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Agriculture is the science, art & business directed at
the cultivation of crops & raising livestock
for sustenance & profit |
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Agriculture established a 2 way relationship btwn people & the
environment,
which did not exist in pre-agricultural society |
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There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of people in agriculture
& food production
1700s ~ 5 % in urban areas,
~ 95 % in ag/rural area
2000s ~ 95 % in urban areas, ~
5 % in ag/rural areas |
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Ag has developed into global a economic system
& has become more directly linked to other
economic sectors,
especially manufacturing & finance |
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When ag first developed, farmers were chastised & derided,
attacked & exploited by hunter-gatherers
& warlords & their clans |
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This continues up to modern times & is reflected in US lore about
the Old West |
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Today the Ag lifestyle is romanticized & is seen as a vital component
of our American's Values |
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Farmers adapt harmoniously to
the natural world |
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Farmers naturally sustain community
& kin |
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Farmers embody all other important
values: religion, fairness, common sense, etc. |
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Agrarian Systems shape
the culture of the agricultural community
the type of tenure (landholding system) that
determines who has access to land
the kind of cultivation practices are utilized |
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Outline on Shifting Cultivation
Subsistence Agriculture
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Shifting Cultivation is a system of agricultural rotation,
allowing some areas to replenish each season |
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Today, it is almost always practiced in tropical forests,
sometimes used in temperate & semi-arid regions |
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In the past, it was practiced intensely in all areas, but today is
supplanted by industrial ag |
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This method requires less energy than modern farming
& can only support a low population |
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Field rotation is the method of shifting cultivation
where some fields are allowed to remain fallow each season
in order to allow them to replenish |
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Crop rotation is the method of shifting cultivation
where crops are changed each season or so in order
to allow them to replenish |
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All fields remain in production, but different crops have positive
& negative effects
& so do not over-accumulate in a field |
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Large grain: corn & soybeans, generally harder on soil
Small grain: wheat, oats, barley: generally replenish soil
Soybeans will add nitrogen to ground
Alfalfa loosens up soil, adds nutrients & mulch |
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Shifting cultivation land tenure usually operation so that people
hold land in-common
Decisions about land use are made through a ruling council
Sites distributed among village families
As sites become congested,
Families split off to establish a new village |
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Outline on Intensive Agriculture
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Intensive agriculture is the Agricultural System where small
parcels of land
are intensively used through intensive
use of labor & fertilizer |
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Intensive agriculture is able to support large rural populations |
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Intensive agriculture occurs in areas w/ largest populations:
Asia: India, China, SE Asia |
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Methods of Intensive Agriculture include Double Cropping, &
where possible,
fields planted year after year w/ use of fertilizer |
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Intensive agriculture is labor intensive utilizing humans &
beasts of burden
May use terracing
May use non-mechanized irrigation |
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Land Tenure in intensive agriculture limits the size of plots,
which has more to do w/ population than geography
Land is passed down from generation to generation, usually Fathers
to Sons
As families grows, each generation receives smaller share |
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Crop types in Intensive Agriculture include Rice, which is a
major crop in Asia:
China, SE Asia, Bangladesh, India
In drier, colder climates: wheat, barley,
millet, sorghum, corn, oats |
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Outline on Hunter Gatherer Societies
circa 1.5 mm BP - 10 K BC
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Review: A Socio-Historical Overview demonstrates
that humanity has experienced distinct
stages & milestones in its development |
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An overview of this period shows that H - G Society began 1.5 mya &
ended 10 K BC |
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Early humans evolved into our modern form
Neanderthal & other human lines died out
This HG era is made up of the Old Stone Age & the Middle Stone
Age |
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Agriculture has its roots in H-G Society, but it was
only toward the end
that limited agricultural practices
were discovered & utilized |
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Agricultural practices did not become widespread until the next era:
The Pre-Empire Era
10 K BC to 3 K BC |
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Many analysts believe it is agriculture itself that allowed for
the development of civilization
See The FOUR Ag
revolutions
See The 1st Ag
Revolution: The Beginnings & Spread of Agriculture |
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In-Class Project:
What Knowledge
is needed to develop from a H-G society to an Ag society? |
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There was a high level of cooperation w/in tribes |
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Relationships were essentially egalitarian in the H-G Era
"Work" in H-G society was hunting & gathering & you
shared
all your production
There were no markets
Minimal trading
Give/share whatever you have |
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Egalitarian relationships were upset / abandoned w/ the development
of agriculture,
causing for the first time, class conflict |
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Gender differentiation existed in H-G society, but there was
total equality |
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In H-G society, Racial differentiation was recognized
only in the context of tribal
("nationalistic") differentiation
& therefore was not a basis for
inequality/discrimination |
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Transition from H-G to Pre-empire Era (aka "civilization")
occurred in different "hearth areas"
at different times
Proto-Neolithic or Early Stone Age: 9000 to 7000 BC: Transition
to agriculture |
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Hearth Areas are settings where new practices developed, &
then spread to other areas |
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( Hearth Areas may be thought of as "proto-cores" visa vie World Systems
Theory ) |
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There are SIX Major Hearth Areas
a. Africa: Nile River &
south, & along Mediterranean on the African north coast
