Published by Washington Agriculture in the Classroom

Today’s Children…Tomorrow’s Leaderstech•nol•o•gy (tek nol´ je), n. using scientific knowledge to find a better way of doing something.

Agriculture in a Changing WorldRevolution: A “sudden or complete change”

eW A S H I N G T O NAG CLASSROOMin

the Ag School@Volume 9, Issue 2 2009/2010

1820 - 1870 Industrial Revolution in the US A change from hand and home production to machine and factory production

1920 - 1950 Mechanical Revolution in agriculture Change from machinery being pulled by horses and mules to using tractors, combines, and other specialized equipment

1945 - 1960 Chemical Revolution in agriculture Use of man-made fertilizers and chemical pesticides targeting specific weeds and insects

1965 - 1975 Green Revolution Dramatic increases in production of wheat and rice in developing countries due to use of genetically improved seeds

1975 - Electronic Revolution in agriculture Use of computer technology and global positioning satellites (GPS) to guide equipment

1980 - Biotechnology Revolution Using biology and cellular technology to develop new products.

1982 - Produced human insulin from bacteria

2008- GMO algae is used to make fuel

1837 John Deere invents self-cleaning plow

Wheat Plant

GPS LightbarGuidance System

Some foods are GMOs (genetically modified organisms) whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

1790 19501850 20104 million Americans90% lived on farms

23 million Americans 64% lived on farms

151 million Americans12.2% lived on farms

315.5 million Americans 1.8% live on farms

Massey Harris 25 Tractor 1931 - 1938

Some algae contains more than 60% oil and can even be grown in salty water.

AGRICULTURE IN A CHANGING

WORLD Man has always found better ways of doing things. When peo-ple apply what they have learned about science; that’s technology! No industry has made a better use of technology than agricul-ture. Improvements to agriculture have changed America from an agrarian to an urban society. Less than 2% of our people now work the land. That allows every-one else to live in cities and work in other careers. That means more doctors, more teachers, and more scientists. Scientists are especially impor-tant to agriculture because they continue to provide more knowl-edge resulting in more advance-ment in farming techniques. Historically, the early 20th century mechanical revolution put tractors, combines and other spe-cialized machinery in use rather than horses and mules. Then in the mid-20th century, agriculture experienced a revolution in chem-ical and genetic knowledge that allowed high-yield agriculture. In the late 20th century, agricul-ture benefited from the electronic revolution, using computers and satellites. Prior to 1900, nearly all increas-es in food production came about because more land was brought into production. Now in the 21st century almost all increases must come from higher yields and be based on science & technology.

Think & DiscussFrom what you learned on pages 1 and 2, list five technological developments in the last 65 years that have caused world food production to triple.

High-Yield AgricultureFarmers grow more food on each acre by using technology. They choose improved seeds, add plant food (fertilizer) to the soil, manage pests, and use better equipment and techniques. As a result…

The Green RevolutionDr. Borlaug is credited with saving billions of lives and is called the father of the “Green Revolution”. He said, “you can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and hu-man misery”.

The “Green Revolution” originally de-scribed dramatic increases in wheat and rice yields in many developing countries beginning in the late 1960s because of the use of improved seeds. Instead of widespread famine in parts of the world, wheat and rice became cheaper and peo-ple had 30% more calories from cereal grains available. High yielding varieties have since been developed for sorghum, millet, maize, cassava, and beans.

In 1970, Dr. Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize as “Father of the Green Revolution” for his work in developing the high yielding varieties of wheat. His varieties were based upon semi-dwarf wheat plants he received from Dr. Orville Vogel a US Department of Ag wheat breeder stationed at Washington State University.See www.nsea.org/news/vogel.htm

Scientists–Engineers–Specialists Farmers depend upon scientists of all sorts to do research adding to our knowledge of the world around us, engineers to translate that knowledge into new equipment and processes, and specialists that assist farmers with prob-lems in the field. These men and women do not necessarily have farm back-grounds, nor do they live on farms. They are employed by universities and industry and are a huge part of the success of American agriculture. Watch for clues in this issue of Ag@School identifying a few of the dozens of science-based careers beyond that of farmer or rancher. Get more information at:www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/scientists/scientistsframe2.htm

• World food production has tripled since 1950 with no land use increase

• Land is available for other uses like wildlife habitat, wetlands, and recreation

• World food production has tripled since 1950 with no land use increase

• Land is available for other uses like wildlife habitat, wetlands, and recreation

