With thousands of farms spanning throughout the state, California is a mass distributor of agricultural products around the world. From small community based farms to global corporations, California’s agricultural contributions are staggering. Farmers throughout their history have taken advantage of the capability for an area to be so diverse in environments to feed populations. These varying environmental conditions in the state, from deep valleys to coastal regions to dry deserts, provide multiplicity within farming and produce. This gargantuous industry, which requires various resources for successful production, faces immense issues when conflict within those resources arise. Resilience is vital when agriculture faces drought, and …show more content…
The state’s industry has a long history within the cultivation of organic farming. This was sparked by the realization of certain risks of conventional strategies. Conventional farming tactics, which include harmful pesticides, have be found to damage the environments and create liabilities for failure in future farming (Poudel, D., Horwath, W., Lanini, W., Temple, S., & Bruggen, 2002). Organic farming can be found within smallholder farms as well as global produce corporations. Over the years as farming techniques have developed in California, the number of farms has decreased, but the average sizes of farms has increased (Commerce Census Bureau, 1945-2002). This makes evident the expansions made in efficiency of production of farms while the cutbacks of fertilizers and pesticides have persisted. Every step of the way, farmers have adapted and made changes in their produce in order to …show more content…
New problems are faced every growing season, and farmers need to constantly be changing and adapting to their new conditions. Because plant based farming requires certain resources, a slight imbalance to the system can make production topple down. When the effects of pesticides on the environment was realized, there was a shift in the system. Organic farming tactics were promoted to combat the dwindling of nutrients in soil, as well as reduce the chemicals within pesticide’s impact on product outcome. When droughts shock systems, farmers can either fail to meet production or adapt to new, resilient tactics. Without the diversity of California’s food systems, they wouldn't have had the high adaptive capacity to react to the shocks they’ve faced. California has faced these issues and prospered through them in the process. Some techniques die out, while others are unveiled, but it has not been uncommon for old tricks to revamp and revolutionize the way farming is utilized like in dry farming. Whether it's a small farm, or corporate producer, resiliency within these systems is vital, and California’s farmers throughout history have made this evident within their use of alternative farming
The nature of the Southern Plains soils and the periodic influence of drought could not be changed, but the technological abuse of the land could have been stopped. This is not to say that mechanized agriculture irreparably damaged the land-it did not. New and improved implements such as tractors, one-way disk plows, grain drills, and combines reduced plowing, planting, and harvesting costs and increased agricultural productivity. Increased productivity caused prices to fall, and farmers compensated by breaking more sod for wheat. At the same time, farmers gave little thought to using their new technology in ways to conserve the
The 1920’s were the singularly most influential years of farming in our country. The loss of farms following the war, and new agricultural practices resulted in the dawn of modern agriculture in our country. The shift from small family to big corporation during this time is now the basis for how our society deals with food today. Traditional farming in the 1920’s underwent a series of massive transitions following WWI as the number of farms decreased and the size of farms increased.
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
Today’s economy and the environment are hurting due to the lack of nurture we have been providing. Conventional farming rules the world of agriculture, but not without a fight from organic farming. Organic farming is seen as the way of farming that might potentially nurture our nature back to health along with the added benefit of improving our own health. With her piece “Organic farming healthier, more efficient than Status Quo,” published in the Kansas State Collegian on September 3, 2013, writer Anurag Muthyam brings forth the importance behind organic farming methods. Muthyam is a senior at Kansas State University working towards a degree in Management. This piece paints the picture of how organic farming methods
In order for Scotts Bluff County to maintain these exceptional production rates, several different factors come into play for contributing to the successful outcome of the crop production in this area. One factor that plays an important role in the production is the amount of water resources that are available in Scotts Bluff County. If farmers are unable to get the quantity of water necessary to grow their crops, the crops will begin to suffer damage, resulting in a lower rate of crop production and profit. Therefore, in ...