b. Middle East: Fertile
Crescent: Iran & Iraq, Jordan & Israel, Turkey
c. Indian Subcontinent: Indus
& Ganges Rivers
d. South Asia: Assam, Bangladesh,
Burma, India
e. China: along the coast
& major rivers: Huang & Yangtze Rivers River
f. Americas: Central &
So America (Andes Mtns)
These areas developed relatively simultaneously |
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Agricultural practices first developed in these SIX Major Hearth Areas |
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The next historic stage is Pre-Empire Era
10 K BC to 3 K BC
New Stone Age continues
"Civilization" & history begin
1st widespread ag develops
1st permanent villages develop |
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Outline on The
Pre-Empire Era 10K
BC - 3K BC
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During the Pre-Empire Era FOUR Milestones were crossed for humanity
a. 1st agriculture developed
b. Agriculture becomes widespread
c. "Civilization" begins
d. 1st permanent villages |
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During the Pre-Empire Era inequality/stratification
begins
as humanity develops the capacity to produce a surplus |
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The transition from H-G Society to Pre-Empire "civilization"
is characterized by
the scattered development of agriculture of the
late H-G Era
to where Pre-empire society had widespread agriculture
Pre-Empire society was based on agriculture |
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With the Transition to agriculture, we see "Mini-Systems" develop
in the Hearth Areas, e.g. |
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Mini-systems develop w/ FIVE Common Traits
a. a single cultural base
b. a single social economy
c. are essentially self-sufficient
d. much trade w/in their system
e. even some trade outside their system,
i.e. w/ neighboring mini-systems |
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Hearth Areas are settings where new practices develop, &
then spread to other areas |
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( Hearth Areas may be thought of as "proto-cores" visa vie World Systems
Theory ) |
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There are SIX Major Hearth Areas
a. Africa: Nile River &
south, & along Mediterranean on the African north coast
b. Middle East: Fertile
Crescent: Iran & Iraq, Jordan & Israel, Turkey
c. Indian Subcontinent: Indus
& Ganges Rivers
d. South Asia: Assam, Bangladesh,
Burma, India
e. China: along the coast
& major rivers: Huang & Yangtze Rivers River
f. Americas: Central &
So America (Andes Mtns)
These areas developed relatively simultaneously |
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Agriculture in the Pre-Empire Era
was based on widespread
domestication
of plants & animals |
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Agriculture has gone through
FOUR "revolutions" or major stages |
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The First Agricultural
Revolution occurs as societies domesticated plants & animals |
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During the Pre-Empire Era, the "exploitation of man by man"
first developed ( Marx ) |
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During the Pre-Empire Era, the "exploitation of the Earth by man"
first developed |
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While environmental degradation & species extinctions at the hands
of hunters had begun in H-G Era, the
Hearth Areas sometimes
experienced environmental collapse as
a result of ag practices |
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The replacement of a hunting
& gathering form of economy
w/ an agricultural economy
resulted in people being able to produce surpluses
In H-G society, no surplus was produced
Therefore no one could exploit another by taking their surplus |
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The fact that a person could
produce more than they could consume
allowed others to "exploit" them, i.e. take their surplus
or "enslave" them, i.e. make them create a surplus for another |
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During the Pre-Empire Era,
people gain wealth by creating it themselves or taking it
from others |
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Thus as humanities ability
to create a surplus appeared,
so too did the ability to exploit, enslave, etc. another,
heralding the end of relative equality in human relations |
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But the social relationships surrounding any form of exploitation
are different in each era |
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During the Pre-Empire Era, patriarchal gender relations first
developed |
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See also: Morgan: The
Origin of Patriarchy |
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See also: Marx & Engels: Origin
of the Family, Private Property & the State
"The Historic Defeat of Women" |
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During the Pre-Empire Era, Slavery first developed but was not
based on Race |
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The next era is the Early
Empire Era which runs 3 K BC to 200 BC |
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Chart on the FOUR Qualities of Agricultural Revolutions |
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1st Ag Rev:
Beginnings & Spread
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2nd Ag Rev: Subsistence to Market
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3rd Ag Rev: Industrialization
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4th Ag Rev:
Globalization
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Time span
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circa pre-10K BC
to 20th C
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circa 1650
to present
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circa 1928
to present
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circa late 1970s
to present
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Types of ag
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Subsistence
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Commercial development in frame of family farm
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Commercial development in frame of corporation
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Commercial development in frame of global corporation
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Climax
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Neolithic to
Mid Ages in Europe
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18th C England
19th - 20th C
European colonies
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Present day
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Present day
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Location
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Europe
SE Asia
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W Europe
No Am
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USSR
E Europe
No Am
Europe
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Almost entire planet
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Innovation
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Subsistence
& domestic
food production
Selection & taming of species
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Surplus production technology &
financial
returns
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Lowest cost
production
methods
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Establish world
markets &
patterns of
consumption
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Conditions
of change
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Replaces H-G
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Establishes mercantilist outlook
Industrial Revolution ag demands met
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Establish corporate & collective ag
& the Ag Ind Complex