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Dr. Norman Borlaug

where do our products go?1. Timothy hay from Kittias County

feeds racehorses in Japan. 2. Mexico imports pears from Chelan

County. 3. Concord grape jelly from Yakima

County is in demand in Australia. 4. Tulip bulbs from Skagit County are

planted in yards in Taiwan. 5. CranberriesraisedinPacificCounty

are eaten in New Zealand. 6. Peru imports frying chickens from

Lewis County. 7. Cattle hides from Okanogan County

are made into shoes in China. 8. Benton County cherries are a favor-

ite in the Philippines.

where are our customers?ThesePacificRimcountriesaremajortradingpartnerswithWashington.Canyoufindeachonthemapandrecorditsnum-ber? Canada Mexico China Singapore Japan South Korea

percentage of exports by region:

Asia ...... 64% Americas ..16% Europe .15% Other ...........5%

Activity:Draw a pie graph using the figures above.

the definition of export is:to send to another country for trade or sale

the definition of import is:to bring in from another country for trade or sale

trade is a washington tradition

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trade is a washington

tradition

Washington State relies on trade to countries around the world. Our location on the Pacific Rim and our many deep water ports give us an advantage. One third of all jobs in our state are related to trade. We rank fourth among exporting states. Only California, Texas and New York export more than we do. Our state is home to the country’s largest exporter, the Boeing Company, whose airplanes account for about half of the state’s total exports.. Agricultural and food exports account for about 23% of the total. Thirty years ago, bulk commodities like ship loads of wheat were the majority of agricultural exports.

As population and income rose world-wide in the 1990s, high value processed products like meats, dairy items, dried and canned fruits and vegetables, packaged foods, and wine became a larger part of our exports. Our tradition as a trade state began back in the early nineteenth century with the fur trading activities of Hud-

son’s Bay company and Canadian North West Company. Seattle became a major seaport during the Klondike gold rush by

selling provisions to miners and transporting prospectors to the gold fields.

The modern center pivot irrigation system has come a long way. The system uses a long water pipe that is mounted on motorized wheels and has one end connected to the water line at the center of the field. When operating, the irrigation system swings in a circle, sprinkling water as it rotates.It’s now a computer controlled system with high-tech engineering solutions to the problems of supporting the weight of the water, distributing it evenly across huge, undulating fields and even swinging out another arm to get water to the corners of square fields. Using GIS data, fertilizers and chemicals can be combined with the irrigation water and distributed according to the spe-cific needs of each area in the field. All of this can be done from a remote location using a cell phone to send instructions to the computer running the pivot.

GPS SATELLITE Agricu lture in the 21st CenturyPart of technology is improving what machines can do.

Precision farming allows small areas of land within a field to be managed separately so that the best possible crop yield will be reached using the exact amount of seed, fertilizer, and chemical for each small area. This farm-ing method requires several technologies like GPS (global positioning system). GPS uses a network of satellites orbiting the earth to transmit exact locations to computers on the ground. GPS can automatically guide huge farm machines to stay along a track hundreds of meters long with only a few centimeters of difference.Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is used to collect specific data about various locations within a farmer’s field. Data is gathered from multiple soil samples, yield monitors from harvest, even aerial photographs. GIS plus GPS can reduce the number of passes needed to cover a field and save seed, chemicals, fertilizer, fuel, and time. Skips and overlaps are eliminated and work can be done even at night or in dust or fog.

Horses to Horsepower–For nearly 200 years, animals (hors-es, oxen, mules) provided the “horsepower” on farms. One fourth of the land on each farm was used just to grow feed for the work animals. By hand a man could only harvest 2 acres each day, with a horse-drawn reaper 8 acres a day could be covered. Yields were only about 11 bushels/acre (660#). The Case IH 9120 combine pictured here har-vests a 40’ wide swath, holds over 20,000# of grain and

under ideal conditions could harvest 6000 bu. per hour. It is used in Washington to harvest wheat, corn, barley,

canola, mustard, garbanzo beans, and many other crops.

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Genetic Science in AgricultureFarmers have been improving plants and animals since agriculture be-gan by selecting the best individuals to use as parents for the next gen-eration. Careful selection has resulted in leaner meats, faster growing trees, larger and tastier fruit and thousands of other improved products. Traditional plant breeding involved the crossing of hundreds of genes with the hope of randomly passing on desirable traits. Using new tech-nology, scientists can now identify the genes that carry a certain trait, and pass that single trait on. New crops are being developed that contain less fat, stay fresh longer, require less water, and even have built-in resis-tance to diseases and pests. This more precise science also eliminates passing along undesirable traits that might result in inferior products.

