The Positive And Negative Impact Of Technology In The Modern World

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.

The records of the last census taken todays population is approximately 7 billion. To put it into perspective of the amount of work farmers take into hand the average farmer feeds 155 people one their own. (“Comparing Agriculture of the Past to Today”) . Notice that a census is only taken on the people of the world, but farmers and their operations are not separately accounted for. “It is impossible to calculate the exact number of farms and farmers in the United States.” (Conkin 147). Of course farmers do not use the simplistic technology of the past to achieve these high expectations. Farms implement the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to improve crop production. The GPS is a system that uses satellite signals to find the location of a radio receiver. (“The Science and Technology of Agriculture”) Using biotechnology has also became an interesting subject of big time farmers. This is the changing of genetic material if living things to improve the production of the product. An example of a GMO would be crops that have been modified to be resistant to disease. Disease resistant crops are one of the most widely used in the field of GMO’s. (“The Science and Technology of Agriculture”).

As you can see during the course of the last of the last century farming in America has been transformed due to the technological revolution. From a simple but hard life to a more complex yet not as labor intensive life; from relying on animals to relying on motorized machinery; from growing several different crops to specializing

Technology greatly transformed American agriculture from just plain farming to commercial farming. The mechanization of farming made farming easier and more profitable. As shown in Document D technology was helping farmers, making farming more easier and they were able to do many jobs quicker. But, Farmers couldn’t afford to send crops to other places At the beginning of the 1840s the railroad began to transform American agriculture, by the 1860’s all states east of the Mississippi had rail service. As shown in Document B there were multiple railroads all around the country. The farmers were ecstatic about this new technology because they could send their crops to other areas, when before they didn’t have the money to be able to do so. Other new technologies were arriving such as the mechanical reaper and the steel plow.

The more technology there is on a farm then the less workers you are going to need. Farming isn’t a growing industry by any means. The employment of farmers will drop 8 percent from 2010 to 2020, according to the BLS. That’s because of new ways being developed to produce more food with fewer workers. Larger farms will survive because they can afford to invest into the new technology. States with the highest concentrations of farm employment have the best prospects. The top five states for this in 2011 were, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky and California. Farming as a whole will continue to be less- hands on and done by machine with a single person driving it. Today’s farmers produce 262 percent more food with 2 percent fewer inputs (labor, seeds, feed, fertilizer, etc.), compared with 1950. The American Farm Bureau Federation surveyed about 1000 young farmers and ranchers from across the country. The survey showed that 91 percent of them were more optimistic about farming that they were 5 years ago, about 88 percent said that they wanted to see their children follow in there

Throughout time, humans have pushed forward in every aspect in life in order to improve their living standards, wealth and most importantly the agricultural sector which is the base of every human race. Food is the basic requirement for any individual to stay alive and healthy. In an article by Tamsin McMahon, she states that over the past 60 years, the world population has grown from 2.5 billion to 7 billion while world hunger dropped from 40% down to 15% (McMahon T., July 2012). This shows that our agricultural advances through technology have helped control world hunger and decrease it by more than half, but this is a short-term solution if we want to consider the future generations that depend on our current actions toward the three main pillars of agriculture which are: Health and nutrition, Economy and sustainability all while considering the local small farms and corporate farms.

The manipulation of the land for fast production ruins its overall health. The modern technology and advances of equipment provide farmers more efficient ways to farm. In

So then you must be wondering these people who only farm all day, are they basically the same as the people who were alive back in the 1700s? The simple answer is no, because while these people still demonstrate the lifestyle of an old society, no matter what there will always be some type of technological advances such as pesticides, equipment, and the greatest one being knowledge. Everyday we learn something entirely new so just imagine the new inventive ways of farming that has evolved over 200 years even without machines. In Texas running across a farm is pretty common, driving along roads and seeing huge fields of corn or sunflowers is definitely a beautiful sight. They are able to create such a massive farm because the machines we have can plant, collect, and clean in seconds. The reason there is such a difference between these two farmers is because of a word known as progress. While the economy of both countries is also a big factor, both countries are sunk deep inside debt so what else is there? Progress. Without progress and upgrades we would still be stuck riding horses to work everyday instead of the Ford and Jeeps we are able to

To continue, agriculture and farming is essensial because we need food to survive and it helps with a regions economic growth. This human activity however, is creating

New technology reduces cost efficiency, since farmers have to incur debt to be able to pay for this new technology. This requires farmers to work long hard hours to pay back their debt, and sometimes endure dangerous working conditions on advanced machinery. The industrialization of agriculture has made it easier for large corporations to exist, and harder for family farms to exist. These large corporations control agriculture and take the farmers’ independence away from them. When farmers and their families suffer, their small towns also suffer. Even though farmers own more land, new technology does not require as many people to farm, which means that there are less jobs available. People end up leaving their towns to find a job or get higher wages. The industrialization of agriculture leads to the extinction of small towns, due to a failed local economy. However, they are some farmers that stick with more traditional methods and most people are willing to support them because traditionally grown food is normally healthier and they want to help support a healthy local

Economies of scale – farming equipment can be used for growth of farm size acreage, and so more plants can be harvested using the same facilities and equipment.

Meanwhile, agricultural reformers advised farmers to rotate their crops, conserve the soil, use fertilizers, adopt new crops, improve livestock breeds, and use the latest machinery. Although a few farmers practiced soil conservation by rotating crops or growing legumes, they just simply plowed up new lands when the fertility of their fields declined. Of the three main components of production—land, labor, and capital—land was the cheapest, so it made economic sense in the short run to exploit the soil to the fullest (Fite 28).

The evolution of technology has changed society in both positive and negative ways. People all over the world use and benefit from modern technology. Technology has simplified the access to many tools people need in education, medicine, communication, transportation, etc. However, using it too often has its drawbacks as well. In most cases, the time of finishing projects is cut by more than half with the help of technology. Many people do not realize that technology has its negative affects society as well, and its rapid advances has changed life for worse in a number of different ways.

Agriculture has drastically changed over the years. As modernization occurred the ag industry had to adapt. The demand for food grew as the population grew. In order to get more food, crops need to produce good yields and more land has to be farmed. You will later read in this paper about modernization of farm technologies.

Agriculture is a vital part of society, and Agribusiness is of course the business behind it. While agricultural needs were different in ancient times, farming was always necessary. With agriculture came the domestication of plants and animals. This domestication allowed the human civilization to flourish. With time, new technologies and lifestyles changed the course of agriculture.