Global Agriculture
Essential Standard 2.00: Understand global agriculture
Objective 2.01
• Understand the history of global agriculture.
Agriscience defined:
• The application of scientific principles and new
technologies to agriculture
• Applied science
• applies knowledge of biology, chemistry and physics
• Agronomists use biology and chemistry
• develop new ways to control weeds
• Entomologists use biology and chemistry
• develop new ways to control insects
• Agricultural engineers use physics
• develop new, more efficient machinery
• Employs the scientific method
• to solve problems
Agriculture defined:
• The production, processing, marketing and distribution of all agricultural
products, related supplies and services
• Examples:
• Cattle
• Production
•
•
•
farmer
cow-calf
feeder steers
• Processing
•
•
•
•
slaughter facility
Rendering
Beef
Leather
• Marketing
•
•
•
Butcher
Grocery
Steaks
• Transportation
•
•
•
Plane
Rail
Truck
• Related supplies and services
•
•
Veterinarian
feed dealer
Agriculture defined:
• Examples:
• Wheat
• Production
• Farmer
• Grain
• Processing
• Grain mills
• Flour
• Marketing
• Bakery
• Bread
• Transportation
• grain trucks
• Rail
• Related supplies and services
•
•
•
•
fertilizer dealer
crop scouting
machinery dealer
GPS
Agriculture defined:
• Examples:
• Roses
• Production
• flower grower
• processing/marketing
• Harvesters
• wholesale
• retail florist
• Transportation
• Plane
• Truck
• floral delivery driver
• Related supplies and services
• glass vase sales
• greenhouse manufacturers
• floral designers
Agribusiness defined:
• Agribusiness refers to commercial firms (businesses) that
have developed with or stemmed out of agriculture
• Examples of Agribusiness:
• Farm related
• Chemical Company
• Tractor Manufacturer
• Pharmaceutical Company (veterinary medicines)
• Horticulture related
• Landscape or nursery business
• Seed company
• Mower Manufacturer
Renewable natural resources defined:
• Resources provided by nature that can replace or renew
themselves
• Examples
• Wildlife – deer, songbirds, birds of prey, fish, rabbits
• Forests – trees, grasses
Progress in US Agriculture
• Mechanization
• Helps 2% of America’s work force meet the food and fiber needs of
our nation
• Reduction of 90% in production farming in the last 200 years
Cotton Gin
• Invented in 1793
• Eli Whitney
• Transformed cotton to
a usable product
• Removed cotton seed
from cotton fiber
Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin
George Washington Carver
• Late 1890’s
• Developed crop rotations and the use of
legumes
• plants that “make” their own nitrogen
• Peanuts
• Significantly improve soil fertility in the
U.S. south
Grain Reaper
• Cyrus McCormick
• Invented in 1834
• Cut grains
• Cut wheat, oats, and other
crops
Cutting Grain
• With the sickle or
reaping hook one
man could cut from
one-half to one acre
in a hard day's work.
• The cut grain was
later bound by hand
The Reaper
Grain Reaper
McCormick Reaper
Cast Iron Plow
• Invented in the early
1800’s
• Thomas Jefferson
• Rough surface that dirt
stuck to
Steel Moldboard Plow
• 1837
• John Deere
• Smoother surface
• Rich clay soil did not stick to
it
• Made plowing easier and
faster
Henry Blair
• Seed planter
• 1834
• Cotton planter
• 1836
Corn Picker
• Invented in 1850
• Edmund Quincy
• Helped speed up the
harvesting of corn
Corn Picker
Modern Corn Picker
Barbed Wire
• Joseph Glidden
• 1874
• dramatically changed
raising livestock
Milking Machine
•
•
•
•
Invented in 1878
Anna Baldwin
Used vacuum suction
Replaced hand milking
Modern Milking Machine
Modern Milking Machine
Perishable food preservation
• 1879
• Thomas Elkins
• designed a device that
helped with the task of
preserving perishable
foods by way of
refrigeration
Tractor
• Invented in 1904
• Benjamin Holt
• Replaced the mule as a
source of power
• Horse power
1849 - 1920
Steam powered Caterpillar tractor built by Holt in 1908.