What is DNA?The scientific name is deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is found in every cell and carries the genetic information, or genes. If you could somehow untangle the DNA in your cells, it would stretch from the earth to the sun and back 30 times.

Genes and GenomesGenes are distinct portions of a cell’s DNA. They are hereditary units passed down to you from your parents. Genes are coded instructions that determine a particular characteristic, like red hair or blue eyes. Plants and animals also pass genetic traits to their offspring. Genes are packaged in coiled bundles called chromosomes. An organism’s com-plete set of chromosomes is called a genome. It is a map of where all the thousands of genes appear in each chromosome.

Your Own ‘Book of Life’Think of your genetic information as being a book written for you by your mom and dad. There are 23 chapters (chromosomes), but the chapters vary in the number of pages (the pages are genes; some chromosomes contain a few genes, some contain thousands). Every page is made of three word phrases that only contain 4 letters--A, T, C & G. These letters represent the chemical components of DNA. Just like we read words on a page, your body reads the three word phrases to guide how your cells work.

CELLS

CHROMOSOMES

DNA

GENE DECODER

Damage to each person’s genome, often called the “Book of Life,” accumulates with time. DNA damage

is known to cause cancer and also

may contribute to cellular aging.

Biotechnology is people using biology along with new technology to make better products. A special branch of biology is called genetics and deals with heredity (passing characteristics from parents to the next generation).

Agricu lture in the 21st Century

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There are about 380,000 kinds of plants. About 100 are regularly grown and eaten as human food. Amazingly, over half of the world’s food comes from only four plants. Three are grains, and one is a tuber vegetable.

First grown by ancient tribes in the moun-tains of south America, this food is actually an underground storage unit. The roots collect more water and food than the grow-ing plant can use at one time. The plant stores the excess food in oval packages, called tubers. This crop produces more pounds of protein per acre than corn, rice or wheat. Idaho leads US production but Washington grows more pounds per acre.

One-seventh of all the farmland in the world is used to grow this grain - far more land than for any other food crop. It is a staple food for 35% of the world’s people and is used to make breads, cookies and noodles. Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Oklahoma are the leading production states in the US.

Christopher Columbus found this grain growing in North America in 1492. American Indians helped the Pilgrims survive by teaching them how to plant and cultivate it. Today, it is our country’s number one agricultural crop. Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota and Indiana lead US production.

It’s a staple food for half the world’s people. Native to Asia, it has been grown and eaten there for thousands of years. It grows in warm areas and plants must be under water for most of the growing season. In the US, it is grown mostly in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas.

Name the BIG FOUR?

CEREAL GRAIN - edible seeds of grasses. Crops such as wheat, corn, rice, oats, rye and barley are in the grass family. Their seeds, called grains, are made into flours for breads, cakes, tortillas, and many other foods.

What is a Bushel?A bushel is a unit of volume equal to 1.244 cubic feet. The weight of a bushel de-pends upon the grain be-ing measured. At standard moisture content, wheat weighs 60#, corn weighs 56#, and oats weigh 32#.

What is CWT?Some crops, like potatoes, are sold by the hun-dred weight (cwt) or 100#. This is derived from combining the Roman numeral C for 100 with the abbreviation for weight (wt). If Washington pro-duces potatoes at 600 cwt/acre and Idaho only raises 383 cwt/acre, why is it true that Idaho still leads the US in potato production?

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RADURA

Food starts to spoil the moment it is harvested. Enzymes (complex proteins produced by living cells that cause specific biochemical reactions) cause the food to start to break down and microor-ganisms, molds, and insects can take over. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has estimated that about 25% of all worldwide food production is lost after harvesting to insects, bacteria and spoilage. Over the centuries, man has used many methods to preserve food. When we talk about food preservation, we describe the methods to slow or stop the deterioration of food. Think of what living things need to survive--food, water, warmth, and air. We limit these necessities to preserve food.

Drying--Removing water from foods was an early method of preservation. The sun and wind were used to dry foods. A fire can be used to supply heat and then the food also gets a smoky flavor.Refrigeration --If we take away heat, we can slow down deterioration. Man used cellars, caves, cool streams, and blocks of ice before we had electricity to power appliances. Freezing slows dete-rioration almost to a standstill.Curing--Curing is also based on drawing the water out of cells---usually accomplished with salt. In the 1800s it was discovered that salts containing nitrites (salt peter) caused cured meats to be red in color instead of the usual unappetizing gray.Canning--Foods are placed in jars or cans and heated to temperatures that destroy microor-ganisms and inactivate enzymes. After heating, the cooling creates a vacuum seal that keeps air away from the canned food.Pickling--This process preserves foods in vinegar (or other acid). Microorganisms cannot grow in such an acid environment.Sugar and honey--Fruits packed in honey, or jams and jellies that are made with high concen-trations of sugar also inhibit microbial growth, although certain molds can grow over time.