(AIC)
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AIC goes global
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Effect on
society
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Ag society proliferates
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Ag develops as a separate area of economy
Family farm becomes the norm
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Focus on profit replaces ag way of life
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Globalization establishes profit at the expense of the local economy
& environment
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Outline on the First Agricultural
Revolution: Beginnings & Early Spread
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The 1st Ag Rev responsible for establishing civilization
H-G soc began experiments that developed the technology of agriculture
As sufficient knowledge accumulated,
subsistence, sedentary & nomadic
agriculture became possible
This allowed people to live in villages |
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The 1st Ag Rev was founded on the development of domestication of animals
& seeds
The use of plows & draft animals was developed soon after Ag was
1st established |
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It is widely believed that people 1st domestication Wheat & Goats,
followed by rice, sheep, etc. |
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These domestications developed during the H-G Era
Seed based agriculture occurred during roughly the same period
in several regions around the world |
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The 1st Ag Rev established hearth societies in many areas
Created broad belt of cultivated land from SW Asia to Greece in the
west
into Turkey & Iran in the east
as well as parts of Central & South America, Northern China, NE
India & East Africa |
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The 1st agricultural revolution established village life
The domestication of plants & animals allowed for THREE societal
innovations
- Settled ways of life
- Village construction
- The creation of new types of social,
cultural, economic & political relationships
as compared to H-G
soc |
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Domestication of plants & animals diffused outward from hearth
areas
1st Ag Rev was important in the establishing of the hearths of civilization:
e.g. in the fertile flood plains of
the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers,
the Nile River, Indus & Ganges
rivers, the Huang river, etc. |
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There are SEVEN Qualities of the 1st Agricultural Revolution:
Beginnings & Spread |
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a. Time span
circa Pre- 10k BC to 20th C |
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b. Climax
Neolithic Age to the Mid Ages in Europe |
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c. Location
No Africa, Mid East, China, SE Asia, Europe |
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d. Innovation
Initial selection & domestication of key species of plants & animals |
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e. Conditions of change
Replaces H-G methods of production |
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f. Effect on society
Agricultural society proliferates |
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g. Types of agriculture
Subsistence |
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Outline on the Second Agricultural
Revolution: Subsistence to Market
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There is much debate over the timing & location of the 2nd Ag Rev
The 2nd Ag Rev did not occur everywhere at the same time,
& thus there is disagreement over
what happened when & where
And there is disagreement over the essential causative factors |
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Subsistence, peasant agriculture was prevalent at beginning of the
2nd ag revolution
The partial development of the market economy in agriculture was established |
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The tenure ( land ) system was transitioning from feudalism to capitalism
Lords previously owned all land
Some "freemen" came to own land
New world allowed private middle class ownership
Communal farms replaced by enclosed, individual farms worked by tenants
or renters |
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There are THREE Results of 2nd Ag Rev:
- A great increase in outputs
of crops & livestock
- Development of innovation:
yoke & domesticated horse
- Development of fertilizers &
field drainage |
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The Apex of 2nd Ag Rev & Industrial Rev coincide both geologically
( location )
& time wise: in western Europe
The Ag Rev needed the rise of industrialized manufacturing sector
both to create the technology
of agriculture & to provide a market for ag goods |
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FOUR Improvements in technology occurred during the 2nd Ag Rev
- The manufacturing of agricultural
machines
- Transportation technology
- Fertilizer: natural &
processed
- Agricultural Practices:
crop & field rotation |
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2nd Ag Rev changed society in FIVE ways
a. New ag tech was diffused by
European colonization
b. Allowed the dominance of capitalism
c. Established the small farm
d. Ag dependence of the manufacturing
sector on farm input
e. Established nascent international
system |
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SEVEN Qualities of the 2nd Agricultural Revolution: Subsistence
to Markets |
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a. Time span
circa 1650 to present |
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b. Climax
18th C Europe; 19th - 20th C European
colonies |
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c. Location
W Europe & No. America |
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d. Innovation
Surplus production technology that created a surplus of food
& ag markets that created financial returns for food |
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e. Conditions of change
Established the mercantilist outlook
The agricultural demands of Industrial Rev were met |
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f. Effect on society
Ag developed as a separate area of the economy
Family farm becomes the norm |
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g. Types of agriculture
Commercial development in the frame of the family farm |
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Outline on the Third Agricultural
Revolution: Industrialization
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The 3rd Ag Rev ran from approximately from 1928 to the present |
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The 3rd Ag Rev emanates mostly from the New World & occurred in
20th C |
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Each of its 3 important developmental phases originated in No America |
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These processes completely industrialized the agricultural process |
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The industrialization of ag has not occurred uniformly nor universally
through-out the globe |
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There are SIX Major Sectors of Industrial Agriculture
a. production
d. distribution
b. storage
e. marketing
c. processing
f. retailing
Ag has thus become linked to service sector |
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There are THREE phases of the 3rd Ag Rev
a. Mechanization
b. Chemical farming
c. Food manufacturing
The first 2 phases affect inputs
The 3rd phase affects outputs |
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a. Mechanization
Replace human & animal labor w/ tractors, plows,
discs, sprayers,
planters, cultivators, combines,
trucks, grain dryers, etc. |
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Farm machinery became widely used around
