Why Is Cover Agriculture Important?

Agronomists have been working on these problems for years, but the rapid population growth of humans makes overcoming these challenges increasingly urgent. If we can’t feed the world, it will eventually feed on us.” (Newsweek/United Nations) Scientists find a way to add “medicine” to plant genes, which help it withstands pest attacks and drought problems.“Some GMO corn crops can protect harvests in water-limited conditions better than conventionally produced crops. Other GMOs can also promote use of no-till farming, which keeps more moisture in the soil. No-till also enables farmers to make fewer passes through the field using machinery, which means less fuel used and greenhouse gases emitted.”(Monsanto) GMOs are useful for helping with planting crops in any area of the world.

Benefits: Unfortunately, the agriculture industry has been getting a bad rap both in the media and the public eye. However, if we take responsibility for educating ourselves we can reverse the trend of young people on entering the industry.

While the Midwest may be “the breadbasket of the United States,” the Central Valley of California is the entire rest of the Thanksgiving meal on the table for the country. With its fertile soil, Mediterranean climate, and expansive flat land, the Central Valley produces more than 250 different crops that produce more than $20 billion annually, meaning it provides over half the produce grown in the United States. Recent droughts, recession, and growing urbanization in California have changed the conversation around farming practices and the large role family farms still play in the state. Popular opinions circulating the urban areas were calling into question the sacrifices farms were making throughout the drought, believing they got a

The genetically modified seeds that Monsanto Company used had its greatest benefits for the farmers that chose to use the seed. Having a genetically modified seed helped farmers know what to forecast for the upcoming harvesting season. According to Ferrell, et. al (2017 pg. 384 para. 3), “Monsanto scientist, through their work in biotechnology, were able to implant seeds with genes that make the plants themselves kill bugs. They also created seeds containing the herbicide Roundup, it’s an herbicide that kills weeds but spares the crops.” Having a seed that contained an herbicide was beneficial to the farmer because that potentially saved them money on the need to buy weed killer to save the crop. Another benefit for using the GMO seeds is that farmers will use less space and have the ability to grow more crops and in turn will increase crop yield. The traditional seeds require more space, which decreases a farmer’s crop yield. According to Conway, Gordon (2000 para. 5) he says, “most of the new varieties that are grantees are developing are the result of tissue culture and marker-aided selection techniques and do not

Weeds are generally controlled best through good preplant soil preparation. Using a cover crop will not only add valuable organic matter to increase soil tilth, but many cover crops will also outcompete or suppress weeds. Cereal rye, for example, can provide significant weed control through smothering and suppression from natural herbicides produced by the rye. Other cover crops, such as hairy vetch, will add significant nitrogen to the soil and attract many beneficial insects as well. These cover crops are traditionally planted the prior year and are tilled under prior to planting your flower crop.

A relative new addition to the winter cover crop rotation is the radish. Radishes, particularly the daikon radish provide all of the benefits of a good winter cover crop with very few drawbacks. Radishes break up compacted soil, reaching even into the subsoil. As they decompose after winter killing, they leave empty holes that improves drainage and even helps the soil temperature to warm more quickly in the spring. They are nitrogen fixers, and also draw additional potassium and phosphorus to the surrounding soil.

…help them produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy …with our leading seed brands in crops like corn, cotton, oilseeds and fruits and vegetables. We also produce leading in-the-seed trait technologies for farmers, which are aimed at protecting their yield, supporting their on-farm efficiency and reducing their on-farm costs (Monsanto.com.)

Since cover crops help reduce soil erosion nutrients stay in the soil instead of running off into streams and rivers. Cover crops also reduces weeds which eliminates the need for herbicides. The use of legumes as a cover crop promotes biological nitrogen fixation. Therefore, the farmer or rancher may not have to apply nitrogen fertilizers (Reynolds). Altogether the participant receives many environmental and financial benefits from the program.

One of the biggest advantages of agricultural biotechnology lies in its economic efficiency. GM crops are financially beneficial to both the farmer and the consumer. Due to their resistance to pests, viruses, and adverse climates, genetically altered crops produce much larger yields than organic or conventional crops. For example, studies show that if no insecticide is used, a GM crop known as Bt maize has a 48% higher yield than non-modified maize varieties

Predictive planting supports decision making by the design of the system taking in account for various farming factors. Predictive planting gives farmers more information to rely upon that aids them in their decision making. One decision that farmers are supported by predictive planting is determining which areas of their field needs more or less fertilizer. This could reduce cost that a farmer would potentially spend otherwise, and having less fertilizer could also be good for the environment (ref). Another decision that is assisted by predictive planning is recommendations in seed count per acre. For example, the recommendation might tell a corn farmer to lower the number of seeds planted per acre or to plant more seeds per acre in specified

Envision a long day of sorting off cattle, doing chores, and doing odd jobs around the farm then having to come home and make supper for the family and still try to be engaged in a child’s day at school? After a long day, a family often sits in the living room and watches hours of television shows, or browses movies on Netflix, but the only shows that you receive are the farming shows. Although these shows may be relaxing and interesting, they can form negative views about the agriculture industry by how the producer orchestrates the program. When people watch a movie, they talk about how farming culture has enough farming specific mannerisms that other non-farming people will misunderstand when they see popular representations of it in modern culture. For example, glimpses of farm life on the internet and television can show how each gender plays a role in the agriculture industry. People think the only gender who can normal labor are the stereotypical “farmer boys.” When in reality anyone can work in agriculture. The public perception of farming culture is outdated, as revealed by gender roles in the mainstream representation of agricultural living.

It also makes up for some of the states that can’t plant crops or do as much farming due to their environment and/or landscape. Another positive is if there is a loss of crops in other parts of the United States, Iowa could carry the weight of those lost crops but it can also be a negative because if Iowa is one of those states that is experiencing the loss of crops then that is a big portion of the corn and soybeans being planted for that year. Another negative would be only being able to farm for a certain part of the year because you only plant two crops which could lead to less jobs and a decrease in the state of Iowa's economy. This is both an environmental and social issue because, it is about the environment and how crops can impact it but also how it can impact humans.

Crop diversity in pest control has made a big impact on growing crops in areas that are dominated by pests that would eat up a crop as soon as it flowers. Crop biodiversity has made crops able to withstand roundup and different types of pesticides, which keep pests off the crops while they are growing. Thus letting crops grow to their full potential in area of the country that before crop diversity wouldn’t have been able to happen. This helps in utilizing land for growing crops to feed growing populations when good land is being utilized for building structures.

There a few different plants that can be used as a cover crops. The two main plants are legumes and grasses

Crop rotation is a systematic approach to choosing which crop to plant where in your vegetable garden from one year to the next. The goals of crop rotation are to help manage soil fertility and to help reduce conflicts with soilborne diseases and soil-dwelling insects like corn. This process then changes the different types of nutrients in the soil helping the soil to have more nutrients and the crops to be better at resisting diseases and pests. One of the methods that was used with this appropriate farmer was fertilizer. Fertilizers were first used by farmers in the Middle Easter and European countries approximately eight thousand years ago. Biology of the plant: Another method used was cover crops. One of the cover crops that were used