Gene Gun
• 1987
• John Sanford
• A device for injecting cells
with genetic information
GPS technology
• 1993
• tractor based GPS systems
together with GIS
(Geographic Information
Systems)
• Used to gather data such as
soil condition, humidity,
temperature and other
variables
• Used to control
•
•
•
•
intensity of planting
application of fertilizer
application of pesticides
watering schedules
Robotic Milking Machines
• Late 1990’s
• First used in Ontario, Canada
• Benefits by a reduction in labor
• Initial cost is primary disadvantage
especially to small producer
Land Grant Institutions
• An institution designated by its state legislature to
receive funding (Morrill Acts of 1862 &1890) to teach
agriculture, military tactics and the mechanical arts.
• Agricultural experiment stations (Hatch Act 1887).
Examples:
• North Carolina A&T (1890) Greensboro, NC
• North Carolina State University (1887) Raleigh, NC
• Clemson University (1889) Clemson, SC
• University of Georgia (1785) Athens, GA
• University of Tennessee (1794) Knoxville, TN
• Virginia Tech. University (1872) Blacksburg, VA
Agriculture related Government Agencies
• Established to assist farmers, ranchers and the general
public
• Information
• professional assistance
• funding
Examples of some of the agencies we now have:
• (USDA) United States Department of Agriculture
• 1862
• Provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources,
rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on
sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient
management.
• Examples of branches/agencies of USDA:
•
•
•
•
NRCS (1935) - Natural Resource Conservation Service
APHIS (1972) – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
NASS (1863) – National Agricultural Statistics Service
USFS (1905) –United States Forest Service
• Mmission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the
nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and
future generations.
Examples of some of the agencies we now have:
• NCCES North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
• 1914
• To put research –based knowledge to work for economic
prosperity, environmental stewardship and an improved
quality of life
• North Carolina Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services (NCDA&CS)
• Services that promote and improve agriculture…..
Origins of Major Food Crops
1. Fruits and Vegetables
•
•
•
•
Peaches - China
Tomato – South America
Peanut – Peru, South America
Sweet potato – Central America
Origins of Major Food Crops
2. Grain, Oil and Fiber Crops
•
•
•
•
Corn – Cuba, Mexico
Soybeans – Southeast Asia
Cotton – Mexico, Africa, Pakistan
Wheat – Southwest Asia (Syria, Jordan, Turkey, India)
• Note: Sources vary on actual country of origin but
generally agree on region of the world.
Major US Agricultural Production Regions for
Selected Crops and Livestock
• Regions develop based on a variety of factors:
•
•
•
•
Soils
Weather
market development
Feed availability
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Citrus fruit
• Florida
• Texas
• California
• Corn belt
• Includes all or parts of these Midwestern states
• Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas
and Nebraska,
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Wheat
• Hard Red Spring Wheat – (highest protein content, excellent
bread wheat, superior milling and baking characteristics)
• Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, (also Oregon,
Washington, California)
• Soft Red Winter Wheat – (high yielding, low protein, used for
cakes, biscuits, pastries)
• Southeastern states including North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Georgia and others, as well as Midwestern states including Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri.
• Spearmint
• Washington, Oregon, Idaho
• Floriculture crops
• California, Florida, Michigan, Texas, North Carolina
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Beef cattle
• Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri,
South Dakota (corn belt area)
• Dairy
• Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York,
Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine,
• California, Idaho and Texas are leading producers but are not
located in this region
Examples of agricultural production regions and/ or
states that generally rank high in U.S. production.
• Hogs
• North Carolina and Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota
• Corn belt area
• Poultry (broilers)
• Southern and southeastern states
• North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas
North Carolina Agriculture
• NC is divided into three basic geographic and agricultural
regions
• Mountains
• Piedmont
• Coastal plains
North Carolina Agriculture
• Mountain counties
• Christmas trees
• Apples
• Trout
North Carolina Agriculture
• Piedmont counties
•
•
•
•
Greenhouse and Nursery crops
Broilers
Turkeys
Dairy cattle
North Carolina Agriculture
• Eastern counties
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hogs
Turkeys
Broilers
Tobacco- flue-cured
Sweet potatoes
Vegetables
Peanuts
Cotton
Corn
Soybeans
• world’s most important source of vegetable oil
Farm Cash Receipts (2011)
• Statewide exceeds $10,000,000,000 ($10B) annually
• Livestock, Dairy and Poultry
• Approximately 2/3 of all farm cash receipts
• Broilers and hogs account for nearly half of this amount
• Crops
• Approximately 1/3 of all farm cash receipts
• greenhouse, nursery, floriculture and Christmas trees
Objective 2.02
• Compare the current and future issues in global agriculture.
