -- 4.2.1 The Service Rendered: Increasing the Efficiency of Nutrient Cycling -- 4.2.2 Source of the Service: Soil Organic Matter -- 4.2.3 The Community of Soil Organisms -- 4.2.3.1 Energy Flow Through the Soil Ecosystem -- Nutrients in the Soil Organic Matter -- 4.2.3.2 Why Food Webs Differ -- The Soil Community and Compost -- 4.2.4 How Is Nutrient Cycling Efficiency Increased by Soil Organic Matter?. , 4.2.4.1 Synchronization -- 4.2.4.2 Phosphorus Solubilization -- 4.2.4.3 Nitrogen Fixation -- 4.2.4.4 Nutrient Uptake by Mycorrhizae -- 4.2.4.5 Physical Properties of Soil -- 4.2.4.6 Increased Vigor of Plants -- 4.2.5 The Energetic and Economic Value of Soil Organic Matter -- 4.2.5.1 Value of Soil Organic Matter -- 4.2.6 Energy Subsidies Replaced by Soil Organic Matter -- 4.3 Pest Control - An Attributable Value -- 4.3.1 The Service Rendered - Controlling Insect Pests -- 4.3.2 Source of the Services -- 4.3.2.1 Beneficial Insects -- 4.3.2.2 Complexity and Diversity of Crop Systems -- 4.3.2.3 Natural Insecticides -- 4.3.3 The Energetic and Economic Value of Insect Pest Control -- 4.3.4 Energy Subsidies Replaced by Nature's Insect Control -- 4.4 Weed Control - An Attributable Value -- 4.4.1 The Service Rendered - Fighting Succession -- 4.4.2 Source of the Services -- 4.4.2.1 Allelopathy -- The Energetic and Economic Value of Weed Control -- 4.4.2.2 Fire -- Fire Research -- 4.5 Pollution Abatement - An Attributable Value -- 4.5.1 The Service Rendered: Prevention of Stream Pollution -- 4.5.1.1 Source of the Service: Bottomland Forests -- 4.6 Pollination - An Attributable Value -- 4.6.1 The Service Rendered - Fertilizing the Ovary of Plants -- 4.6.1.1 Source of the Service - Birds, Bees, Bats -- 4.7 Biodiversity - An Intangible Value -- 4.7.1 The Service Rendered - Increasing Sustainability -- 4.7.2 Source of the Service - Genetic Diversity -- 4.7.2.1 Selective Breeding and Reduction of the Genetic Pool -- 4.7.2.2 Insect Resistance and Genetic Variation -- The Evolutionary Race -- 4.7.2.3 Increasing Efficiency of Ecosystem Function -- Overyielding -- Facilitation and Mutualism -- 4.8 Soil Rehabilitation - An Intangible Value -- 4.8.1 The Service Rendered: Improving Structure of Georgia Red Clay -- 4.8.2 Source of the Service. , 4.9 Ecosystem Services in an Energy-Scarce Future -- References -- Chapter 5: Applied Tools and Practices for Sustainable Agriculture -- 5.1 Combating Soil Erosion -- 5.1.1 Cover Crops -- 5.1.2 Conservation Tillage -- 5.1.3 Contour Plowing -- 5.1.4 Hedge Rows -- 5.1.5 Wind Breaks -- 5.1.6 Kudzu ( Pueraria sp.) -- 5.1.7 Perennial Grains -- 5.2 Increasing Soil Fertility -- 5.2.1 Manuring -- 5.2.2 Composting -- 5.2.3 Other Organic Amendments -- 5.2.4 Liming -- 5.2.5 Microbial Priming -- 5.2.6 Crop Rotations -- 5.2.7 Tightening the Nutrient Cycle -- 5.3 Suppressing Weeds -- 5.3.1 Herbicides -- 5.3.2 Plastic Weed Barriers -- 5.3.3 Flaming -- 5.3.4 Soil Solarization (Sterilization) -- 5.4 Controlling Insect Pests -- 5.4.1 Crop Management -- 5.4.2 Beneficial