Production Methods

Fill in the vocabulary words on the

notes sheet as we go.

Subsistence Agriculture – For

farmers and families Farmers grow what

they and their families need for the year.

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

Slash and Burn Agriculture A patch of forest land is cleared by a

combination of cutting and burning. Then crops are planted on the burned land.

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.

Slash and burn Fallow - leaving land unused so secondary

succession occurs and the soil fertility returns over time

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 at low population densities, but higher population loads prevents soil fertility from recovering

Ultimately deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and erosion occur

Polyculture Farmingoften used by subsistence farmers

multiple crops in the same place at same time, imitating biodiversity of natural ecosystems

Advantages: less susceptible to disease and increased biodiversity, which functions as biological pest control.

Disadvantages: requires more labor, sometimes lower yield than fertilized or GMO crops

Historical Example: corn, beans, & squash “the three sisters” used by Native Americans to maintain long-term soil fertility

Corporate Farming/Industrial Agriculture

Includes: the farm, 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: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Monsanto, Cargill

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

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.

Raising Livestock Raising animals (cattle, sheep, hogs,

etc.) for meat, dairy, leather, wool, etc.

Requires large land area to support pastured (grass-fed) animals. Cattle ranching accounts for over 70% of deforestation in Brazil.

As certain areas are overgrazed, animals must be moved to another area while the original pastures or rangelands recover. Traditionally cowboys and shepherds moved animals from one pasture to another. Lots of time and space needed

for this to be sustainable!

Rangelands vs. Pasturelands

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

Usually public lands

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

Pasturelands are primarily used for growing domesticated forage plants (aka grass, alfalfa, clover, etc.) for livestock

Usually private lands

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

Feedlots (CAFOs) A type of animal feeding

operation which is used in factory farming of livestock just prior to slaughter

Thousands of animals. Close proximity requires that animals receive regular antibiotics to reduce disease transmission. antibiotic resistance develops!

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

Manure lagoons are huge and toxic!

Organic Farming relies on techniques such as crop

rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests.

Excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and GMOs

Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations

Organic Certification

Requirements generally involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping that include: avoidance of most synthetic chemical inputs,

GMOs, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge use of farmland that has been free from synthetic

chemicals for several years (usually about 3 years)

keeping detailed written production and sales record

maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products

periodic on-site inspections by certification agency

Why Locally Grown Foods?

Generally for each 1 calorie of food energy, 10 calories of fossil fuel energy are used.

Farmers, on average, receive only 20 cents of each food dollar spent, the rest going for transportation, processing, packaging, refrigeration and marketing

The average fresh food item travels 1,500 miles to get there

Buying local can build a sense of community