Global outlook
• The world population will continue to grow with expectations
of 9 billion humans on the planet by 2050.
• More children survive to adulthood worldwide.
• More adults are living longer worldwide.
• Population growth will:
• Add stress to environmental systems of air, water, soil and natural
resources.
• Create challenges to meet demands for food and fiber.
Global outlook
• Examples of agriscience research to meet these demands:
• Genetically engineered crops
• a bio-engineered tomato that resists rotting
• New fuel sources
• biodiesel from animal fat
• Human nutrition
• decreasing the amount of animal fat in the diet and raising the
proportion of fat from vegetable sources
• Satellite technology (gps)
• determine various nutrient levels/deficiencies in plants
Trends and Issues in Global Agriculture
• Agriculture will always be an essential industry.
• Food is essential to life
• an iPad is not
• Clothing and shelter are basic needs of humans
• smartphones are not
Examples of current/future agriculture
related issues
• Food Insecurity
• Global importance
• Defined as not knowing where a human will find their next meal
• the situation where people need to live with hunger and fear
starvation
• Food insecurity results from several factors
•
•
•
•
•
Climate issues
Urban development
Corrupt governments
Population growth
Oil price shifts
Examples of current/future agriculture
related issues
• Sustainability
• We must meet the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Examples of current/future agriculture
related issues
• Organic Food Production
• Crops are raised without using most conventional pesticides,
petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers
• Animals must be fed organic feed and be given access to the
outdoors
• Antibiotics and growth hormones may not be used in organic
production
• Accounts for more than 3% of all U.S. food sales
Examples of current/future agriculture
related issues
• GMO’s
• Genetically modified organisms
• Combing genes from different organisms results in an organism
being called genetically modified or transgenic
• Controversies surrounding this practice include safety, ethics,
labeling and others
• European countries will not purchase GMO foods from the US
• Fewer exports
Examples of current/future agriculture
related issues
• Local Food Movement
• Can be defined in terms of geographic proximity of producer to
consumer.
• Is a very popular concept in regards to food safety, food
freshness, and reduction of environmental impact due to shorter
shipping distances
Examples of current/future agriculture
related issues
• CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture)
• Direct-to-consumer programs
• Buy shares of a farms projected harvest
• Pay for their share of the harvest up front
• Distributes risk between the farmer and the consumers
• Pick up their share regularly in a communal location or the shares
are delivered directly
• USDA estimates as many as 2500 CSA’s are operating
nationally
Examples of current/future agriculture
related issues
• Water (quantity and quality)
• US water shortages are a major issue in the western portion of
the nation where expanding cities needs are competing with
farmers needs for the same water resources
• The aquifer that underlies Long Island represents the only
drinking water for the 3 million plus residents
• Southeastern US, including North Carolina, Water Wars have
become common place
• In Third World countries a safe water supply is a luxury
• Most areas of the world, supplies of safe water have become
generally insufficient because of misuse, poor management, waste,
pollution and climate change
2 year agriculturally related degree programs
in NC
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aquaculture Technology
Equine Business and Training
Fish and Wildlife Management Technology
Forest Management Technology
Golf Course Management
Greenhouse and Grounds Maintenance
Horticulture Technology
Landscape Gardening
Marine Sciences
Poultry Management
Sustainable Agriculture
2 year agriculturally related degree programs
in NC
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Swine Management
Turfgrass Management
Viticulture Technology
Agricultural Biotechnology
Environmental Science Biotechnology
Agribusiness Management
Field Crops Technology
General Agriculture
Livestock and Poultry Management
Examples of 4 year agriculturally related
degree programs in NC
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Agricultural Economics
Agricultural Education
Animal Science
Biological Engineering
Landscape Architecture
Agricultural and Environmental Technology
Food Science
Plant and Soil Science
Poultry Science
Genetics
Horticultural Science