Freeze DryingA modern food preservation method is freeze drying, where food is preserved by rapid freezing and drying in a vacuum chamber. Ancient Incas in Peru (where potatoes originated) would

preserve potatoes as chuñu. To prepare chuñu, the Incas would leave some of their harvested potatoes outside for several days. In the cold, dry mountain air, the potatoes gradually

became freeze-dried. The Incas helped the process along by walking on the potatoes to squeeze out extra moisture. This also served to flatten the potatoes so that they took up

less space when stored. Chuñu could be stored for up to ten years.

Irradiation Food irradiation is a safe and effective technology that can prevent many food borne diseases.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved irradiation of meat and poultry and allows its use for a variety of other foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, and spices. When irradiation is used as approved on foods: Disease-causing microorganisms are reduced or eliminated Spoilage bacteria, insects and parasites are reduced The nutritional value is essentially unchanged Sprouting is inhibited and ripening delayed in certain fruits and vegetables The food does not become radioactive

Irradiated foods are not widely available yet, although most spices sold wholesale in this country are irradiated, which eliminates the need for chemical fumigation to control pests. American astronauts have eaten irradiated foods in space since the early 1970s. Patients with weakened immune systems are sometimes fed irradiated foods to reduce the chance of a life-threatening infection.

In addition, irradiation is widely used to sterilize a variety of medical and household products, such as joint implants, band-aids, baby pacifiers, cosmetic ingredients, wine and bottle corks, and food packaging materials.

Special labels are required on irradiated foods, including the international symbol of irradiation, known as a “radura”, and a statement indicating that the food was treated with irradiation.

From Field to Table: Food Preservation

Food on the oregon trail

Once the wagon train started on the trail west, there were not many places to stock up on staples and fresh produce. Non-perishable food was most of the menu. Without refrig-eration, travelers had to rely on salted meats, pickled vegetables, dried fruit, bread, and cof-fee.

The least liked food was hard tack or “pilot bread”. It was a mixture of flour and water, baked for a long time at low temperature. It was indeed very hard, but it would not spoil if kept dry. When it rained on the trip, as it of-ten did, hard tack dipped in coffee might have been the only thing on the menu.

Next to bread, bacon was the food eaten most often. At this time, “bacon” was most of the meat from a hog, including hams and

shoulders, and was sliced as needed. One pi-oneer women, Helen Carpenter, complained, “But then one does like a change and about the only change we have from bread and ba-con is to bacon and bread.” Bread dipped into bacon grease was called “hot flour bread”.Imagine walking day after day in a cloud of

dust and grit, eating pretty much the same food over and over. The trip to Oregon took about five months to cover the 2040 miles. Food supplies stored in water-tight containers took up a good deal of space in the covered wagon. A typical food list for each adult would include: 150# of flour, 30# of hard tack, 10# rice, 30# sugar, 2# baking soda, 10# salt, 75# bacon, 10# coffee, 2# tea, 15# dried beans, 15# dried fruit, 20# of corn meal, and a small keg of vinegar and a barrel for wa-ter. Canned foods were expensive and food preservation was questionable, so few items could be safely kept for the four to six month trip. The prairie schooner wagon could haul about 2500#, but a family of four would re-quire over 1000# of food for the trip.

WANTEDYo u r A r t W o r kWhat did you learn about agriculture from this issue of Ag@School?Draw and color a picture (18x24) about agriculture in your county or Washington State.Send entries to: Gaynor Edwards443 Road T NEWarden, WA 98857

By Feb. 19, 2010Winning artwork will be featured in the next issue.

Oxen Or Mules, Not Horses

A team of 4-6 oxen was chosen about 70% of the time to pull the covered wagons. They were slower, but were cheaper to buy, had gentle temperaments, and could survive graz-ing beside the trail at night. (Oxen are neu-tered male cattle, usually a larger dairy breed like Jerseys.) Teams of 6-10 mules (hybrid ani-mals with a male donkey father and a female horse mother) were the second choice, but were harder to train. Horses were used later when feed grain was available to buy along the way.

Congratulations to our winners in the art contest!

This map was created by Gabrielle Turner, Sydney Porter, Jia Cruto, and Jacob VonBargen

from Mrs. Walker’s 4th grade class at Wiley Elementary in

Richland, WA.