the 1920s
By the late 1940s, machinery had replaced human
& animal labor
In Europe, mechanization didn't spread until after
WW2 |
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b. Chemical farming includes the application of
- inorganic fertilizers
- fungicides
- herbicides
- pesticides |
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Chemical Farming became widespread
in the 50s in US
Diffused to Europe in the 60s
Diffused to periphery in the 70s |
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Chemical Farming has also developed
hybrid seeds & biotech methods |
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c. Food manufacturing has used the manufacturing processes to
increase the value of food
The food manufacturing sector
grew rapidly in the 1960s
The growth of food conglomerates:
RJR Nabisco, etc., have been significant
& set the stage for the next Ag Rev: Globalization |
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The environmental impacts of the 3rd Ag Rev are significant |
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Industrialization has affected all 3 phases of the 3rd Ag rev
Ag industrialization has moved the farm from being centerpiece of ag
production
to become 1 part of an integrated,
multilevel (vertically organized) industrial process |
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SEVEN Qualities of the 3rd Agricultural Revolution: Industrialization |
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a. Time span
circa
circa 1928 to present |
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b. Climax
Present day |
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c. Location
No America, Europe, USSR, E Europe, |
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d. Innovation
Lowest cost production methods |
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e. Conditions of change
Established corporate & collective ag
Established the Ag Industrial Complex (AIC) |
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f. Effect on society
The focus on profit replaces the ag way of life |
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g. Types of agriculture
Commercial development in the frame of the corporation |
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Outline on the Fourth Agricultural
Revolution: Globalization
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The 4th Ag Rev: Globalization, runs approximately from the late 1970s
to the Present |
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The Ag System is presently incorporated into the world capitalist economic
system
Modern ag uses global economic & regulatory practices
Scope & organization of ag is now global via trans-national ag
conglomerates |
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The forces of globalization of ag include
- technology
- cultural
- econ systems
- pop growth
- political
& have all become global in scope |
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There are THREE Institutions of the Globalization of Ag
- trade: WTO, GATT, IMF, World Bank, EU, ASEAN
- finance: world stock markets, futures markets --Chicago
mercantile exchange
- Transnational global corps: Dole, ADM, Monsanto,
John Deere, etc. |
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The 3rd & 4th Ag Rev's eliminated old forms of ag
& integrated new forms into global econ systems
Examples include the decline of traditional ag practices: shifting
cultivation
& the decline of the
family farm |
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Global agriculture is internally & externally interdependent
AIC is internally dependent in that all parts of the agricultural system
are linked
AIC is externally dependent in that the agricultural sector is linked
w/ other sectors,
such as industrial, chemical, govt,
etc. sectors
Changes in the wider economy affect all sectors of economy including
agriculture
Examples
- Price & availability of oil
- Stability of $
- Recessions
- Inflation |
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Changes in ag affect other economic sectors globally, nationally, &
locally in different ways
Examples
- Prod surpluses
- Soil erosion
- Food price stability
- Water pollution |
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Nation-states attempt to regulate the AIC
& maintain production, consumption,
corporate profits through FIVE processes
a. Production subsidies
d. Ag econ development
b. Consumer subsidies
e. Ag finance intervention
c. Production & processing
regulations |
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Nations subsidize ag through FIVE major programs
a. Paying farmers not to
grow certain crops
b. Paying farmers to grow
certain crops
c. Buying up surplus crops,
livestock, produce (milk, etc.)
d. Maintaining price supports
(ceilings & floors)
e. Crop insurance |
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There are TWO major problems w/ ag subsidies
a. The system is continually
plagued by over production
b. Fixing prices is a disincentive
for producers to lower production levels |
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US govt must dispose of its agricultural surplus
It "dumps" or sells below cost in peripheral nations & in
US
This harms local production because it drives prices down |
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The "Great Irony of the Agricultural Industrial Complex"
is that 30 mm Americans are hungry
each day (about 8 %)
& globally, thousands die
each day from malnutrition
yet the core countries ag systems
are plagued by over-production |
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The Great Irony is one of the arguments of the post-modernists
& the anti-globalization forces
that rationality & the present system cannot stand |
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There are TWO reasons for state intervention |
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1. Correct wider economic problems
Governments intervene routinely in one
economic sector or another
to correct wider problems of inflation or depression
In the 1920s & 30s the govt attempted
to address the problem
of economic depression by reducing overproduction |
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2. Protect consumer interest
Govt support of ag leads to hi prices
for consumers
Govt therefore subsidizes the price
of food in the "free-market" for consumers
to keep the work force well fed & to avoid bread riots |
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Govt created FDA at turn of century after Upton Sinclair wrote "The
Jungle" |
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Core govts frequently intervene in peripheral nations
Food & ag development aid are distributed as both rewards &
punishments
1980s: Reagan threatens an ag embargo against SU --US won't
sell them grain |
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The World Bank, the Food & Ag Organization ( FAO ) & many other
global organizations
have been involved in ag development
in the periphery for 5 decades |
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These organizations try to improve capacity of the ag sector in peripheral
States |
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Often, international development dislocates the local population |
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TWO Examples of International Development:
Kenya: The World Bank financed livestock production:
displaced traditional pastoralism
which meant loss of livelihood for thousands
The World Bank financed the development of Brasilia
& a major highway from the
coast to Brasilia
This opened rain forest to destructive development
& displaced indigenous peoples
to urban slums |
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Successful agricultural development in the periphery depends on FIVE
factors
a. Ag systems must be operated
at the local scale & level
b. Small projects
c. Sensitive to local cultural
& social conditions, especially gender
d. Sensitive to local econ & political
conditions
e. Income-generating projects, e.g.
