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Agriculture in Canada

Agriculture in Canada. Some General Ideas. Agriculture is one of Canada’s oldest industries. - native Canadians, early 1600s Nova Scotia Historically - mostly small family farms which provided for families.

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Agriculture in Canada

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  1. Agriculture in Canada

  2. Some General Ideas • Agriculture is one of Canada’s oldest industries.- native Canadians, early 1600s Nova Scotia • Historically - mostly small family farms which provided for families. • Agriculture today is a multi-billion dollar industry – mix of small farms and large ‘corporate’ farming operations • 60 years ago - about 800,000 farms in Canada • Today, there are about 200,000 farms

  3. What do Canadians farm?

  4. Where do Canadians farm?

  5. Examples: wheat and beef cattle

  6. Back to Thomas Malthus (1700s)! He predicted that population would grow faster than food supply

  7. His predictions (so far!) have been wrong.

  8. The global Green Revolution • Following World War 2, many countries were experiencing food shortage and famine (e.g. India, Pakistan, Mexico etc.) – starvation was very common • 1940s – 1970s: research and new technology was used to increase food production • Irrigation techniques, pesticide use, new varieties of crops, synthetic fertilizers • Estimated number of people saved from starvation: 1 Billion! • Considered a great success

  9. 5X as much wheat grown on the same amount of land!

  10. More crops grown on the same amount of land.

  11. Dr. Normal Borlaug • Nobel Peace Prize – 1970 for being the “father of the green revolution” • What do you see for the Green Revolution in the 21st century? • Borlaug: The Green Revolution is an ongoing continuum. Millions of people are currently undernourished in the world. The world population for 2025, at a medium fertility rate, is projected to be about 8.3 billion people. I calculate that we will need an additional one billion tons of grain by then. We have to increase yields to feed these people — more bushels per acre, more tons per hectare. Higher yields are especially important now due to spreading urbanization, which takes away agricultural land. (ActionBioscience 2002)

  12. Traditional vs. Industrial Farming • Traditional- small farms- manual labour- little mechanization- little chemical use (e.g. pesticides, antibiotics)- crop rotation- fallowing (leaving land unplanted for a year)- compost (use of animal waste as fertilizer)

  13. Traditional vs. Industrial Farming • Modern (Intensive) Farming- large farms (often owned by large companies)- highly mechanized - sometimes high manual labour (farm type)- genetically modified species (GMOs) - chemicals – pesticides, chemical fertilizers- monocultures (single crop plantings)- heavy use of fertilizer- constant use of fields • The primary goal is to maximize yields.

  14. Traditional vs. Industrial Farming • Traditional farming focuses on farming within the means of the environment (SUSTAINABLE) • Modern farming focuses on maximizing yields(more food per acre of land) • Industrialization occurred along with the advancement of agriculture. • Yields have been maximized dramatically, however problems have arisen due to this reality ……

  15. Industrial Farming – the issues • Soil degradation  erosion and nutrient loss • Pesticide use  bioaccumulation (e.g. DDT) pesticide resistant insects • Fertilizer use  runoff  eutrophication • Use of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) • Questionable animal and food quality(e.g. 1995 study showed decrease in mineral content of some fruits/veggies 1950 vs. 1999.) • Contamination potential (e.g. E.coli) • Ethical issues - treatment of animals

  16. In addition, can every farmer in the world afford…… • Irrigation Technology? • Equipment? • Synthetic Fertilizers? • Pesticides?

  17. Example - Traditional Dairy Farming

  18. The newest dairy “farm” in Britain Will house over 8000 cows which will rarely be outside Will produce 400,000 litres of milk per day!

  19. A “milking parlour”

  20. What sorts of issues does this raise? Think back to the term “sustainability”. Is modern industrial farming sustainable? What should the agricultural response be to a growing global population?

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