Introduction
Industrial agriculture is a modern form of farming that incorporates industrialized production of crops, livestock, fish and poultry. Western countries have been on the fore front of practicing industrialized agriculture to feed its population. The methods of industrial agriculture are political, techno scientific and economic. The practices include innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, the creation of new markets for consumption, techniques for achieving economies of scale in production, the application for patent protection to genetic information, and lastly the global trade. Industrial agriculture is practiced by more developed nation because of their vast knowledge of technological know-how. However, the methods of industrial agriculture are increasingly becoming prevalent worldwide. Most of the dairy, meat, eggs, vegetables and, fruits available in supermarkets are produced using industrial agriculture methods. The U.S. and other western countries have been on the fore front of embracing industrial agriculture. U.S is the number one country that has widely utilized this methods.
The birth of industrial agriculture more coincides with the birth of the industrial revolution. The identification of phosphorus and nitrogen as important factors in plants growth is what led to the manufacture of synthetic fertilizers. More so, the discovery of vitamin supplement that is useful in animal nutrition led to industrial manufacture of vitamin supplements. Diseases in crops and animals are some of the factors that led to introduction of antibiotics and vaccines. Development in technology and shipping networks that had been brought about by industrial revolution is what maximized industrial agriculture. Agricultural production across the world tripled two times between 1830 and 1975. Industrial agriculture is characterized by higher use of inputs such as labour and capital per area and low fallow ratio. This is a contrast to the traditional agriculture in which there are lower inputs per unit land.
There has been many challenges and issues that has affected industrial agriculture industry. Some of these challenges and issues have been both for global and local society. There have been lobby groups and activists who have condemned the current industrial agriculture practices and have advocated for shift to sustainable agriculture form of industrial agriculture. This research paper will extensively analyze the pros and cons of industrial agriculture in the U.S.
The issues and challenges of industrial agriculture for society, for the individual farm, for the industrial agriculture sector, and for animal rights include the benefit and costs of both current practices and proposed changes to those practices. The objective of industrial agriculture is to profitably cater for the supplies of the world at the lowest cost possible, however, industrial methods have side effects. There is a continuation of thousands of years of invention in feeding the over growing populations. “When hunter-gatherers with growing populations depleted the stocks of game and wild foods across the Near East, they were forced to introduce agriculture. But agriculture brought much longer hours of work and a less rich diet than hunter-gatherers enjoyed. Further population growth among shifting slash-and-burn farmers led to shorter fallow periods, falling yields and soil erosion. Plowing and fertilizers were introduced to deal with these problems - but once again involved longer hours of work and degradation of soil resources” (Boserup, The Conditions of Agricultural Growth, Allen and Unwin, 1965, expanded and updated in Population and Technology, Blackwell, 1980.). Soil is a non-renewable natural resource, if it is degraded it is hard for it to regain its fertility again. It may take up to a million years to form back its top oil which is the matter that has nutrients suitable for crop production. Through the industrial production methods, “Each year an additional 20 million hectares of agricultural land either becomes too degraded for crop production or become lost to urban sprawl”
The land that has been destroyed through soil degradation is the size of the United States and Canada combined. Some of the lands destroyed can be restored back through much efforts over a long period of time, but many pieces of them will be ruined forever. Analysis of soil and agriculture policy need to be incorporated to reduce soil degradation and erosion – but how we feed the Large U.S. population is equally important. Food security is a major concern in states. If the states reverts to small-scale farming like the past it would be difficult for it to feed its entire population. To enrich the demanding food supply and securing food security the same methods must be enhanced. The value of soil, agrarian culture, and sustainable farming should be protected through global treaty. The next generation may be faced with problems of food security because of the degraded lands that are increasingly forming every day. The soil cannot be saved without significant reforms to global agricultural practices.
