Modern Commercial Agriculture

• Third Agricultural Revolution began in 19th century North America– Saw the globalization of

industrialized agriculture and new technologies that increased the food supply

– Three phases:• Mechanization

• Chemical farming

• Globally widespread food manufacturing

• 3rd Revolution distributed mechanized farming technology and chemical fertilizers on a global level

• During 3rd Revolution, farming and food processing were completed at different sites

• After 3rd Revolution it became common for commercial farmers to harvest their crops and ship them off to food processing sites to be packaged for marketing and distribution

• Food production increasingly became “industrialized”– Different parts of process

completed by different departments

• Example• Purity dairies in Nashville,

Tennessee

• Subcontracts with local farms to buy unprocessed milk that is shipped to Nashville, near the market

• At the city-based factory, the milk is processed, packaged, and distributed within the milkshed

• Definition– Combination of the pieces of

the food-production industry, including the farms, processing plants, packagers, fertilizer laboratories, distributors, and advertizing agencies

– Like a corporate entity

• Modern system of food-production involving everything from the development of seeds to the marketing and sale of food products at the market

– Led by TNCs (trans-national corporations)

• While % of farmers in U.S. workforce has declined, the # of workers involved in agribusiness shows that food production is still an integral part of the U.S. and global economy

• Examples:

• A graphic designer drawing images for a child’s lunchbox is part of the complex agribusiness system

• Farming process has become divided on a global level

• Food supply chain– Five central and connected sectors

• Inputs• Production• Processing• Distribution• Consumption

– Four external mediating forces• State• International trade• Physical environment• Credit/finance

• Began in the 1940s, 1950s – Was a phase of the 3rd Revolution

– Really implemented in 1970s, 1980s

• New strains of hybrid seeds and fertilizers were invented and dramatically increased crop output– Began with agricultural

experiments in the U.S. to find ways to improve Mexico’s wheat production capabilities

• Scientists found new hybrid strains of wheat, maize, and rice that were higher-yielding, capable of producing more food at a faster pace

• Scientists also developed new fertilizers and pesticides that supported the higher-yielding seeds

• Required special fertilizers

• Increased protection from diseases and pest infestations

• Scientist Norman Borlaug won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work to increase world peace through spreading hunger-reducing technology to poorer regions of the world

– “miracle wheat seed”

• The “miracle” of the Green Revolution was in global diffusion of higher-yielding crops

• Globally grain production increased 45% between 1945- 1990

• Food production outpaced population growth

• Asia was able to increase its rice production by 66% by 1985

• India was able to supply its own wheat and rice by the 1980s

• Not able to completely eradicate hunger

• Issue of transportation

• GR reduced the amount of human labor needed on the farm in some areas

• Higher-yielding crop strains are more prone to viruses and pest infestations

• Many of the higher-yielding crops are not farmable in the dryer regions of Africa

• Some analysts argue that the GR has increased economic inequality in peripheral countries• Local farmers in peripheral

countries often have a difficult time purchasing more expensive GR seeds and technologies

• Example: Nitrogen fertilizer

• GR pesticides have arguably cause pollution and soil-contamination problems

• Workers who are frequently exposed to these chemicals have suffered health problems from poisoning

• GR crop require more watering which has led to water resources being strained

• Because GR seeds are being adopted so widely ,the genetic diversity in seeds is rapidly reducing, and local strains are being phased out

• GR farming often requires more mechanized farming techniques that need expensive fuels to power farm machines, which increase pollution and fossil fuel consumption

• Conventional farming

– Approach uses chemicals in the form of plant protectants and fertilizers

– Uses intensive, hormone-based practices to breed and raise animals

• Organic farming– Describes farming or animal husbandry that

occurs without the use of commercial fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, or growth hormones

• Local food

• Usually organically grown

• Usually within a 100-mile radius

• Called “locavores”

• Has been linked to increase of “family farms” within local “food shed”

• Also connected to “urban” agriculture

• Food trucks

• Fast food

• Born in the U.S. as a product of WWII

• Utilized assembly-line production

• McDonald’s first franchise

• Agricultural biotechnology is using living organisms to produce or change plant or animal products

• Genetic modification is a form of biotechnology that uses scientific, genetic manipulation of crop and animal products to improve productivity and products– Ex.

