ARE Agriculture Terms

Marsh v. Baxter

An Australian civil case in which Marsh’s organic crops were decertified because of GMO material ending up in them; Marsh lost the case

Industrialized and plantation agriculture

Uses large amounts of fossil fuel, water, mechanical equipment, fertilizers and pesticides to produce huge quantities of single crops or livestock

Traditional subsistence agriculture

Uses primarily human labor and draft animals to produce enough crops or livestock for a family’s survival (shifting cultivation/nomadic herding)

Intensive traditional agriculture

Uses increased inputs of labor, fertilizer, and water to achieve higher yields for sale

The Green Revolution

A technological change that allowed more food to be produced on the same amount of land through planting monocultures, large inputs of fertilizer, pesticides and water, and increasing the intensity and frequency of cropping

Monoculture

Large expanses of a single crop; more efficient, increases output but also devastates biodiversity and makes plants more susceptible to disease and pests

Biofuels

Fuels derived from organic materials

Ethanol

A biofuel derived from corn

U.S agricultural system

One of the largest industries in the US - generates 5.4% of GDP, provides 11% of US employment

Agriculture in developing countries

Less mechanized and less productive

Pest

Any organism that competes with humans for food, spreads disease, damages crops, livestock, or property, or is a nuisance in other ways

Weed

Any plant that competes with crops

Pesticides

Chemicals used to kill undesirable organisms like moths, fleas, black ants and rats/mice

Nematocides

Round-worm killers

Rodenticides

Rat and mouse killers

1st gen pesticides

Mostly natural substances obtained from plants (e.g. pyrethrum, rotenone)

2nd gen pesticides

synthetic organic chemicals developed since 1939 (e.g. DDT, atrazine)

Pros of pesticides

Saves human lives, increases food supplies and lowers costs, increases profits for farmers, and works faster and better than alternatives

Cons of pesticides

May harm consumers, farm-workers, their families, and wildlife; consumers invest pesticide revenues; pests develop genetic resistance to pesticides

The pesticide treadmill

More and more pesticides are needed as their effectiveness goes down

Neonicotinoids

Pesticides injected into plant seeds that make the plant toxic to insects that feed on them; harm bees that pollinate the plant and predator insects that feed on pests

Genetic Engineering

Any process where scientists directly manipulate an organism’s genetic material

Genetically modified foods

Foods derived from GMOs (like Roundup-Ready soybeans)

Recombinant DNA

DNA patched together from multiple organisms

GM Food Benefits

Increased yield with lower cost; decreased irrigation, deforestation, land conversion; reduced use of chemical insecticides, reduced production of greenhouse gases through increased no-till farming

GM Food Impacts

Ecological concerns over escaping trans genes, ruined integrity of native ancestral races

Monsanto Protection Act

A 2013 budget bill that stripped courts of the ability to revoke USDA approval of any GM crop found to be unsafe; expired after six months

The Dark Act

A 2015 law that would have removed the right of states to require labeling; did not pass the Senate

The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard

A 2016 law that required the USDA to establish a labeling standard for GM food

Modified cultivation practices

Crop rotation, adjusted planting times, inter-cropping, polyculture, planting trap crops, growing plants to attract beneficial predatory insects

Biological control

Introducing predators of pests (e.g parasitoid wasps or cactus moth) or using sterile males to reduce births of pests

Bacillus thuringiensis

A soil bacterium that produces a protein which kills many caterpillars as well as some fly and beetle larvae

Integrated pest management (IPM)

Combines biocontrol, chemical pesticides, habitat alteration, crop rotation, transgenic crops, alternative tillage methods, and mechanical pest removal

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)

Requires EPA to approve commercial pesticides before they can be used

Food Quality Protection Act

A 1996 law requiring new standards to be met for food safety

Sustainable agriculture

Agriculture that does not deplete soils faster than they form

Sustainable ag. benefits

Reduced water use, less wastewater generation; increased use of soil conservation techniques; greater diversity in crops, intelligent use of green-revolution techniques

Organic agriculture

Food-growing practices that use no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, hormones or antibiotics

Organic Food Production Act

A 1990 law that establishes national standards for organic products

2008 Farm Bill

Gave farmers $170 million over 5 years for organic agriculture

Sustainability challenges

Soil degradation, overconsumption of water, loss of crop diversity, pollinators and natural habitats; reliance on fossil fuels

Vertical farming

Growing crops in vertically stacked layers in a controlled environment with the goal to produce food close to customers; utilizes hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics

Animal agriculture

Accounts for 14.5% of our greenhouse gas emissions - more than driving

Feedlots (factory farms)

Huge warehouses or pens that deliver food to animals living at extremely high densities; increases production, lowers cost and overgrazing

Aquaculture

The cultivation of aquatic organisms in controlled environments

Food security

The guarantee of an adequate, safe, nutritious and reliable food supply

Undernutrition

Receiving fewer calories than the minimum dietary requirement - 800 million people and about 17% of developing countries’ population suffer

Overnutrition

Receiving too many calories per day; has grown in developed countries

Malnutrition

A shortage of specific nutrients, such as lipids, proteins, vitamins or minerals

Goals of food production and quality policies

Stabilizing food supplies and farm incomes; encouraging sustainable land and water use; ensuring food safety and protecting environment; enhancing productivity via research and extension