setting up small ag coops
for production
of poultry, veggies, handicrafts, etc. |
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Helping another country or another person is perhaps the most difficult
task in life
Local production becomes insufficient when dominated by production
for the global market
Food aid harms local production
Food aid keeps countries dependent |
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Oxfam is a charity that gives aid in growing crops & raising stock |
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Food aid has become a political weapon in some countries
Food aid becomes weapon of war:
Sudan in 90s
Ethiopia in 2000s |
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Chart on Major donors & recipients of food aid, 1988-1989 |
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SEVEN Qualities of the 4th Agricultural Revolution: Globalization |
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a. Time span
circa the late 1970s to the Present |
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b. Climax
Present day |
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c. Location
Almost entire planet |
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d. Innovation
Establish global markets & patterns of consumption |
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e. Conditions of change
AIC goes global |
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f. Effect on society
Globalization establishes profit at the expense of the local environment |
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g. Types of agriculture
Commercial development in the frame of global corporation |
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Outline on Commercial
Agriculture: The Agro-Food System
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Farmers engaged in Commercial Ag in the 20th C, produce crops &
animals
primarily for sale rather
than for direct consumption
This created mechanical, industrial ag as we know it today,
i.e. the AIC Agricultural
Industrial Complex |
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There are THREE prominent & nested forces in commercial agriculture
a. Agribusiness
b. Food chains
c. Integration of ag w/ manufacturing, service,
finance & trade |
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a. Agribusiness, aka the corporate farm, the factory farm
is a system of economic & political relationships
that organizes
food production from the development of seeds to
retailing & consumption
Transnational corps ( TNC ) are the major players in this system
TNCs can negotiate the complexities of production & distribution
in many locales |
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b. Food chains are made up of 4 central & connected sectors
w/ 4 contextual elements acting as external
mediating forces |
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The FOUR Central Sectors in the Food Chain include
1. inputs
3. outputs
2. production
4. distribution |
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The FOUR Mediating Forces in the Food Chain include:
1. States
3. physical environment
2. Int'l trade
4. credit & finance system |
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Chart on the Food Supply System |
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Food chain example: beef production
There are FOUR forms of food chains for beef production
a. Natural Grass based:
grazing natural grasslands
b. Cleared Grass based:
grazing cleared land
c. Fodder based:
raising fodder to feed to the livestock
d. Grain-based:
raising fodder & grain to feed the livestock |
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AIC Beef Production / Grass-based from cleared land:
Cattle production in Amazon & Mexico
Processing along US - Mexican border
Produces frozen hamburgers for
- core grocery stores
- McDonalds & other fast food world-wide |
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AIC Beef Production has displaced local agriculture in all regions:
Amazon periphery
Mexico semi-periphery
US
core |
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Chart on New Zealand grassland- based beef production |
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Chart on US, European Commercial grain - based beef production |
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Grazing is more economical, environmental, & ethical
World puts over 100 mm tons of grain into meat production / year
20 lbs grain --> 1 lbs meat
Takes 110x H20 for lb of meat / lb of grain
Over half of H20 used in US is used in meat industry,
most of it for irrigation of fodder
1 acre = 165 lbs beef or 20,000 lbs potatoes
Grazing: Major reason for cutting rainforest
Ethical treatment of animals |
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c. Integration
By their very nature, agribusiness & the food chain
components are highly integrated into a world system |
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The nature of the integration of Commercial Ag is shaped by THREE Factors:
a. govt policies
b. corporate influence
c. social systems (traditions, expectations, etc.) |
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Social & technical change in global ag has resulted in restructuring
Ag has experienced the same political & economic forces
that affect globalization in all economic
sectors |
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Globalization has affected ag as it has become more industrialized
& commercialized
This system of the globalization of ag creates conflict & competition
w/in nations & between nations |
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Gambi River Basin: Example of ignorance of integration
Govt w/ help of international development agency
began a program to grow rice along banks of
the river
Wanted to reduce their dependency on imported rice
The govt & international development agencies distributed
rice seed, fertilizer, pesticide, etc.
