Agriculture

AgricultureAgriculture

For the last 10,000 years humans have been practicing agriculture, or simply put, farming.

Farming has allowed us to feed many people and have food year round

Today’s farming is very different than it was in the past

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Traditional AgricultureTraditional Agriculture

Traditional, or conventional, agriculture is how most of our food is made.

It is large scale, industrial and designed to make the most amount of food with the smallest amount of space

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What you think it looks like..What you think it looks like..

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What it really looks like…What it really looks like…

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What you think it looks like…What you think it looks like…

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What it really looks like…What it really looks like…

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MonoculturesMonocultures

A monoculture is an area of land that only grows a large amount of one crop.

This makes it very easy for pests to destroy the crops.

As a result, pesticides are used.

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PesticidesPesticidesPesticides damage soil and can run off into

the surrounding area

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PesticidesPesticides

If a small amount of the pests survives and are resistant to the pesticide, then they will repopulate and a stronger, more toxic pesticide must be used.

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FertilizersFertilizers

Since the soil gets degraded quickly, fertilizers must be added to the soil.

Fertilizer runoff causes “eutrophication” which means “too much of a good thing” because the added nutrients cause algae to flourish and choke out aquatic ecosystems

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Where are we?Where are we?What are the Strengths

and Weaknesses

of our current agricultural system?

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SuccessesSuccesses abundant food supply in the developed world fresh fruits and vegetables available year-round cheap food luxury foods such as coffee, tea, chocolate, and spices easily

available around the world effective food preservation technologies (refrigeration,

freezing, canning, packaging) convenience foods mechanization produces high labor efficiency improvements in soil conservation availability of agricultural inputs for quick solutions to

production problems

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ProblemsProblems continuing soil loss food safety concerns (mad cow disease, food poisoning

outbreaks, antibiotic resistance, toxins and pesticides) water pollution, air pollution (& odors), habitat loss, water

depletion continuing hunger – and rise of obesity failing farms, economic uncertainty and stress declining communities farm accidents, chronic diseases linked to agricultural chemicals reliance on fossil fuels, global warming farmland loss to development, ugly countryside difficulty of starting in farming

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What is What is Sustainable Sustainable Agriculture?Agriculture?

“…a journey, not a destination” Iowa

Farmer

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Sustainable AgricultureSustainable Agriculture

“…an integrated system of plant and animal production practices…that will

satisfy human food and fiber needs enhance environmental quality make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources sustain economic viability enhance quality of life.”

1990 Farm Bill

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The three-legged stool of sustainability

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Economically Economically sustainablesustainable

Provides a secure living for farm families Provides a secure living to other workers in

the food systemProvides access to good food for all

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Environmentally Environmentally SoundSound

Preserves thequality of soil,water, and air

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Cooperates with andis modeledon naturalsystems

Environmentally SoundEnvironmentally Sound

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Socially sustainableSocially sustainable

Good for familiesSupports

communitiesFair to all involved

How to farm sustainablyHow to farm sustainably

Farmers plant many different crops near each other so that a pest can’t destroy an entire crop

Waste products are composted and used to replace nutrients in the soil.

Crops are rotated to preserve the nutrients in the soil.

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How to farm sustainablyHow to farm sustainably

Animals are treated fairly and given the freedom to move.

Animals are not given unnecessary antibiotics.

Animals are fed properly

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ConclusionConclusionAgriculture has accomplished muchThere are still many problems to solve, both

old and newSustainable agriculture is about trying to

solve these problems – without creating new ones.

How much is 2 billion bushels?How much is 2 billion bushels?

Iowa’s annual corn harvest is usually around 2 billion bushels. If you loaded semi trucks with 2 billion bushels and lined them up bumper to bumper, how far would they stretch?

According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, a large semi holds around 910 bushels, and 879 large semis lined up bumper to bumper would stretch around 11.5 miles

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Answer:Answer:The line of trucks would stretch 29,206

miles, or more than the circumference of the earth (which is a little under 25,000 miles). Luckily, most grain is transported much more efficiently in railroad cars and on barges.

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