Food Production Methods

Three Major Crop Production Methods

Subsistence Farming

Corporate/Industrial Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture

Subsistence Agriculture Farmers grow what they and

their families need for the year.

Often there is very little land available to subsistence famers, so focus is on getting maximum yield.

If there is any excess it may be used to trade for other needed goods.

With little money available for synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, animal manure and other organic methods are often used to farm.

Corporate/Industrial Agriculture

The business of agriculture, involved in producing food on a massive scale.

Encompasses not only the farm itself, but also the entire chain of agriculture-related business, including seed supply, agrichemicals, food processing, machinery, storage, transport, distribution, marketing, advertising, and retail sales.

Often large companies own hundreds of smaller farms

Examples of corporate farming companies: Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto Company, and Cargill

Sustainable Agriculture

The form of agriculture generally relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests.

Often excludes or limits the use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms

Can include organic certification, where agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations (more on next slide)

Certified Organic Farmland by World Region (2000-2008)

Organic Certification Organic requirements vary from country to country (and

even by state sometimes – ex. Oregon Tilth), and generally involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping that include: avoidance of most synthetic chemical inputs, genetically

modified organisms, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge use of farmland that has been free from synthetic chemicals for

a number of years (often, three or more) keeping detailed written production and sales record maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from

non-certified products undergoing periodic on-site inspections by certification agency

Farming Practices – used with production methods

Monoculture

Polyculture

Slash & Burn

Permaculture

Monoculture The practice of producing or growing one single crop

over a wide area.

Widely used in modern industrial agriculture

Advantages: allows for large harvests from minimal labor.

Disadvantages: quicker spread of diseases, loss of soil structure, more soil erosion problems, farmer becomes dependant on chemicals or GMO seeds for pest control and to improve soil fertility.

Polyculture Using multiple crops in the same space, in

imitation of the diversity of natural ecosystems, and avoiding large stands of single crops (monoculture)

Often used in sustainable and subsistence farming

Advantages: less susceptible to disease, provides habitat for more species, increasing local biodiversity, which functions as biological pest control.

Disadvantages: requires more labor, sometimes can produce less yield than heavily fertilized or GMO crops

Historical Example: corn, beans, & squash “the three sisters”, a Native American combination that maintained soil fertility long term .

Slash and Burn Agriculture

A patch of forest land is cleared by a combination of felling and burning, and crops are planted, often used by subsistence farmers.

After 2-3 years the fertility of the soil begins to decline, the land is abandoned and the farmer moves to a fresh piece of land elsewhere in the forest and the process continues.

While the original land is left fallow the forest regrows in the cleared area and soil fertility and biomass is restored. After 10-15 years the farmer may return to the first piece of land.

Sustainable on small scales, but large scale use prevents soil fertility from recovering, and leads to deforestation and heavy erosion.

Permaculture – One method of sustainable

farming

Permaculture means creating a farm that mimics a natural ecosystem. It is a way of: looking at a farm as a whole system observing how the parts relate and seeing connections

between key parts applying ideas learned from long-term sustainable

ecosystems

Polyculture is one of the principles of permaculture.

Designing a farm to mimic a natural ecosystem (including components and ecosystem services) maximizes output and minimizes inputs.

Major Livestock Production Methods

Raising livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, bison, emu, etc.) for meat, dairy, leather, wool, or other uses requires land area to support animals.

Livestock can be produced (raised and fed) via three different methods: Rangelands grazing Pasturelands grazing Concentrated animal feeding operations

For rangelands or pasturelands, animals must be moved periodically so the area can recover and regrow grass and other plants used as food. Traditionally cowboys or shepherd move the animals from place to place.

In concentrated animal feeding operations, animals are not moved. Rather farmers bring feed to the feedlot for the animals. The feed may not be the animals natural food (grass or hay) but rather grain grown for this express purpose (like corn)

Rangelands vs. Pasturelands

Rangelands are natural grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands and deserts growing native vegetation.

Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes and tundras.

Usually public lands

Managed principally with extensive practices such as managed livestock grazing and prescribed fire

Pasturelands are primarily used for the production of domesticated forage plants for livestock.

Usually private lands

Managed with intensive agricultural practices of seeding, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers.

Rangelands Management

Because rangelands are public lands, there are laws regulated how they can be used. Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 -provides for the regulation of

grazing on the public lands (excluding Alaska). Initially permitted 80 million acres of public lands to be placed into grazing districts to be administered by the Department of the Interior. As amended, the law now sets no limit on the amount of lands in grazing districts. There are currently approximately 162 million acres inside grazing allotments.

Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 - manages, maintains and improves the condition of public rangelands; charges a fee for public grazing use.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

A type of animal feeding operation which is used in large scale farming for beef cattle, swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter.

May contain thousands of animals in an array of pens. Close proximity requires that animals receive regular antibiotics to reduce disease transmission.

Require governmental permit and must have plans to deal with the large amount of waste that is generated.

The EPA has authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate all animal feeding operations in the United States.