Advantages Of Contract Farming

Modern day farming has transformed from the farming process of last century. Instead of farmers producing for their families, farmers are now similar to input/output managers supplying massive manufacturers that feed the country.

Like consumers, farmers do not have much choice either. Farmers plant crops that are demanded by the global food market. Essentially, farms are no longer owned by farmers and the farmers become the laborers. Also, it sometimes is all or nothing for farmers. For one, some land can only be used for one crop, for example coffee, and if something goes wrong with the crop, farmers lose everything. Second, unskilled labor jobs are dwindling, so there might not be much else a farmer could do if something were to happen to their land. It seems that when crops do well, farmers should be making a lot of money, however, the food processors and distributors are the ones who make most of the profit. Because of this, farmers are left with pennies compared to what the others make. Farmers and consumers have fought to control the food system, but what other choice do they have than to support it?

"I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds." These famous words from "The FFA Creed" by E.M. Tiffany outline the basic beliefs of FFA members and agriculturists around the world. But these values, although crucial to the sustaining of our world's ever-increasing population, are growing more and more detached from the people not involved in agriculture. Although food and fiber production has increased in recent years, providing more bushels per acre and more meat per head of cattle, the agriculture industry has come under fire due to an overwhelming majority of people being totally disconnected from the agriculture industry. Today, we'll examine the primary causes of this disconnect, the negative effects on agriculture and our society as a whole that results from it, and how you can help solve this ever-growing problem.

Indian groups have adopted agriculture. The ability to grow crops has a huge implication for the

The agricultural industry: the farms, plants, animals, and farmers, have supported this great country for so long, but lately we have turned our backs on it. Today, we live in a materialistic society, people wanting more and better items, not settling for products that will accomplish the same job.From looking at the fruits and vegetables in the grocery store, we see the bruised or smaller ones left, while the big and brightly colored ones are selected first. In our society today, changes are constantly being made to help expand and evolve the agricultural industry, but it has yet been able to do so. To this day farmers across this nation have not been completely successful in providing for the people who make up this country. In the stores

Local farmers tend to be more expensive than big corporation produce due to lack of economies of scale and due to the traditional ways of farming which is less efficient thus cornering some farmers to give up in the face of bigger competition. These few corporations that now control the market have benefitted from economies of scale and made it much harder for new entrants to compete since they use technological advances to stay efficient and mass produce so they can sell at cheaper price. All this said, shows that the agribusiness is evolving and making great use of technology whether it’s to increase yield or make perfect produce. But have we stopped and thought about our

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, where despite a slow growth, agriculture remains the backbone of rural economy as it employs one half to over 90 percent of the labor force. Both extensive and intensive policy measures for agriculture

Astyk and Newton, in their essay: The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Go Hungry, explains that “around the world, industrial agriculture has consolidated land ownership into the hands of smaller and smaller populations” destroying local self-sufficiency (518). Individuals are no longer able to grow own fresh, healthy foods to feed their family. They now depend on industrially grown crops and processed foods loaded with chemicals for food. Additionally, because of the farm policy, farmers that continue to cultivate healthy produce like fruits and vegetables get little or no government support, thus the higher prices of fresh produce seen today at our grocery stores.

Many areas in the world are unable to grow crops at all. (Source F ) Most will be unable to provide more than 2-3 viable food options. The way we circumvent this is by buying these items from other areas. The fact of the matter is there is no such thing as “locally grown” coconuts in Texas. There is no “farm to table” products in the Sahara. (Source E) It’s a practice which is unfortunately impractical in a large part of the world.

The traditional farmer is now just a thing of the past, with big industries taking over there are 4 main producers in the food market today. The image of farmer john and his cows in a grassy pasture is far from what the reality is, cows standing in manure and being crowded into unlivable conditions. The farmers who try to keep traditions are being prosecuted and picked on by big companies who only care about how fat their wallets are. The farmers, factory workers and animals are all expendable and will be

I also agree with Lyson and Kloppenburg on the idea that the distancing of humans from their food sources and the consolidation of farms into the hands of absent agribusiness owners contributes to the socioeconomic problems of our agro-food system as well as perpetuates a culture in which people are unaware of where their food comes from, as described by Berry (39, 35, 43). However, an issue and recurring theme in all these papers is related to Lyson’s description of civic agriculture, or more small-scale, local ways of farming. Although this idea of re-embedding farms into communities could have positive environmental and socioeconomic impacts, all four authors seem to rely on a sense of nostalgia and the idea of returning to former ways of agriculture. Although there are aspects of former systems that would be beneficial to reincorporate, the social, economic, and environmental problems of today differ from those of the past and should therefore be treated with different solutions. Because the authors rely on this narrative, they do not extensively address today’s socioeconomic problems. For example, while decentralizing the food

(167). Heavy taxes on agriculture leads to low productivity and low output (Dennis). New technology is not as efficient: “The heavy harvesting equipment that now does the work of the harvesting has left larger amounts of grain in the field…” (Holthaus 135). Holthaus describes the loss of access to the markets as a result of more contacting and the “growing influence of transnational megacorporations.” Farmers are no longer in control of agriculture; they have little say in what crops to grow and have to listen to the contracted company. Farmers no longer farm for the market, they farm to be able to pay the bank or to meet a contract with a company (167). When farmers decide to contract, they become another worker in the industrial system of agriculture. Farmers lose their markets, which are taken over by large corporations; and lose a percentage of their profit (Holthaus 150). According to “American Farms Keep Growing: Size, Productivity, and Policy,” about 30% of American farms have any significant farm production. 6 percent of all farms account for three-fourths of US farm output.The loss of political power and influence is due to less farmers and their families living on the land, aswell as, less people living in rural communities, which means that they have less authority and voting powers (167). The health of

Hence this could create a systemic ideology of farm to fork that would procreate within the community. Along with this practice, we must decrease unnecessary distribution and the transport of food. The area in which a product is raised is the area in which that product should be expended, “consumers should be encouraged to eat in ways that support environmentally sound, healthful food, and carbon sequestration” (Niman pg. 48). Through revitalization of local food growth and consumption, the price of goods in the area would aid in the elimination of the middleman as well as the wholesalers to whom gain a profit from the farmer. By means of a holistic approach, The overall simplification of downsizing and educating our agriculture system is the resolution to creating a renewable and just future for our food

Contract is defined as an agreement between two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognizable at law. For purposes of this chapter, we are concerned with agreements to buy and sell some type of agricultural product. Contracts 101 You should be concerned about contract law because it determines how parties to the contract will need to keep the promises they make. Although very few contracts ever end up in court, if the parties to a contract disagree on something and are unable to resolve the disagreement, they may have to resort to the judicial process. This means that as the parties negotiate a contract, they need to consider how a judge might ultimately interpret it. For a contract to be enforceable, it must involve:

In light of this, I would like to explore research frontiers in the area of the challenges of managing food and farm businesses in a global setting of the 21st Century. In our society beleaguered by agricultural problems that ranges from economic to environmental problems such as weather and global warming, issues concerning trade and management of agricultural enterprises has been the topic of debate for the past decade. Many developing/poor countries who earn their living from agriculture continuously suffer from poverty and hunger as a result of the increasing pressures on the world's resource base. Policymakers are gripped with finding solutions to problems such as structural and technological constraints, inappropriate domestic policies and an unfavourable external economic environment. As a result, the growth of these economies has been slow, undernourishment has been increasing and the marginalization of these countries in the global economy has continued. This trend has created problems for developing countries over the past decade. Economic and financial