Agriculture’s Impact on Society Lesson 1.1 Agriculture’s Impact on Society

Lesson Outcomes Define agriculture and the components of the agricultural industry Explain the scope of agriculture as it related to land use, economic impact, and employment Adisa/Shutterstock.com

Lesson Outcomes Give the characteristics of the three main areas of agricultural commodities Analyze the importance of the human-agriculture connection Adisa/Shutterstock.com

What Is Agriculture? Many people think of a traditional farm when they think about agriculture Agriculture is much more than the traditional farm most people think of when they think about agriculture. Ask students what they picture when they think about agriculture. MaxyM/Shutterstock.com

What Is Agriculture? Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating plants, animals, and other life forms for use by humans to sustain life Images (left to right): greenhouse, swine production, testing flood waters. Modern agriculture is different from the traditional image that many think of when they hear the word agriculture. Today’s agriculture includes highly technical and specialized operations. Syaochka/Shutterstock.com; Kalinovsky/Shutterstock.com; Marcin Balcerzak/Shutterstock.com

Scope of Agriculture Amount of land agriculture uses Economic impact of agricultural industries Number of people employed in agriculture The scope of agriculture is based on three broad categories. Land use: more than three-quarters of Earth’s surface is covered by water. It is estimated that half of the remaining quarter is used for some type of agriculture. Economic impact: agriculture as an industry is estimated to account for approximately 10% of all the money spent on trade worldwide. That amounts to more than $7.2 trillion in agricultural goods sold each year. Employment: globally, agriculture is the world’s largest supplier of jobs (estimated workforce over a billion people). In around 50 countries, more than half of the population is employed in agriculture, and in many countries, that number exceeds more than three-quarters of the workforce. Looking at all three aspects of agriculture will give an overview of just how big agriculture really is.

Agricultural Land Use Arable land is the land suitable for growing crops Only 1/32 of Earth is arable Svend77/Shutterstock.com

Agricultural Land Use The United States covers nearly 2.3 billion acres (US Census Bureau). Agricultural land is in danger. Some reports state that over 3000 acres of cropland are lost each day to development.

Figure 01-06 crop as needed to create wide horizontal Agricultural Land Use Arable land decreases daily Two-thirds of productive agricultural land is next to urban areas Management is important for agricultural success Figure 01-06 crop as needed to create wide horizontal Up to 3000 acres are developed each day in the United States, most of it for residential building. Richard Thornton/Shutterstock.com

Economic Impact of Agriculture Estimated 10% of all trade money comes from agriculture American agriculture accounts for nearly $800 billion in sales annually American agriculture exports more than $140 billion products annually Estimated 10% amounts to more than $7.2 trillion annually.

Employment in Agriculture Globally, agriculture is the world’s largest supplier of jobs Some countries have up to 50% of the population employed in agriculture How does the agricultural portion of the workforce change as a country becomes more industrialized? The more industrialized a country is, the smaller portion of the workforce is in agriculture.

U.S. Employment in Agriculture Nearly one in six jobs in the United States is related to agriculture. Jobs exist in many different sectors of agriculture (production, processing, marketing, etc.). Although there are many jobs in agriculture, less than 2% of workforce are farmers and ranchers. USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

Employment in Agriculture How many people will one production agriculturalist need to supply with food in the coming years? There is a lot of pressure on individual production agriculturalists as they each become responsible for feeding more and more people. In 1960, one production agriculturalist produced food to supply 26 people. In 2000, one production agriculturalist produced food to supply 129 people. In 2010, one production agriculturalist produced food to supply 155 people (illustrated).

Areas of Agriculture A commodity is a raw material that can be bought and sold Agricultural commodities fall into three categories: food, fiber, and natural resources Each type of commodity is produced, processed, and marketed differently Food: includes all materials and substances used for human consumption. Food production includes the growing, harvesting, processing, distributing, marketing, and sale of products. Fiber: product with long, thin components, often used to create woven or composite materials. Agricultural fibers are natural fibers, meaning they are the long filaments that occur naturally in plants and animals. Natural resources: materials and substances that occur in nature, such as minerals, wood, water, and wildlife. Some natural resources are essential for our survival, while others are used to satisfy human needs and wants. Have students identify commodities in each of the categories.

Human-Agriculture Connection Humans interact with agriculture in two ways Producers: actively involved in raising raw agricultural products Consumers: purchase and use agricultural products How do you interact with agriculture?

Human-Agriculture Connection Agricultural products take numerous steps between the producer and consumer. Ask students to name an end product (i.e. a loaf of bread) and work their way back through the steps it took to reach their dinner table. kwest/Shutterstock.com; boscorelli/Shutterstock.com; Richard Thornton/Shutterstock.com; Pavel L. Photo and Video/Shutterstock.com; Alastair Wallace/Shutterstock.com; Kondor83/Shutterstock.com; wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com

The World without Agriculture Now that you understand the scope of agriculture, can you imagine what the world would be without it? Figure 01-0A 140658412 Sunny Forest/Shutterstock.com