• Reorganizing plant and animal DNA

• Tissue culturing

• Recent innovations in biotech have led to plant and animal cloning as well as “super-plants” that grow at much faster rates

• Crops that are drought-resistant

• Animals cloned to produce more output

• “super-chicken”

• Extension of scientific innovation to all crops and animal products called the biorevolution

• Positives– Can help reduce agricultural

production costs– Can serve as type of resource

management– Impressive response to

problems• Biopharming

– Genes of other life forms inserted into host plants

– Resulted in “pharma crops”» Drugs for cancer, AIDs,

Alzheimer's, etc.» Still experimental

• Negatives• Cloned plants more susceptible

to disease• Leads to increase need of

chemical treatment

• Has led to plants being able to be grown out of their native environments• Has hurt less developed

countries

• Trend of farmer suicides

• Overproduction in Commercial farming– Commercial farmers suffer from low

incomes because they are capable of producing much more food than is demanded by consumers

– U.S. has policies that are supposed to address excess productive capacity

– Government policies point out irony in world agricultural practices

• MDCs encourage farmers to grow less

• LDCs struggle to increase food production to match population growth

• Sustainable agriculture• Some farmers are transitioning

too

• Less income, but less costs

• Popular form is organic farming

• Three factors distinguish sustainable agriculture from conventional:

• Sensitive land management

• Use of ridge tillage

• Limited use of chemicals

• Limited herbicides

• Better integration of crops and livestock

• Population growth– Population growth influences the

distribution of types of subsistence farmers

– Subsistence farmers increase food supply two ways”

• New farming methods• Land is left to fallow for shorter

periods

• International Trade– Sale of export crops brings foreign

currency into LDCs• Can be used to buy supplies

– To expand production, subs. Farmers need higher-yield seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and machinery

• Have to import them

• Drug Crops• Export crops chosen in

LDCs (Latin America and Asia) are often crops that can be converted to drugs• Marijuana• Cocaine• Heroin

• U.N estimated in 1998 that 4 million people were dependent on poppy or coca leaf

• Undernutrition is defined as not getting enough calories or nutrients

• Famine is mass starvation resulting from prolonged undernutrition in a region during a certain period

• Solving World Hunger– Causes of world hunger exist

largely in distribution and people’s ability to access food supplies

– Social and economic structure inherent in inequality cause food-security issues, undernutrition, and famine

– Solution to ending world hunger is not just growing enough food but empowering people with the ability to obtain food or crop production that can be maintained over time

• Ester Boserup Theory– Believed subsistence

farmers want the most leisure time they can have, so they farm in ways that will allow them to feed their families and maximize free time

– In theory, she asserts that subsistence farmers will change their approach if the population increases and more food is needed

• Boserup considered the food supply to be dependent on human approaches• Contrasted Thomas

Malthus theory

• Most evidence show’s theory to be true in a subsistence economy• Not in a technologically-

advanced industrialized society

• Soil Erosion– Due to population

pressure, farmers in many regions are trying to grow food at faster rates

• Don’t allow field to fallow • Leads to soil erosion

– Estimated 7% of world’s topsoil being depleted each decade

• Desertification– Loss of habitable land to

the expansion of deserts• Related to human

overuse of land• Example

– Sahara Desert

• Deforestation• Loss of forested areas • Caused by humans

chopping down forests at rates so fast, forests cannot regenerate• Some experts think the

rainforest centered around the equator will be completely destroyed within a century

• In trying to save land resources, governments and organizations have organized debt-for-nature swaps– Forgives international debts

owed by developing countries in exchange for these countries protecting valuable, natural land resources from human destruction

• Expanding Agricultural land– Today few scientists believe that

further expansion of agricultural land can feed the growing population

– Threats• Desertification• Excessive water• Urbanization

• Increasing productivity– Population grew at the fastest rate in

human history b/w 1950-2000

– Green Revolution playing important role

• New food sources• Cultivating oceans

• Cover 3/4ths of Earth

• High-protein cereals

• People in LDCs generally rely on wheat, corn and rice which lack protein

• Improving palatability of rarely consumed foods

• Example in U.S. = Soybean

• krill

• Increasing trade• Export more food from

countries that have surpluses

• Genetically modified organisms

– Organism that has had its DNA modified in a laboratory rather than in cross-pollination

• Critics

– Worry there will be unintended effects on human health

• Supporters

– Allows for great advances in agriculture

• United States– Legal– No labeling requirements– Deemed safe until proved otherwise– U.S. concerned with economic impact of

labeling

• Europe– Deemed unsafe until proved otherwise– Will not accept food from U.S. with GMOs

• Worldwide– Europe, Parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America,

Canada, and Mexico are devising regulations to control entry of GMOs into food system