1. Climate Change
Climate change is a major threat to agricultural production.
This is a factor that farmers cannot directly control.
As global temperatures rise, farming practices will need to evolve.
Productive lands could become less plentiful, and additional less productive lands made available.

2. Possible Effects of Climate Change
The effects that climate can have on food production include:
Increased risk of droughts
Increased risk of pests and diseases
Increased risk of scorched plants
Rising sea levels can submerge valuable farmland along coastlines
Increased Desertification as rain patterns permanently shift

3. Traditional Livestock Breeding Practices
Humans have been domesticating animals for millennia.
Domesticated animals have been bred to be hardier towards weather and climate conditions.
Selective breeding has helped to increase the productivity of animals.
Cross-breeding is the primary way of modification, such as breeding a female horse with a male donkey to produce a mule.

4. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
an organism or microorganism whose genetic material has been altered by means of genetic engineering.
Improvements in technology have changed the types of crops and animals that can be grown and raised on farms
Can be used to provide higher yields, increase resistance to disease and pests and better management of their crops.

5. Examples of GMOs Soybeans that are resistant to Herbicides
Corn that is resistant to common pests (insects)
Canola crops that have higher yields
Plums that are resistant to viruses

6. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Food shortages are becoming an increasing phenomenon.
Droughts can cause hunger even in the richest countries
Many farmers use GMOs to help combat this, such as breeding cows that will produce milk in dry climates or breeding drought-resistant crops

7. Scientists work on creating crops that can grow in harsher conditions.
Scientists hope to produce crops that can grow in areas with less rain and shorter growing seasons.
Scientists try to modify plants to grow in less nutrient rich soils.
These GMOs help farmers profit from farming even in less than ideal conditions.

8. Genetically Modified Animals
Many livestock animals have been genetically modified to produce more “value” such as:
Chickens with larger breasts (the most valuable part of a chicken)
Cows that produce more milk
Fish that are resistant to certain types of disease

9. Genetics in Different Organisms
Scientists have discovered that they can take desirable traits and genes from one organism and move them to entirely different organisms
Example: A breed of maize that had insect- killing genes can be imbedded into the DNA on another breed of maize. This allowed to grow and produced its own toxin to kill insects and reduced the need for pesticides
Example: In 2006, a pig was engineered to produce omega-3 fatty acids through the expression of a roundworm gene

10. Opposition to GMOs
Concerns are raised regarding the long-term environmental and ecological health of our environment when we introduce genetically modified organisms.
the long-term health effects on humans who consume GMOSs is not known
Possibility of humans developing new allergic reactions to the foods they eat
Disturb the natural flow of our environments
Artificial characteristics can be passed on to the future generations