Soil, climate and 118 different types of farms. California produced 300 different types of nuts, fruits, and vegetables and had specialization farms for canning or drying fruits. Farming in the 20th century started becoming
For about five years California has experienced above average temperatures and a lack of rain. This lack of rain and snowfall has caused California to become increasingly dry, starting arguments over whose right to water is more important and who needs to be more mindful with their use of water. Farming in California truly began during the gold rush when water was redirected to land where food was grown for those looking for gold (Siegler, 2015). The farmers that have stayed on that land now have senior water rights (“Water wars”, 2015). Farmers that settled their land before 1914 are those with senior water rights (Terrell, 2015). Governor Jerry Brown has called for a cut in water use by one-quarter percent to people living
California was an exciting place to experience knowing that I could go to all of these ecosystems in one trip. Driving down the interstate you could see these gigantic mountains above the city of Fresno. Also one thing I noticed was how much of California is actually just farm land. The view above the plane was full of fields that were in perfect squares for farming. Realizing this I was actually shocked because I never knew how much of California is actually used for farming. Usually in movies you see, that are based in California, there are beaches and an ocean. Being in the western United States for the first time I was surprised also by how much desert there actually is. I’ve always heard people mess around and call California the land of “Fruit and Nuts” but it’s actually true. California leads the country in producing most of nuts in America and some fruits like strawberries and
The dust bowl has a long history for its impact on agriculture. Starting around the early 1930s, the dust storms were becoming visible in the middle region of the United States (Ganzel, 2003). This middle region was known to farmers as the Great Plains, which consisted of several states such as Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico (Ganzel, 2003). These middle states were recognized for the farmers who grew wheat. Farmers worked day and night to establish large wheat fields in the Great Plains. The fields of the Great Plains were mainly grown with wheat, for it was the crop that farmers thought will lead them to a wealthy life (Documentary, 2014). Unfortunately, the land of the Great Plains was being overran by too many wheat fields. To make matters worse, farmers did not know what good agricultural techniques were; as a result, the land was tilled, over-plowed and abused (Documentary, 2014). The farmers did not know that the land has its limits, and ignoring it will have a consequence. In this case, the consequence was the dust bowl.
The amount of foodstuffs produced by organic farms does not meet the demand of the population, which is the main objective of farming. Observing the United States of America alone and using myself as the average American we
The idea of the family farm has been destroyed by large food corporations. As discussed in class, industrial farming typically leads to the mass produ...
The term “organic” is almost everywhere in modern society, whether it’s used to promote a product or it’s debated on whether it really benefits the human diet. Organic food is heavily debated on as it appears more and more in local grocery stores and farmers markets begin to populate, it raises questions such as “Is organic food better than food grown with pesticides and biologically engineered genes?” and “Are there benefits to eating organically over foods grown in any other way?” In terms of what data and results show in research may help lead to answers to most of the heavily debated issues throughout discussions on organic food.
It is estimated that 37 farmers leave the land every day to pursuit in different field (Herro 2006). The decline in rural farmers is from the consequences of industrialization of agriculture. Only 1 percent of the UK workforce is now employed on farm, compared to 35 percent in the last century (Herro 2006). Many of these workers are being weaved out by better technologies that can do the same work at a faster and more efficient rate. On the contrary, organic farming relies more on people for knowledge, daily monitoring, and production. A study by the Soil Association shows organic farming can potentially provide 32 percent more jobs per farm than conventional farming in the United Kingdom (Herro 2006). However, critics have argued that human labors will lead to higher food prices, which makes the shift infeasible. But while this may be true in developed country, a full scale shift to organic farming in developing countries, where labors are much cheaper than pesticides, can lead to a much higher profit for the farmers. Organic farming attracts younger employees than any other work industry. Currently, the average age for conventional farmer is 56 (Herro 2006). If a full scale shift to organic farming were to happen, it would draw a more vibrant and enthusiastic workforce who are food conscious than that older generations, setting up a platform
Leading up to the end of the 1800’s, agricultural was losing its place as the largest economy in the United States. Farmers felt that they were under-appreciated and taken advantage of, even though they produced food to be distributed nationwide. Although agriculture was imperative to the survival of the nation, farmers faced devastating natural causes, outrageously high rates on land and transportation, and unsuccessful tries in politics.
Thirty years later, organic farming was in high demand, but suffered developing pains. Although there was agreements being made, there was no regulations put forth towards organic farming. Fast forwarding to present time, many consumers are starting to purchase organic food products even making it a trend. Written in Inouye, Alena, and McCauley’s 2006 article “Organic Farming Should Be Pursued”, “organic farming is gaining in popularity due to Americans ' increasing concern about food safety and environmental protection.” This quote assumes the reasoning behind the sudden popularity in organic farming is society’s attraction towards the idea of a cleaner food industry and environment. The article also mentions, “As a result, sales of organic foods in the United States have increased by more than 20 percent every year since 1996, reaching $7.8 billion in 2000.”(Inouye, Alena, McCauley) The fact that popularity towards organic farming grows at a rate of 20 percent every single year further proves how its movement has such an impact towards the consumers of