to 2000 peasants in 70 villages |
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The society had to restructure labor, land, & crop rights |
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Women were not free to work when most needed in the field
Women wanted to control their own time & labor to produce rice
for family & market |
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M & W disagreed over who controlled the land & crops
& so the project failed |
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Commercial agriculture's human impact is seen in EIGHT groupings
The struggle to maintain control over production
& a way of life affects many different types
of people around the world:
1. women
5. tribes
2. men
6. family farms
3. landowners
7. corps
4. peasant
8. govts |
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Outline on the US
Farm Crisis
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In the early 70's, for first time since 30s,
govt controlled prices of commodities went up
This was result of govt grain sales to SU, China, etc.
to bolster US position in arms
& other deals |
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Corn: $1.25 to 1.90 per bu |
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OPEC increases oil prices 4 times over, creating an oil crisis
OPEC becomes cash rich puts $$ in Am banks
Banks are flush w/ cash, so offer cheap loans to farmers
This drives up price of land |
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Most loans were made w/ unique terms for land: variable rates;
recallable, joint liability |
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1979: Federal Reserve Bank significantly increased interest rates
Cost of oil drives up farm costs: diesel, fertilizer, herbicide,
pesticide, etc. |
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Govt does not allow prices to rise |
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Grain prices decline as result of
- econ development in So Am &
other regions:
World Bank, IMF, etc. Review Green Rev
- US boycotts grain sales to SU |
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Bankruptcy: As land values fell, Farmers could not liquidate
& pay off debt
Had to sell several acreages to pay off one acreage & eventually
lost it all |
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But farm bankruptcy is unique in that it allows for the sale of all
personal possessions
Normal bankruptcy allows retention of necessities:
1 home, 1 car, some cash, normal personal
possessions |
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Effects of the crisis
Crisis hit
- Mid-sized farmers
- Income $40,000 to $200,00 in sales
- Young farmers needing to go into debt
- in IL, IA, KS, MI, MO, NE, ND, SD
Crisis sank many small towns based on farm econ
Affected schools, churches, etc.
European farmers were also in crisis |
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Example: Lexington, NE |
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Example: Yankton, SD |
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The role of govt in ag is such that the farm economy is one of most
controlled in US |
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Since FDR, US govt
- limits prod by paying farmers not to grow crops
- sets price ceilings & floors
- buys & sells crops to attain these price controls
- sells crop ins |
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The Farm Crisis resulted in the call for return to free market
Passed farm bill in 90s to fade out govt regulation
But minor crises have periodically returned,
so Congress has passed several one-time supplements |
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The Farm Crisis is also the result of industrialization of ag because
mechanization
means there is less need for people in farming
Farmers need more capital
This trend has been going on since mechanization & began at the
turn of century |
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Farmers' protest March 4,
1985
Farmers marched on Washington DC
Drove tractor convoy down Penn Ave
Place 250 white crosses on Washington Mall
representing the number of farmers
bankrupting each day |
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Stars support farmers
May
7, 1985
Jessica Lange, Jane Fonda, Sissy Spacek
Spoke before US House of Rep
All had movies about farm crisis |
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Farm Aid Concerts
September 22, 1985
Willie Nelson begins series of Farm Aid Concerts
Raise awareness about loss of family farm
Raise $$ for farmers |
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Family farm or corp farm?
While the corporate farm will inevitably be more efficient,
it is based on poor environmental practices
& is more subject to control--control
of food |
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Countries that have experienced food shortages
believe family farm provides a more secure food supply for THREE reasons
a. Family farms they are not limited by profitability,
they will raise
food irregardless of the profitability
b. Family farms cannot manipulate supply or price
c. Family farms are decentralized & therefore less
susceptible to system collapse,
diseases, etc. |
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Will family farms die like Mom & Pop stores? |
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Europe, Japan, & China support family farms
SU/ Russia, US support the corporate farm |
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In-Class Project: Will the Family Farm Survive? |
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Outline on Biotechnology
in Agriculture
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Biotechnology technique that uses living organisms or parts
of organisms to
- make or modify products ( plants & animals )
- improve plants & animals
- develop microorganisms for specific uses |
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There are FOUR fundamental Biotechnological Methods
a. Natural selection
b. Hybrids: selective out-breeding
c. Pure breeds: selective in-breeding
d. Genetic Engineering
- gene splicing:
creates transgenic organisms
- cloning: creates
exact copies of organisms |
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Biotechnology assumes a belief in the superiority of science &
technology
There is the assumption that biotechnological side-effects can be controlled
Researchers such as Jeremy Rifkin challenge this |
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Biotechnology reduces ag costs
Biotechnology is used as resource-management technique:
replaces natural resources w/
manufactured ones |
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Fruits of biotech Corn, soybeans:
Disease resistance
Rice: increased vitamin
A
Strawberries: develop bacteria
to limit frost damage
Trees: Douglas Fir:
grow fast & big
Trout: Frankenfish:
grow fast: not approved for production
Oil eating bacteria
Laundry detergent enzymes
Medicine: all insulin, growth
hormones |
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Clones sheep
pigs: organ harvesting
humans: Japan: late 90's
Cloning not yet used in ag production |
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There are FIVE Dangers of Biotechnology |
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1. Disease Many hybrids,
clones, etc. are more susceptible to disease etc.
