What do you think of when you hear the words farmer or farming?
Do you see a little red barn with the typical farm animals? One pig, one work horse, a cow, maybe a few chickens and a barn cat right?
Now, what do you think of when you hear factory farming? Industrial agriculture?
That's a completely different picture right? Which one would you go for?
Today, society wants to go backwards. To simpler times, where technology isn't running the world. Where a small farm to feed your family and neighborhood would be enough. That idea isn't realistic though. For an agriculture advocate, someone who understands and supports modern agriculture, they would go for what the media calls "factory farming." They want the huge towering industry where technology rules and scares the living fire out of society. But what is it that scares people? Is it the technology? The concern for animal welfare? The speed and efficiency with which these farms are producing food? Let's go back to 1960, where cattle roamed, pigs roamed, and horses helped till the land. Dr. Gary Smith, a professor at Texas A&M University wrote that if we went back to the technology level of the 1960s, we would need 15-20 million more acres than we use now for farming(1). There would also be an enormous amount of environmental impact due to runoff of manure. Housing dairy cattle, finishing cattle, and hogs gives us the opportunity to reduce the impact of feces. In a housing unit for these animals, it creates a smaller space so that feces is collected more rapidly and frequently. It then can be composted, which helps inactivate viruses, and obviously reduces environmental concerns. Back in 1960 there were over 180 million people in the U.S. alone. Today, there are over 320 million people in the U.S. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that the population will increase and with the population, the demand for animal food products will increase by 60% (2). Jeff Simmons, president of Elanco says we'll have to produce more with less because we are already over-using our resources. High-yield agriculture is definitely needed. Norman Borlaug never stopped trying to convince people that the technology used in agriculture is what keeps the industry sustainable. If we didn't use modern technology and science, we would never be able to feed the whole world. Some people would be okay with that, but I think many farmers and people of agriculture have a moral and ethical problem with that. Just like Borlaug said, “They said you should just let the human population die off to a fraction of what it is, otherwise you’re creating a lifeboat that will sink with too many piling on. But I think starvation isn’t a very good way to control the population. I see a deep-seated ethical problem with that.”(3) By continuing to increase efficiency, productivity and public acceptance of high-yield agriculture we just might be able to feed the world.
1."Feeding the World by Use of Agriulture Technology I." Smith, Gary C. Where Food Comes From Newsletter. January 2011. Accessed 13 Sept. 2015.
2. "Dow and Elanco Join Forces to Increase Meat and Milk Production." Dow Agrisciences. 18 Sept. 2014. Accessed 14 Sept. 2015.
3. "Why do So Many People Suffer From Food Insecurity?" Smith, Gary C. Where Food Comes From Newsletter. 16 April 2011. Accessed 24 Sept. 2015.
Do you see a little red barn with the typical farm animals? One pig, one work horse, a cow, maybe a few chickens and a barn cat right?
Now, what do you think of when you hear factory farming? Industrial agriculture?
That's a completely different picture right? Which one would you go for?
Today, society wants to go backwards. To simpler times, where technology isn't running the world. Where a small farm to feed your family and neighborhood would be enough. That idea isn't realistic though. For an agriculture advocate, someone who understands and supports modern agriculture, they would go for what the media calls "factory farming." They want the huge towering industry where technology rules and scares the living fire out of society. But what is it that scares people? Is it the technology? The concern for animal welfare? The speed and efficiency with which these farms are producing food? Let's go back to 1960, where cattle roamed, pigs roamed, and horses helped till the land. Dr. Gary Smith, a professor at Texas A&M University wrote that if we went back to the technology level of the 1960s, we would need 15-20 million more acres than we use now for farming(1). There would also be an enormous amount of environmental impact due to runoff of manure. Housing dairy cattle, finishing cattle, and hogs gives us the opportunity to reduce the impact of feces. In a housing unit for these animals, it creates a smaller space so that feces is collected more rapidly and frequently. It then can be composted, which helps inactivate viruses, and obviously reduces environmental concerns. Back in 1960 there were over 180 million people in the U.S. alone. Today, there are over 320 million people in the U.S. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that the population will increase and with the population, the demand for animal food products will increase by 60% (2). Jeff Simmons, president of Elanco says we'll have to produce more with less because we are already over-using our resources. High-yield agriculture is definitely needed. Norman Borlaug never stopped trying to convince people that the technology used in agriculture is what keeps the industry sustainable. If we didn't use modern technology and science, we would never be able to feed the whole world. Some people would be okay with that, but I think many farmers and people of agriculture have a moral and ethical problem with that. Just like Borlaug said, “They said you should just let the human population die off to a fraction of what it is, otherwise you’re creating a lifeboat that will sink with too many piling on. But I think starvation isn’t a very good way to control the population. I see a deep-seated ethical problem with that.”(3) By continuing to increase efficiency, productivity and public acceptance of high-yield agriculture we just might be able to feed the world.
1."Feeding the World by Use of Agriulture Technology I." Smith, Gary C. Where Food Comes From Newsletter. January 2011. Accessed 13 Sept. 2015.
2. "Dow and Elanco Join Forces to Increase Meat and Milk Production." Dow Agrisciences. 18 Sept. 2014. Accessed 14 Sept. 2015.
3. "Why do So Many People Suffer From Food Insecurity?" Smith, Gary C. Where Food Comes From Newsletter. 16 April 2011. Accessed 24 Sept. 2015.
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