Agriscience vs Agriculture

Food Sovereignty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th4uT2coXhk

Food sovereignty - the claimed "right" of peoples to define their own food, agriculture, livestock and fisheries systems, in contrast to having food largely subject to international market forces.

Food Security

Britain in the 1930’s underwent a population explosion People began moving to the cities, and towns/the countryside

started to become depopulated

Fewer and fewer farmers resulted in Britain importing much of its food from the rest of Europe/India…plus the food was cheaper to buy from India, then to be produced in Britain

British farmers couldn’t compete with the cheap imports, and moved to the city.

With WWII, the German uboats blockaded Britain. Without the imports, hunger and starvation became rampant.

After WW II, Britain decided it needed food security.

The government - mandated certain areas to be green (couldn’t be converted to

industrial use)- Imposed tariffs on all imported food (a tax to make the food

more expensive_- Gave local farmers tax breaks and subsidies to make their food

cheaper.

Canada, Food Sovereignty and Free TradeCanada also has food sovereignty laws.

Dairy and Egg farmers are protected by laws on the import of eggs and raw milk into Canada .Eggs and raw milk are subject to tariffs at the border ( a tax), which drives their prices up. The tax is 200%.

The side effect of this though, is Canadian dairy and chicken farmers charge more for their product. Canadians pay the highest price for milk and eggs compared to the rest of North America. In Canada we pay almost $2 more for a 2L milk carton than in the states., and almost $3 more for a block of cheese.

New Zealand gets around this law, by importing powdered milk into Canada, often to be used to make ice cream, powdered milk or cheese. This is called “Modified Milk ingredients”. Cheap ice cream is made from this.

Other products such as cow meat, chicken meat and fruits and vegetables are not subject to tariffs. Thus Canadian farmers have to price their food to the same value imports are priced….thus these foods are cheaper for consumers to buy.

The Big Problem (for some people)

Free TradeCanada has free trade agreements with many countries (see next slides)

Canada has an exemption in all its free trade deals to not include dairy and eggs…but this could change if these countries take Canada to the International Court.

Example- US took Canada to court in 2004 because Canada allowed its loggers to sell logs from Federal lands. These loggers paid only a small amount of money for the timber, and yet then sold it too American companies for a cheap price. American loggers couldn’t compete with the cheap prices and complained

Changing AgricultureTechnology and Biotechnology is changing agriculture

Technology Using technology such as large tractors, robots, etc, to harvest, sort and ship a farmers product.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=insBfvw4qeMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DEIPZmiiXk&feature=related

Farms of the Futurehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkwbJJpeiVs&feature=related

Automated milking machineshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em7YYPXqqsw&feature=related

BiotechnologyMixing and matching plants and animals to produce super plants and super animals.

An area of focus is lab meatGrowing meat in a test tube

Lab meat, may replace cows, chickens, pigs, etc, in under 50 years !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDCmLya-lZchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev_DHcu8ve0

Interdependence of Agriculture on PEI

Many towns/communities on PEI rely on the agriculture industry to sustain

them;IncludingMontagueO’Leary

KensingtonWellington

Vernon RiverHunter River

Mount Stewart

Without the farmers buying locally, the businesses in the towns would cease to

exist

Big Box stores

There headquarters are often off island, thus most of the money islanders spend in the store leaves PEI/Canada

Small Local Stores

There headquarters are often on PEI, thus the money stays local. The owners end up spending their money in other PEI stores.

Same with Agriculture

I can buy from the farmer, farmers market, co-op, etc and the money stays local

But, as soon as I buy from the big box stores, most of my money ends up leaving PEI/Canada

Video on Manufactured demand and bottled water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

Population of PEI141,000 as of 2010

Rural vs Urban

Trends in AgriculturePEI farmers used to grow primarilyBeef and dairy cowsYukon Gold PotatoesWheat, OatsClover

Now, the have diversifiedTo grow over 20 varieties of PotatoesOver 30 varieties of applesOver 20 different vegetables (Turnip, Broccoli, Carrots, etc)RiceAlpacaCanolaSoybeanCornetc

Economic Trends in Agriculture

Fashion in and Fashion out

Skunk Farms were popular in the 40’s

When Skunk coats became out of fashion, the farmers released their animals into the wild.

What other types of farming have disappeared on PEI due to people’s preferences-Fox farms - Ginseng - Emu- goats

What types of agriculture that we have now, that probably won’t be around in 20-30 years??? (on PEI)

Oats…LlamaAlpacaAyreshire Cowssheep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg

Job Opportunities in Agriscience

Farming

Depends on your Education/Experience

Potatoes and most other cropsGraderTractor DriverTruck DriverSprayer(either tractor, airplane or helicopter)

Airplane spraying is known as Crop Dusting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjly5ykM9kQ

Job Opportunities in Agriscience

Farming

Computer Programmer (most farmersuse computer programs to track their business)

VeterinarianVet assistant

Search the globe looking for new fruits to grow

Example haskip berry that is native to Northern Siberia (looks like a blueberry but tastes like a raspberry)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4bxmYm2K58

Chemists – mix different foods together to form new fruits/apples

Every apple tree has been grafted onto a crab apple tree. There was originally one apple tree…whose leaves have been grafted onto different types of crab apple trees to produce new varieties of apples. A crack is made in the stump of the crab apple tree, and branches from an apple tree are inserted in and tape is taped around it until the cut heals (Farmers can grow as many types of apples onto a tree as there are branchesYou can now buy an apple Tree that growsSpartanFujiGranvesteinGranny Smithetc

GraftingEvery Crimson Maple Tree has been producedthrough biotechnology. There was originally one purple maple tree. It’s branches were grafted onto other maples trees that had green leaves. These maple trees, now produce purple leaves (but only above the graft point)

Banana Tree’s around the world that produce the yellow banana are all clones of each other. One banana tree/herb a long time ago, produced banana’s without seeds. This herb was highly valued, as normally banana’s are not edible because there are too many seeds. As a banana herb grows, it produces suckers at its base. These suckers were collected and planted elsewhere.

Today, all the worlds banana’s are genetically identical. One disease could easily wipe them all out.

Sustainable Agriculturehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rG3SBQYOms

What factors affect sustainable agriculture

Average Temperature (higher temperature means soil is produced faster)Erosion…both wind and waterDiversity types of crops grownReduce pesticide usageNo till farminghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIHwhJTDKSo&feature=related

What shall we do with the land?Pillage or Maintain or Enhance

Historical Importance of Agriculture

World Population has increased for two primary reasons1) access to health care

2) Access to stable food supplies

Example Rwanda

Population grew from 100 per square km in 1890, to 2140 in 1993

Science of a Hungry Worldhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RJ6AqWAOEg&feature=relmfuPart 1-4

Irrigation

More irrigation: Irrigation dominates water use globallyand is generally on the rise since irrigated land is more productive than rain-fed land. In 1998, over 9,000,000 hectares of land in the U.S. were irrigated as opposed to 16,000 hectares in 1970.16 In order to meet irrigation demands, underground aquifers are being depleted.

Nature cannot replenish its groundwater quickly enough. As a result, water tables are steadily falling. The Ogallala aquifer in the central U.S. has suffered the greatest depletion partially because very little rainwater replenishes it. It alone waters 1/5 of U.S. irrigated land and is currently

Drip Irrigationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9f0vtraLj4