Agriculture and Agribusiness Chapter 1
What is Agribusiness? ► All operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies Production operations on the farms Storage, processing, and distribution of the resulting farm commodities and items
The Big Picture ► Agribusiness companies provide input supplies to the farmer. The output from farmers is taken by agribusinesses and process, market and distribute the products
Agriculture Industry
The Cheeseburger
Life Before Agriculture ► People looked for food Learned to fish Fire
Early Ag Development ► Raise crops ► Domesticate animals ► People were no longer nomads
Bronze Age ► 3,000 BC ► Started using metal to cultivate larger areas of land faster ► Nile River used for irrigation ► Wheel discovered ► World population rose from 3 million to nearly 100 million
Iron Age ► 1,000 BC ► Iron hand tools and plows ► Mondey developed to trade excess crops
The Middle Ages ► AD ► Crop rotation, harness (switch from oxen to horses), selective breeding
Farming and Agribusiness in America ► Organic fertilizer ► Rice 1 st grown in US ► George Washington created an experimental farm ► Thomas Jefferson experimented with seeds and livestock
After the American Revolution ► Surveying ► Cotton Gin ► Vaccines ► Cast iron plow ► Interchangeable parts developed so people could fix equipment
Ag and Industrial Revolution ► Many inventions (steam engine, railroads) and people left farms to work in cities ► Cars ► Crop rotation ► Seed drill ► Reaper ► Threshing machine ► Steel plow ► Barbed wire ► Gas tractor
1 st ½ of 20 th Century ► Panama Canal opened ► Smith Hughes act ► Cooperative Extension Service ► Hybrid Seeds ► Then the Dust Bowl and Depression
Because of Depression ► Gov paid farmers for using soil conservation practices ► Soil conservation service ► FFA ► High crop yields ► Gov paid for more reserve and education ► Antibiotics used for animals
Last ½ of 20 th Century ► AI ► More production ► Electric fences ► Pesticides ► Futures ► Computers
Success ► 1 farmer feeds 150 people ► US feeds less than 9% of income on food ► exports