Mat Habrock: Increasing Food Production

Most people in America have never thought about where their food comes from or even talked to a farmer or rancher. Of that handful who have, even fewer have ever stepped foot onto a farm or ranch.The film “Farmland” takes an interestingly angled look into the lives of six farmers and ranchers in their twenties who are all entirely responsible for their operations. This paper takes a more in-depth look at three; Ryan Veldhuizen, Sutton Morgan, and Margaret Schlass.

Former president George Washington once said, “Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man,” (George Washington Quote). Since Washington’s presidency, countless advancements and developments within the agricultural industry have allowed the United States to grow, develop, and become one of the most prosperous countries in the entire world. Nevertheless, this prosperity is also marked by several key historical events, such as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, which have caused the core values and traditions that this great nation was built on to slowly disappear. Today, the majority of Americans have no knowledge, understanding, or appreciation for the agricultural industry, causing them to take for granted the basic necessities they rely on each day. This disconnection has created a gap between producers and consumers, which is known as

Times have changed, and so has the family, the community and our environment. And these changes have impacted our lives and earth immeasurably. This is where the factor greed comes in to play, the need for more. This need for more called for extensive measures, measures like fertilizers, pesticides and equipment to work the ground and harvest the crops became necessity. Agriculture became a booming business that did not and still does not promote the well-being of the employee nor the individual let alone the family unit and community. Since 1950 an average farm size has doubled, but the number of laborers decreased substantially and the number of small local farmers has been cut in half. Farmers have been forced to become more efficient and there 's been a reliance on greater chemicals and technology, which has become very extensive and expensive. Sadly, what has been short term expansion has become a long-term threat (Trautmann, 2012). This greed driven increase has led to subtle damaging ramifications that most people are ignorant to. Their needs are being met as quality is being forsaken. Our environment is being squandered. Selfishness abounds.

"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.

Through growing up on a family farm in a rural community I have been fortunate enough to fall in love with the agriculture sector. In discovering my passion for agriculture I have pursued a career as a Corn Specialist for AgriGold, of which we will be discussing throughout this essay. AgriGold is a company within the Agricultural Sector that in the past had solely focused on selling seed corn, but as we will discuss later they now offer soybeans and a technology platform. They are the 3rd largest seed corn company in the United States and their parent company is AgReliant Genetics located in Westfield, IN.

I can truly say that I have never been as disgusted researching and writing a paper than I am writing one about the production and growth of food. In a previous course, I had to watch the documentary, King Corn. Watching that film alone was an eye-opener for me because it went into depth about how 80% of Americas antibiotics were used on cows because of being corn fed, but I never knew how drastic the food industry was. Now that I have watched two drastic films and read the chapter on Food, I feel as if I never want to eat food unless it is grown by me. With a growing population, there is a demand for an increase in agriculture.

The United States of America is the world’s largest corn overproducer. With such heavy focus on corn, I would like to draw attention to a measure taken by the United States government, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. This act increased the amount of farm land that is meant to be used in the States for growing corn from 60 million acres to a whopping 90 million acres. Such a significant increase cannot go without some kind of effect. Writer, Michael Pollan, in his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, discusses the instability of the US farming industry as well as the negative environmental implications corn has on us. This instability and environmental impact has given rise to movements promoting a return to more

Nobody denies that the need for more food grows with the global population. Factory farms seem to be a solution to this problem since they produce mass quantities of food for cheap compared to their organic counterparts, which are forty-seven percent more expensive (Consumer Reports). The factory farming business, however, is not the best way to feed more people since it pollutes the environment. The factory

The agriculture industry is not only the largest industry within our state, but also within our nation. However, in recent years it has also been one of the most heavily criticized. This has led to a ‘brain drain’ in rural America as more people decide to leave our industry and their family farms.

In the early 1990s, the farm economy in the heartland of the United States was weak. Farmers in North Dakota produced hard, amber Durham wheat and exported 75% to Italy for the production of high quality pasta. Prices for raw wheat fluctuated radically, depending on weather and growing conditions. Many farmers were having difficulty meeting payments for the expensive farm machin- ery required for crop production. Small family farms were disappearing and non-farm jobs in the area were scarce. Although consumers were paying record prices for food, many farmers felt that processors, who converted the raw grains into finished products for sale in

Growing up on a small family wheat farm in southwestern Oklahoma, I have experienced the harsh conditions of farming firsthand. The job that used to employ the largest amount of people in the United States has lost the support and the respect of the American people. The Jeffersonian Ideal of a nation of farmers has been tossed aside to be replaced by a nation of white-collar workers. The family farm is under attack and it is not being protected. The family farm can help the United States economically by creating jobs in a time when many cannot afford the food in the stores. The family farm can help prevent the degradation of the environment by creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the people producing the food and nature. The family farm is the answer to many of the tough questions facing the United States today, but these small farms are going bankrupt all too often. The government’s policy on farming is the largest factor in what farms succeed, but simple economics, large corporations, and society as a whole influence the decline in family farms; small changes in these areas will help break up the huge corporate farms, keeping the small family farm afloat.

Alaska may be the largest state in the nation, but it is ranked last when it comes to food production. The community has become more aware of this in recent years and have begun to initiate more of a local food movement within the state. ------ transition sentence----- With 570,640.95 square miles of land in Alaska (U.S. Census, 2010), the land being used for agriculture is lacking. Considering all that land there are 760 farms throughout the state and still the amount of land being used for agriculture remains 830,000 acres. When compared to the rest of the states Alaska is ranked almost last (between 47th and 50th) in every category of agriculture except aquaculture (USDA NASS, 2016). Because of this Alaska needs to import 95% of its food

The agriculture field is one of the biggest employers, employing over 155 million people in the United States. What do you think about when you hear the word “agriculture?” Many people would say farming, but this is not the most common occupation in this field. Farmers make up a fraction of the agricultural jobs at 900,000, but over 2.1 million people own, rent, and claim farming as a primary source of income. The average farm size has dropped from 460 acres in 1990 to 418 acres in 2007, while the average age of this occupation rose to 57, making this one of the older workforces in the United States.

These factors, which can be social, cultural, economic, and political, affect how the audience perceives the event and can shape its purpose and management. On a social level, the Hawkeye Farm Show is a social, interactive event. A major component of the show is to bring farmers and industry leaders together to share insight, sell products and be educated on “the latest farm technology focused on improving yields, reducing costs, and managing risk” (Farm Shows USA, 2017). Being in the Midwest, where agriculture is a central part of the regional economy and way of living, there are many cultural and economic factors in play with the event as well. Some of these topics related to the event, such as GMOs, global warming, impacts of water and soil quality, using technologies increase crop yield, may even be politically charged on a person to person basis. The main message is that these factors are part of the “human dimension” of resources, rather than financial or political, as the event involves the thoughts, resources and rewards of individuals (Goldblatt, 2014, p.

Agriculture in the United States has changed dramatically over the centuries. Since the 1960’s large commercial farms have been leading in sales. As a direct result of their success we, as a society, have access to affordable food. However, the success of large farms has lead to many negative impacts such as increased usage of resources and decreased diversity in crop fields. This begs the question, what can be done to reduce the negative impacts of large farms. One solution growing in popularity is sustainable agriculture. The idea of sustainable agriculture is to create farms that need little to no outside help from irrigation, pesticides, or fertilizers. Sustainability can be achieved in many way through