Pro Industrial Agriculture
By Hunter Fields
What
is industrial agriculture? Industrial agriculture is the industrial production
of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops. When you use industrial production you
are using hormones, genetics, large machinery, tons of chemicals to make large
amounts of food that tend to look perfect. The benefits for industrial
agriculture include: lots of food available to consume, food is cheap, food is
produced quickly, large industries have been created which provide jobs for
Americans, and increased export markets.
American
agriculture has seen remarkable increases in agricultural productivity
throughout the twentieth century. Between 1920 and 1980, for example, US corn
yields increased from 21 to 91 bushels an acre and are still improving. Current
yields are about 110 bushels an acre. Half the increase can be attributed to
improved plant varieties and half to fertilizers, pesticides, and
mechanization.
Increases in food productivity of staple crops helps keep
food prices relatively low. Over last 130 years, the US has increased
agricultural productivity dramatically, enabling a much smaller workforce to
meet basic food needs. We have been able to do this because of the invention of
the combine and other large agriculture machines. Having accomplished that
goal, the question now is whether further reductions in the number of farmers
are still needed. Along with all this new production cam the need for chemicals
and fertilizers to make them happen.
Pesticides and fertilizers are big business. In 1993 US
farmers and gardeners spent 8 billion dollars on herbicides, insecticides and
fungicides. Worldwide, the total amount spent on pesticides that year is an
estimated 25 billion dollars. With the need for all these chemicals and
fertilizers companies like Monsanto where born. Monsanto, reports sales of over
a billion dollars for one popular herbicide, Roundup.
Americans are major
customers of the pesticide industry. Purchases by US pesticide users account
for a third of the world market in terms of dollars and a quarter in terms of
active ingredient. These companies put Americans back to work.
The big names in agriculture like Tyson, ConAgra, and
Cargill run the largest operations, many of which concentrate on beef and
poultry. In 1993, 6 percent of US farms accounted for 56 percent of farm
sales.
The United States is moving toward a dual agricultural system where a
few large farms account for most produce and small farms account for most
farmers. The big thing is that with out these big names and all the money we
would not be able to produce the volume of food at the rate that we do.
United States exports 60 percent of its wheat crop and 30
percent of its soybeans. Agricultural products make up 10 percent of all
exported US merchandise. At the same time, the global food trade has
accelerated by international trade agreements. These agreements have allowed
for imports of food to skyrocket.
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