Agriculture

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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Conventional/Industrial
Agriculture

Industrial agriculture is how most of our
food is made.
 It is large scale designed to make the most
amount of food with the smallest amount of
space
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What you think it looks like..
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What it really looks like…
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What you think it looks like…
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What it really looks like…
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Monocultures

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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Pesticides

Pesticides damage soil and can run off into
the surrounding area
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Pesticides

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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Fertilizers

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?
What are the
Strengths
and
Weaknesses
of our current agricultural system?
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Successes
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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
availability of agricultural inputs for quick solutions to
production problems
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Problems
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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
Sustainable Agriculture?
“…a journey, not a destination”
Iowa Farmer
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Sustainable Agriculture

“…an integrated system of plant and animal
production practices…that will
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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 sustainable

Provides a secure living for farm families
 Provides a secure living to other workers in
the food system
 Provides access to good food for all
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Environmentally Sound
Preserves
the
quality of
soil,
water,
and air
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Environmentally Sound
Cooperates
with and
is modeled
on natural
systems
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Socially sustainable

Good for families
 Supports
communities
 Fair to all involved
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How 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 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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Conclusion

Agriculture has accomplished much
 There are still many problems to solve, both
old and new
 Sustainable agriculture is about trying to
solve these problems – without creating
new ones.
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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:

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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