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

2. 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”

3. 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”
Why?

4. 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.

5. Farmers rally in Ottawa to seek billions in aid
Wed. Apr 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.

6. 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

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

11. Solution #1: No till cropping

12. 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

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

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

16. 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)

17. 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.

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

19. 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

24. 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

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

26. Intercropping
mono-cropping
versus
Intercropping

27. Urban Encroachment/ Sprawl