This is a danger of monocultures: growing large
tracts of uniform crops & animals
One disease, climate burble can decimate large tracts |
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2. Cost Engineered ag has
hi cost: only commercial farmers can afford them
This increases the gap btwn wealthy & poor ag regions |
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3. Escape
Monsanto has seeds that "expires"
It was feared that this seed's genetic marker for expiration might
escape into general seed pop
Frankenfish
Frost bacteria |
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4. Patents/ownership
Private ownership of biotech process is ownership over
life & food
Ethical, political, & economic debates
Ownership of life forms makes it possible for the world food supply
to be controlled by corporations |
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5. Reduction of labor costs
This is a weakness of any commercialization of ag
Allows production of crops & animals in new areas reducing demand
in traditional areas
Displaces traditional farmers
Export crops are threatened |
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The Biorevolution
compared w/ the Green Revolution
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| Characteristics |
Green Revolution |
Biorevolution
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| Crops affected |
Wheat, rice, maize |
Possibly all crops veggies, fruits, exports, specialty |
| Other sectors affected |
None |
Pesticides, animals, drugs, food, energy, mining, warfare |
| Territories affected |
Some developed nations |
Global |
| Development of technology & dissemination |
Mostly public or quasi-public:
Int'l Ag Research Ctrs (IARCs)
R&D in $$mm |
Private sector, especially transnational corporations
R&D in $$bb |
| Proprietary considerations |
Plant breeders' rights & patents not relevant |
Genes, cells, plants, animals, held to be patentable
No total ownership yet |
| Capital costs of research |
Low |
Hi for many techniques
Discovering more low cost technologies |
| Access to info |
Relatively easy due to policy of IARCs |
Restricted due to privatization |
| Research skills required |
Conventional breeding & ag science |
Molecular & cell biology plus conventional methods |
| Crop vulnerability |
Hi yield varieties are uniform & have hi vulnerability |
Exact genetic copies even more vulnerable to monoculture diseases |
| Side-effects |
Monoculture problems
Chemicals Displacement
Environmental degradation |
Crop substitution replacing 3rd World exports
Herbicide tolerance
More chemicals
Engineered organisms might affect environment
Displacement increases |
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Outline on Agriculture
& the Environment
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The relationship btwn the physical environment & agriculture relates
primarily to
- the soil types
- the climate: precipitation, temperature, etc.
- the terrain |
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There is a strong, 2-way relationship btwn agriculture & the physical
environment
How does agriculture change the environment? |
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Ag involves the interaction of the biophysical & human systems
Ag is perhaps the most dependent on the environment
Extractive industries also depend on the environment |
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The management of the environment by farmers is always increasing
Ag tries to get around the limits of the physical environment by, for
example,
- irrigation
- double cropping |
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Mechanized ag is an inefficient use of resources in SEVEN respects |
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a. Soil degradation is occurring on every continent
with over one sixth of Earth's surface already
impacted
b. Biotechnology can threaten the environment through
FOUR avenues
if not properly controlled
c. Unethical treatment of animals abounds in the commercial
ag system
d. Agricultural Chemicals are affecting the soil, the
water, plants & animal, & thus people
e. The degradation & depletion of the fresh water
supply is occurring
because of irrigation, tillage practices,
ag chemicals, etc.
f. Tillage of the wild spaces
g. Commercial ag utilizes a higher level of resources
than traditional ag |
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a. Soil degradation is occurring on every continent
with over one sixth of Earth's surface already
impacted |
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Today erosion occurs at over 1000x normal rate
1930s: Dust Bowl
2000s: Gobi bowl of China
Soil is a fixed resource that cannot be readily replaced
.5 in soil takes 100 to 500 yrs
55k mm tons lost each year |
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Causes of soil loss
Tillage
Overgrazing
Changing/degrading water run-off
Irrigation: salinization
Overcropping: degrades soil |
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The Chart on global soil resource problems shows that over one sixth
of the Earth's soil has been destroyed w/ Europe having the highest destroyed
% & No America the lowest destroyed % |
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Desertification
Topsoil & vegetative loss is so extreme that it is permanent &
nothing will grow there
Affects water quality & quantity
Especially prevalent in slashed & burned Amazon
In Africa: so the edge of Sahara Desert is steadily increasing
In he Gobi desert in Asia has also been growing dramatically |
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Tillage destroys habitat & watersheds
As pop increased & as soil degrades more marginal areas are tilled
This destroys natural areas --the remaining animal & plant habitats
& water sheds
Furthermore, the marginal areas are more fragile & thus often become
degraded themselves |
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The Dust bowl
of 1930s was result of over cultivation
Erosion of soil continues in US & around the globe
We are losing tillable acres each day |
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Tropical soil is fragile
Soil depletion is common because of heavy rain & over production
of crops |
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Developing tropical land encompasses FIVE steps
a. Log / deforest the land
b. Swiden: land cleared through slash & burn technology
prepares the land for cultivation
c. Farm the land
d. Abandon the land for farming: develop grazing
e. Abandon the land for grazing & seek new land:
In a decade the fragile tropical
soil becomes degraded |
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b. Biotechnology can threaten the environment through
FOUR avenues if not properly controlled
i. Escape
ii. Competition & displacement
iii. Monocultures susceptible
to disease
iv. "Frankenfish" unknown outcomes may
crate environmental disaster |
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c. Unethical treatment of animals abounds in the commercial
ag system |
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Americans consumes 3 bb birds / yr (12 / person)
145 mm other animals: cattle, pigs, sheep, etc.
