Ignorance and poverty are barriers to sustainable agriculture and a healthy environment. Poverty is easily defined but ignorance is more complex; interrelationships among disciplines is a common area of ignorance. Poverty and ignorance do not always go together but the combination can be lethal. Although ignorance and poverty are common in the third world, considerable of each exist in the USA. Erroneous ideas and educated ignorance must be subjected to ongoing research. The overused ecosystems of the world may collapse unless ignorance and poverty are both conquered.