Renewing Husbandry Analysis

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.

Sitton and Utley’s book is a compilation of interviews from small landowners in Texas, whose existence was a combination of subsistence farming and production of

Society of Sturdy independent farmers: The American economy became more diverse and complex. Growing cities, surging commerce and expanding industrialism made the ideal of a simple agrarian society impossible to maintain.

From A.J Cotton’s practice, breaking extra land for cultivation provided for maximum crop output during harvesting, and the proper utilization of farming costs. But for expansion to be realized, the farmer would require extra credit, which meant being indebted at high interest rates. The extra land also increased costs of farming such as additional hired hands for plowing, threshing and harvesting the crop. Furthermore, maintenance of farm implements and equipments could prove disastrous to a new farmer especially if it had to be done during the first few years of the venture. The example of Mr. and Mrs. John Hilsop depicting their experience of farming in Canada explains in detail just how hard it was to raise capital for farming. Only with the assistance of A J. Cotton did they realize growth and prosperity.

     Farmers were once known for being able to do everything themselves. They grew their own food and sewed their own clothes. People often yearn for the old days and complain about so many people living in cities. Many farmers had to give up their farms and move to the cities, because of something that happened in the late nineteenth century.

The Agrarian Standard, an essay written by Kentucky author Wendell Berry, was published in Citizenship Papers on January 1st, 2002. The book this essay was published in served as a response to 9/11 and a reflection of our country. Berry resides in Port Royal, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife Tanya. His family runs a non-profit organization focused towards practicing agrarianism: a social or political movement designed to bring about land reforms or to improve the economic status of the farmer (Merriam-Webster online dictionary.) Berry has been discussing his belief in agrarianism throughout his 45-year literary career, through poems (Sabbaths- 1979, IV), speeches (“It All Turns On Affection”), and essays such as this one.

The Second Industrial Revolution, which occurred after the Civil War, was one of the major events that led to the migration from the American farms to the cities. As technology advanced, so did opportunity within the major cities. Electricity, railroads, and manufacturing played a large role in Americans’ desire to leave the farms but so did the promise of a better, easier, more fulfilling life. As our cities became more industrialized, farmers were looked down upon; seen as backwards in their lifestyle (“America and the Land” 22). As our country was moving forward, the way of life of the farmer was being threatened.

Bronson Alcott and his partner, Charles Lane, arrived at Fruitlands on June 1, 1843, in hope to establish a utopian community modeled on the ideas of the Transcendentalist movement. Both men anticipated that Fruitland would become a haven from prosecution and judgment. Hence, life in Fruitlands consisted with many strict rules and the many “basic principle of the farm” to accomplish and create an ascetic way of life including no trading with the outside world and living solely off the land (125). Yet, the most important principle was that “the people who lived there would cause no avoidable harm to man or beast” (125). The idea that influence not only the community farming techniques but also wardrobe, diet, and daily life. Farming was an adversity, especially to Bronson, “initial hope had been to use no animal labor,” became drudgery when tried to plant crops

We walked the farm seen the animals and crops that were there and learned the ways of having a traditional organic farm the benefits from it the proper ways that one type of plant can in effect have a dramatic effect in the sustainability of another and how there in ways interdependent on each other examples are that one plant has a natural repellant for insects that in effect can help the other plants that are effected by that insect to how the trees and bushes are grown in a way that actually gives the other plants shade from the sun. We learned about the organic feeding that the animals are given and the free range that they have so that the animals have no stress upon them as David says that the only time that they are under stress is when they are about to processed for slaughter. Michael Pollan discusses this in detail in the book expressing that this is in fact that sustainable farming is farming type that was common place in the 60s and now in modern times is making a comeback due to consumers being more aware of the foods and want to ensure the purity and health implications on their food

Annotated Bibliography Pennick, Edward ““Jerry””. "The Struggle for Control of America's Production Agriculture System and Its Impact on African American Farmers." Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts 5, no. 1 (2011): 113-20. doi:10.2979/racethmulglocon.5.1.113. The South African agriculture, mainly the smallholders have been impacted negatively by the advancement of technology in this industry. There have been arguments about the best suitable type of food and fiber for not only Americans, but the whole world. As population increased, both corporate and sustainable agriculture were introduced to regulate the future of agriculture. Although a large number of African Americans in southern rural area of America counted on agriculture

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.

Father Boyle mentioned, “People want me to tell them success stories. I understand this. They are the stories you want to tell, after all” (Boyle 167). Many people think that living on a farm is so fun and easy

world of small towns, small businesses, and agriculture to an industrialized network of cities, factories,

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

It is important to have a picture of some of the key elements of smallholder agriculture that relate to livelihood (see Figure 11). Labour is one of the key features of smallholder agriculture. The family relies on its agricultural activities for most of the food consumed – be it through self-provision, non-monetary exchanges or market exchanges. The family members also engage in various activities other than farming. The farm relies on family labour with limited reliance on temporary hired labour, but may be engaged in labour exchanges within the neighbourhood or a wider kinship framework. Reciprocal relationships are important here for product or productive factor exchanges.