80 % of animals are raised on 17 % of farms which are all large corporate
farms
98% of chickens & 70% of all animals are raised in a restricted
environment
Only 2 % of birds & 30 % of bovines are happy barnyard animals |
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Conditions for chickens & pigs are extreme
Pigs & chickens are driven insane
Ag industry diagnoses this as porcine stress syndrome
Slaughter methods insure animals are stressed
Hunters know that animals that die under stress taste bad
many hunters will not eat stressed meat |
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The cruelest animal treatment is in product testing & the medical
industry
There are regulations, but they allow for extreme cruelty,
often allowing for any type of treatment
as long as the animal is killed in the end |
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d. Agricultural Chemicals are affecting the soil, the
water, plants & animal, & thus people |
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You are what you eat: chemicals, etc.
Growth hormones
Antibiotics
Feed supplements: vitamins, minerals, etc.
Tranquilizers
Other medicines
Animals eat fodder that cannot be fed to humans because of the herbicides
on it,
but the irony is that the animals concentrate
the trace elements in their meat
Stressed animal |
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Pesticides have environmental costs
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring demonstrated that DDT destroyed
eggs & bones
Silent Spring was a cornerstone book for starting up the environmental
movement
Affected calcium uptake in all species
Wild bird egg shells were first to see severe impact
US corporations continue to manufacture & sell DDT to peripheral
nations
Circle of poison: spray insects, birds eat insects |
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DDT: once common pesticide:
banned in US because it causes calcium depletion, esp in birds
US corps still sell it & many other banned chemical in semi- &
peripheral nations |
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Pests grow resistance to pesticides & so it always take more or
new pesticides |
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Today non-banned herbicides & pesticides are polluting ground water
Linked to cancer |
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e. The degradation & depletion of the fresh water supply
is
occurring
because of irrigation, tillage practices,
ag chemicals, etc. |
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Irrigation is steadily lowering water major aquifers in West:
Ogallaha: midwest from ND to TX
Idaho: Snake River Valley
Over half of the Water in the US is used to raise farm animals
It takes 100x water to raise beef as wheat in lbs |
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The Majority
of US ground water sources are now polluted
w/ nitrates & other chemical
residue from ag |
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f. Tillage of the wild spaces destroys natural habitat |
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Agriculture affects FIVE important facets of the wild spaces
- removes natural cover
- dries up wetlands
- fences in areas
- creates a mono-culture of plant & wildlife ( flora &
fauna )
- creates the domination / exploitation of domestic species |
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g. Commercial ag utilizes a higher level of resources
than traditional ag |
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In-Class Project: Chemicals, Energy & the Ethical Treatment
of Animals |
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There are FOUR Methods to improve agriculture |
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a. Debt for nature swap: Conservation groups, such as
World Wildlife fund
pay off part of countries debt if they will estb protected zones such
as
a National Park or extending boundaries of existing park |
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b. Intertillage: mixing different seeds in same swiden
Often staggered so that harvest can continue through-out the year
Use of intertillage w/ crop or land rotation is the most environmental
ag practice
Requires no fertilizers, pesticides, or heavy equipment
But is labor intensive
Allows for food production through-out the year |
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c. Central & So American govt's use rural resettlement
to
relieve urban pop pressure
Often use improper cultivation techniques & thus deplete the soil
In Amazon, sifting cultivation w/ grazing has accelerated environmental
degradation |
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d. Gender division of labor in shifting cultivation
Men slash & burn
Women sow & harvest
Women supplement traditional ag w/ craft production for tourists |
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There are FOUR reasons many areas being farmed
w/ unenvironmental commercial ag
practices |
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a. Industrialization of ag results in the
concentration of control
which allows for the concentration of profits |
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b. Externalization of costs is the
term that economists use for costs that
do not accrue to those making the costs
In the case
of commercial ag, costs are externalized, borne by the
general public rather than by the producers |
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c. Corporations lobby for subsidies
& economic development funds
only for the furtherance of commercial ag, not environmental ag |
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d. Governments provide subsidies &
economic development funds
only for the furtherance of commercial ag, not environmental ag |
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