Interactions -- 5.4.3 Natural Pesticides -- 5.4.3.1 Before You Use Pesticides -- 5.5 Increasing Resource Use Efficiency -- 5.5.1 Mixed Species Agriculture -- 5.5.2 Mixed Species Forest Plantations -- 5.5.3 Mixed Species Grazing -- 5.6 Improving Pastures -- 5.6.1 Intensive Grazing Management -- 5.6.2 Rotational Grazing -- 5.7 Increasing Efficiency of Irrigation Systems -- 5.8 Farmscaping -- 5.8.1 Farmscaping at Spring Valley Ecofarm -- 5.8.2 Working with Nature -- 5.9 Organic Agriculture -- 5.9.1 Why Do People Buy Organic? -- 5.9.2 Is It Sustainable? -- 5.9.3 Are High Yields the Answer? -- 5.10 Future Directions -- References -- Chapter 6: An Economic, Ecological, and Cultural Evaluation of Agriculture in the American South -- 6.1 The Invisible Hand of the Marketplace -- 6.2 Why Focus the South? -- 6.3 An Agricultural History of the South -- 6.3.1 The Cultural Context -- 6.3.2 The Colonial Period -- 6.3.2.1 Jamestown -- 6.3.2.2 The Migration Westward -- 6.3.2.3 The Coastal Plain -- 6.3.2.4 The Piedmont -- Piedmont Soils -- 6.3.2.5 The Mountains -- 6.3.3 Carolina and Georgia. , 6.3.3.1 The Rice Plantations -- 6.3.4 The Post-revolutionary War Period -- 6.3.4.1 Agricultural Decline -- 6.3.4.2 The Agricultural Revival: A Reprieve from the Downward Spiral -- Soil Amendments -- 6.3.5 King Cotton -- 6.3.5.1 Settlement of Central Georgia -- 6.3.5.2 The Movement Westward -- Slavery as a Subsidy -- 6.3.6 The Civil War -- 6.3.7 Reconstruction: 1865-1900 -- 6.3.7.1 Pharsalia -- 6.3.8 Southern Agriculture Since 1900 -- 6.3.8.1 Corn -- 6.3.8.2 Tobacco -- 6.3.8.3 Cotton -- 6.3.8.4 Legumes -- 6.3.8.5 Vegetable Crops -- 6.3.8.6 Fruit Trees -- 6.3.8.7 Timber Trees -- 6.3.8.8 Cattle -- 6.3.8.9 Poultry -- 6.3.8.10 Hogs -- 6.3.9 Agriculture in Georgia: 2012 -- 6.4 Southern Conservatism -- 6.5 An Economic Evaluation of Agriculture in the Old South -- 6.5.1 The Colonial Period -- 6.5.1.1 Tobacco -- 6.5.1.2 Subsistence Agriculture -- 6.5.1.3 Rice -- 6.5.2 Settlement of the Georgia Colony -- 6.5.2.1 Early Settlers -- 6.5.2.2 The Cotton Era -- 6.5.2.3 Alabama and Mississippi Territories -- 6.5.3 "How Well did the Invisible Hand Work in the Old South?" -- 6.6 An Economic Evaluation of Agriculture in the New South -- 6.6.1 Agricultural Crops -- 6.6.2 Fruit Tree Crops -- 6.6.3 Forest Products -- 6.7 How Well Is the Invisible Hand Working in the New South? -- 6.8 An Ecological Evaluation of Agriculture in the South -- 6.9 Maximum Power vs. The Invisible Hand (H.T. Odum vs. Adam Smith) -- 6.9.1 Verdict at the Frontier -- 6.9.2 Verdict Beyond the Frontier -- References -- Chapter 7: Case Studies of Contemporary, Sustainable Farms in the South -- 7.1 Sustainable Specialties -- 7.1.1 Free Ranging Livestock -- 7.1.1.1 White Oak Pastures, Bluffton, Georgia -- 7.1.1.2 Polyface Farm, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia -- 7.1.1.3 Grass Roots Farm, Walton County, Georgia -- 7.1.2 Heritage Breeds -- 7.1.2.1 Grove Creek Farm, Crawford Georgia. , 7.1.2.2 Broad River Pastures, Elberton, Georgia.