According to the European Environment Agency, “soil is a major factor in our responses to tackling climate change as it is the second largest carbon pool after the oceans.” (European Environmental Agency, 2009). Industrial agriculture which utilizes its crop production through greenhouses has posed threat to the world’s climate. Greenhouse gases are among the chief causes of global warming. Carbon dioxide emitted from the green house is the prime factor that has increased the changes in global climatic change over the years. In U.S. alone, some 35 billion tons of carbon are stored in soil. Putting that in perspective, it is estimated that the States emitted 600 million tons of carbon in 2006 (European Environmental Agency, 2009). To make industrial agriculture safer and better, reduction of carbon emissions should be the top priority in the fight against climate change. Industries that are involved in the industrial agricultural activities should deal with the excess carbon. The matter of soil comes in again. The soil’s capacity to store carbon should be analyzed and enhanced to make it a weapon in the climate-change arsenal. The EEA explains that, “Soil carbon sequestration cannot be alone the solution due to the limited magnitude of its effects and its potential reversibility. Nevertheless, it could play an important role in climate mitigation in the short term together with other measure, especially because of its immediate availability and the relatively low cost.” (Sundermeier et. al. 2010). The carbon storing aspect of the soil should be standardized and effective policies should be formulated to avoid careless land-use practices. When draining converted forests or wetlands and green lands into agricultural zones, massive amounts of carbon is released into the atmosphere. In the U.S., soil carbon losses are estimated at 30 million tons since 1990 (European Environmental Agency, 2009). The storage loss “corresponds to about 15% of the annual UK industrial carbon emissions (2007), which is approximately the same reduction of industrial carbon dioxide emissions in the period 1990-2007. Soil’s character as a carbon sink presents great opportunity, but it also presents great risk; that the carbon dioxide may still eventually escape.
The world’s food supply is inadequate and insecure and growing more so. Many people migrate to the U.S. to look for “greener pastures”. U.S. has adequate food security for its population making it a good destination for millions of people around the world to seek citizenship there. It is through the vast application of industrial security that has made the U.S. one of the number one exporters in food exports. During the past 50 years, the world’s population has doubled. Fortunately, grain production has also doubled during the same period. This is regards to the extensive innovation and research of industrial agriculture. Some the chief countries that have taken strides in improving industrial agriculture includes United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, China, Japan, South Africa and Netherlands. In the next half-century the world is also scheduled to double in population, this has led to debates and seminars around the world to determine whether there should be a continued application of the current industrial agriculture methods.
The Government in US recognizes the imperative function that the agriculture industry plays to their economy. They also recognize the importance of a modern and dynamic agriculture sector. However, it is crucial to strike a balance between the economic benefits derived and the negative impact of agriculture activities to the environment. The government needs to develop a framework of policies that will ensure that there are long term sustainable solutions in managing agriculture industry. On the national approach perspective, the government needs to put the best interest of the people when developing a comprehensive policy towards the Agriculture industry development.
The US assembly has continuously opposed the concept of expansion of US Industry. The grounds for opposition are pessimistic environmental impact are incoherent to benefits accrued from the project to US citizens. The government maintained their position even after the British Agriculture Authority made the master plan on how developments should take course. Issues raised were the project’s ability to meet quality targets, to improve the standards of living of the US people.
The national assembly committee on environment set out to reduce the green house gas emissions to the 80 percent level. This is below the level of 1990 as set out by the climate act of 2008 (Forsyth, 76).
There is an urgent need to develop approaches on how to reduce agriculture emissions. It recommended that legally binding short, medium, and long term solutions be developed in relation to the idea reducing emissions. The government of US has shown their commitment in reducing the emissions by inviting the climate change committee on how to address the issue. The five year carbon budget was recommended as a means to approach the topic.
Incentives should be provided to boost the performance of farmers. The US government should encourage technological advancement through the support of research. The research should concentrate on how to use renewable fuel. This fuel is better than bio fuels because air pollution by them is much lesser. The performance of aircrafts is better in renewable fuel.
The main aspects that the assembly is concern with on how to approach the problem are measurement and threshold to be adopted. It is difficult to measure the level of pollution that is considered to be vital to people.
In relation to measures that support improvement of the quality of agriculture products, it is necessary to use effective measures.
Work Cited
Boserup, The Conditions of Agricultural Growth, Allen and Unwin, 1965, expanded and updated in Population and Technology, Blackwell, 1980.
U.N. Env’t Programme., UNEP'S STRATEGY ON LAND USE MANAGEMENT & SOIL CONSERVATION 9-11 (2004) http://www.unep.org/
European Environmental Egency, (2009), Soil and Climate Change,
http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/soil/climate/soil-and-climate-change.
Sundermeier, A. Reeder R. Lal R., 2010. Soil Carbon Sequestration: Fundamentals 1.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/pdfi'0510.pdf
