FOOD FROM THE LAND

1. FOOD FROM THE LAND FARMING

2. Industrial Farming • To produce a large amount of food at the lowest cost. Organic farming • Farming in a way that is environmentally friendly. Sustainable farming • Meeting the needs of the present without negatively affecting the needs of the future.

3. The History of Farming

4. Technological breakthroughs Improved Plows • First farmers planted seeds using a stick to dig holes. • Scratch plow was invented – allowed a domestic animal to pull a sharp stick through the ground creating a gap to plant seeds.

5. Plows that included an iron knife-like blade that could cut through roots. • New specialized plows help farmers reduce soil erosion and protect soil moisture.

6. More effective use of animals • Plows were enhanced by the development of the horse collar, which allowed a horse to pull harder without choking itself. • Harnesses were invented to allow more than one animal to be attached to a single plow.

7. The horseshoe was invented to give the horse better traction. • The land measure “acre” or the amount of land inside a 400m track was invented to signify the amount of land that a person could plow with horses in a single day.

8. Industrialization of Farming • Steam powered tractors and threshing machines. • Modern machinery dramatically increased productivity of agricultural workers. • Farms became larger and produced more from each hectare of land.

9. Increased corporate ownership of farms • Many farms are now owned by corporations. Development of GMOs • Organisms whose genetic structure has been changed to give them characteristics that are seen as desirable.

10. Farming as a Business

11. Input Costs • Price of operating the farm. Output Costs • Price of selling the food product. Profit • Input costs need to be lower than output costs for farmers to make a profit.

12. How to grow a crop – Conventional Farming • Purchase seed • Prepare the seed bed (tillage) • Plants the seed • Harrow • Fertilizer is added to help the crop grow • Spray weeds and pests • Irrigation • Harvest (Swath and combine) • Storage on the farm (Grainery Bin) • Transporting the grain to the elevator

13. Purchase seed • Farmers usually buy their seeds from seed growers. • Farmers who reproduce seeds using existing seeds. Prepare the seed bed (tillage) • This is done by cultivating the soil (loosens the soil) and is also known as tillage. Plant the seed • Air seeders, seed drills, or planters. • Most commonly air seeders are used. Uses air to push the seed into the ground.

14. Harrow • Packing the soil down. Can now do all three steps in one • The crop can be cultivated, seeded, and harrowed all at the same time. Fertilizer is added to help the crop grow • Fertilizer can be solid, liquid, or gas. • Nitrogen gas is added to the soil the same way seeds are. • Liquid and solid fertilizers are spread on top and then cultivated into the soil.

15. Spray weeds and pests • Spray to kill unwanted plants. • Eliminate competition. Irrigation • To add moisture during dry conditions. Harvest (Swath and combine) • Swathercuts the crop into rows. • The combine picks up the crop and separates the grain from the stalk.

16. Storage on the farm (GraineryBin) • Grain is put into a grainery using an auger. • Farmers store the grain until the elevator is ready to buy it from them. Transporting the grain to the elevator • Major corporation companies such as Cargill purchase the grain.

17. The business of farming • Mechanization has increased the size of farms and declined the number of farms. • Long, irregular hours and low incomes have driven people away from farming. • Start up costs for farming are high.

18. Annual costs for veterinary care, pesticides, equipment purchases, vehicle repairs, and seeds make farming a high-debt business. • Farmers must borrow money from banks until their crops or animals are sold. • If the prices for their farm products do not increase faster than their costs of production, debt or bankruptcy may result.

19. Large agribusiness companies Cooperatives • Several farmers work together and form a cooperative. • Equipment is purchased by the cooperative and used on a number of farms. • Reduces the costs of operation for each member.

20. Multinational Corporations • Hire farmers to work for them. • Can either own their own land and raise livestock or grow crops that belong to the company. • Or, farmers may live in towns, and go to work on land owned by the company.

21. Vertical Integration • Acompany owns and operates every process required to produce its product. • Companies make more profit by controlling each stage of the operation.

22. Damaging the Land

23. Erosion • The most important agricultural resource is soil. • Conventional farming practices leave the soil vulnerable to erosion. • We are always digging up the field, before seeding, after harvesting.

24. Erosion Summer Fallowing • Crops are planted one year, and left bare the second year. • Originally, was supposed to help the soil store scarce water, control weeds, and restore soil fertility. • Recent studies show this caused soil erosion, reduction in fertility, and buildup of harmful salts.

25. Erosion No-till Cropping • Stubble is left after harvesting a crop to hold the soil in place and protect it from wind erosion. • Stubble traps snow and helps build up moisture. • This moisture reduces the buildup of salts. • It is also cost effective because plowing is not required. • In the spring, seed is planted in the unplowed ground.

26. Erosion Contour Plowing • Can prevent water erosion across hilly plains. • Plowing is done across the hill rather than up and down it.

27. Contamination • Farmers use chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides to increase their yields, and therefore their profits. Chemicals • Can run-off into lakes, causing excessive growth of algae. • This removes oxygen from the water, and affects the health of fish.

28. Herbicides • Used to kill weeds to eliminate competition. • They can be harmful to wildlife and in high concentrations to humans. Pesticides • Kills insects that are harmful to crops. • Pesticides also kill useful insects which can upset the balance of an ecosystem. • Sometimes insects develop a resistance to chemicals, and are harder to kill.

29. Irrigation Leaching • Occurs when soil loses its nutrients through excessive irrigation.

30. The Vocabulary of Hunger

31. Famine • a temporary situation in which a country or region does not have enough available food to feed its population. Starvation • an extreme form of hunger in which people suffer from a serious, or total lack of energy and essential vitamins and minerals.

32. Malnutrition • Acondition in which health is damaged by an unbalanced diet. Under nutrition • Adiet that lacks one or more vital nutrients in the quantity that is needed for the body to develop and function properly (form of malnutrition).