The Business of Farming Erosion Contamination Urban Sprawl Farming Issues The Business of Farming Erosion Contamination Urban Sprawl

Issue #1. The Business of Farming Farming is a tough job The hours are long and irregular (16 hour work days in spring and harvest time, almost no work in the winter) No guaranteed pay No retirement fund No subsidies, low prices force farmers off farm Video clip “Farm Families Under Stress” http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-1720-11812/life_society/family_farm/clip5 http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-69-1720-11833/life_society/family_farm/

A century ago, farms were run by families They did all the work using horses, kids, and man power. Farms were small (50 hectares), but there were a lot of them Today, most farms: - aren’t run by one family, but by companies - there are fewer farms but bigger farms (200 ha) - “agribusiness” http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-1720-11816/life_society/family_farm/clip9 Why?

Farmer’s children don’t want the job Farmers sell their farms to pay for their retirement. Who buys the little family farm? - Big agribusinesses (ie. McCains). They can make more profit by farming large areas of land with big machinery. - Home builders buy farms that are near cities and turn them into suburbs. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-69-1720-11832/life_society/family_farm/

Farmers rally in Ottawa to seek billions in aid Wed. Apr. 5 2006 CTV.ca As thousands of angry, cash-strapped farmers rallied on Parliament Hill, the governement promises an additional $2.5 billion in farm aid over five years.

Issue #2.Erosion Farmers till the soil to prepare it for planting, to weed their crop, and prepare field for winter. Tilling causes soil to be eroded by wind and water

Tilling also allows all the snow to blow into ditches In the spring, the field doesn’t have enough moisture

Solution #1: No till cropping

No-till cropping leaves crop stubble, which anchors soil, reducing erosion It also holds snow on the field (like snow fencing) which provides much-needed moisture in spring

Solution #2: Contour Plowing “Contour lines” are used to show elevation on maps

Going around the hill, rather than up and down, stops soil from being washed away

Issue #3. Contamination Fertilizers and Pesticides a) Fertilizer Use Fertilizer is plant food It’s sprayed to improve crop growth ”Eutrification” means “to add nutrients” If it rains, it can run off into surface water (or it can blow onto water if sprayed too close)

Algae (a water plant) will grow quickly when exposed to fertilizer (called an “algae bloom”) Oxygen is needed to decompose dead organic matter, so… When all that algae eventually dies, the oxygen in the water is used up. This causes all the aquatic animals in the water to suffocate from lack of oxygen. The whole aquatic ecosystem is destroyed because of eutrification.

b) Pesticide spraying - causes biomagnification (or bioaccumulation) - DDT reduced Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle numbers by thinning eggshells (p. 449 text)

Pesticides can actually cause pest insects to increase… Reason #1 Predatory insects (lady bugs, dragonflies) eat pest insects. Contact pesticides kill on contact, so it kills all insects, even predatory ones Reason #2 Pest insects become immune to pesticide

Species-specific Pesticides Instead of using a Contact Pesticide, farmers can use a Species-specific Pesticide. Species-specific pesticides only kills insects that eat it So insects in the field that don’t eat your crop won’t be harmed Problem: costs more

Biological control of Pests Instead of using pesticides, you can use biological controls. Ie. - Releasing sterilized males Releasing predatory insects Intercropping

Intercropping mono-cropping versus Intercropping

Urban Encroachment/ Sprawl