Conservation Tillage Farming In California

Most people in America have never thought about where their food comes from or even talked to a farmer or rancher. Of that handful who have, even fewer have ever stepped foot onto a farm or ranch.The film “Farmland” takes an interestingly angled look into the lives of six farmers and ranchers in their twenties who are all entirely responsible for their operations. This paper takes a more in-depth look at three; Ryan Veldhuizen, Sutton Morgan, and Margaret Schlass.

Well to find that answer you must look directly to California's Farmers Guild, an organization that for the last 20 years has been pushing and advocating for support and use of local farms.

Former president George Washington once said, “Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man,” (George Washington Quote). Since Washington’s presidency, countless advancements and developments within the agricultural industry have allowed the United States to grow, develop, and become one of the most prosperous countries in the entire world. Nevertheless, this prosperity is also marked by several key historical events, such as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, which have caused the core values and traditions that this great nation was built on to slowly disappear. Today, the majority of Americans have no knowledge, understanding, or appreciation for the agricultural industry, causing them to take for granted the basic necessities they rely on each day. This disconnection has created a gap between producers and consumers, which is known as

California is a state that is known for multiple things, but one of the most important things is Agriculture. Therefore, it is a necessity to protect agriculture and allow it to continue to increase revenue for the state. To do this, we created our own agency to look after everything agricultural in our state. The California Department of Food and Agriculture ensures the safety and health of various food and crops for controlling the agricultural regularity of all farms and crop growing operations in the state. The agency is overseen by both current California governor Jerry Brown and the branch’s president Craig McNamara. According to their website, “California agriculture is a $46.4 billion dollar industry that generates at least $100 billion

Permaculture is a system of agriculture and society whose design is inspired by patterns observed in natural ecosystems. As Mollison states: "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; "[1]. The Permaculture movement began in the 1970's as an alternative farming strategy that seeks "permanent agriculture". The term evolved to permanent-culture, since the social aspects are important in the agriculture. The term permaculture goes beyond food production, it is a sustainable system that provides food, energy, shelter, as well as the social components [2][3].

The agriculture industry is not only the largest industry within our state, but also within our nation. However, in recent years it has also been one of the most heavily criticized. This has led to a ‘brain drain’ in rural America as more people decide to leave our industry and their family farms.

Since prehistory, plowing has been seen as a required practise for farmers everywhere, and there is good reason for its ubiquity. Traditional farming can benefit the environment, health of consumers, and economy. Conventional tillage pairs easily with organic farming, which is potentially better for the environment and for the health of people or animals eating the crops. Organic farms limit the concentration of herbicides on the crops by using plows to cut down on weed populations without synthetic chemical treatments. Organic

Farming involves many risks and dangers. According to “Farm Safety - Risks and Hazards,” farming is a very threatening activity to anyone. Most people that get injured on a farm are either under the age of 15 or over the age of 65(Better Health Channel). Additionally, farming has multiple other reasons it is and can be a danger to anyone, such as long hours and working with dangerous machinery. According to Bethany Baratta, a reporter for the Iowa Farm Bureau, “It only takes 14 seconds for a person working inside of a grain bin to be pulled under the surface of the corn pile. With more than 60 percent of the grain in the United States being stored on farms, there’s a greater chance that farmers and farm workers may be tasked with checking the condition of the grain inside the bin. But with that chore comes the risk of a grain engulfment” (Baratta). This can be a huge problem for Austin when he farms during harvest season because like the quote says it only takes 14 seconds to be consumed by grain, and Austin works a lot with the bins around the farm, so he is always putting himself in danger. Farmers also help with our economy in Iowa and around the world. Austin explains, “The land we farm has CRP (conservation reserve program) strips and CRP waterways bordering the creeks and streams providing wildlife habitat and preventing soil erosion and contamination of the stream.” This is positive because this ensures that farmers don’t damage the water in our creeks and streams which flows into our rivers and eventually into our oceans. They’re also providing habitat for wildlife so they can prosper; therefore, providing food for some people in Iowa and food for many others around the

Organic ranchers and dairy farmers in California also feel the effects of the drought. They rely on green pasture to feed their animals a healthy diet. Due to the lack of rain, the pasture are drying up and the ranchers have to purchase supplemental organic hay from other states. In an attempt to fund the purchasing of this out of state hay, the organic farmers are selling herds to businesses for hamburger meat and the small

During the 1870s to 1930, California agriculture had become a most diverse region of the United States. Its wheat, meat, and crop farming, such as grapes, walnuts, almonds, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelons, plums, etc., became the California’s major export industry, as well as nation’s leading producer. According to The Elusive Eden by Richard B. Rice, William A. Bullough, and Richard J. Orsi, the number of farm in 1925 had grown to more than 136,400 farms, worth than $708 million. Besides the enormous development of the agriculture, California had become the one of the best manufacturing and trading states in America. It dominated the manufacturing industry and trading companies for aircraft factories, lumber factories, steel plants, mining companies, petroleum companies, etc., According to Eric Foner in Give Me Liberty - volume 2, by 1945, California had received one-tenth of all federal spending, and Los Angeles had become the nation’s second largest manufacturing center (863). Paralleled with the economic development were a numerous of organization have been found in California in order to control, regulate, and support the commercial and trading activities, such as the California Fruit Growers’ Exchange, the Representative Assembly of Trade and Labor Unions, the Coast Seamen’s Association, the Federated Iron Trade Council, etc., Although the political reforms in the early 20th century could not address the most of the economic problems and social changes in America, the

Every year the Wildlife Bureau of the DNR purchases land for public use and wildlife habitats. The restoration of Iowa’s prairie land is considered important because it can restore the natural ecosystem, benefit water quality, and reduces soil erosion caused by runoff. Other farming practices such as having buffer strips near streams and cover crops have helped manage the soil erosion in Iowa, but since 1850 we have lost nearly 14 inches in topsoil depth and growing.

The agriculture field is one of the biggest employers, employing over 155 million people in the United States. What do you think about when you hear the word “agriculture?” Many people would say farming, but this is not the most common occupation in this field. Farmers make up a fraction of the agricultural jobs at 900,000, but over 2.1 million people own, rent, and claim farming as a primary source of income. The average farm size has dropped from 460 acres in 1990 to 418 acres in 2007, while the average age of this occupation rose to 57, making this one of the older workforces in the United States.

Soil is a very vital part of any farm. There are three basic types of soil; silt, clay, and sand. Most soil found in the ground is a combination of 2 or three of these components. Large scale farming can cause problems to the land and the soil that is being farmed. Industrial farming can treat land fertility as a resource to be tapped, not preserved. This ideology can be extremely damaging to the earth. Monoculture, the cultivation of a single crop in an area, can lead to things like soil depletion and erosion. Depletion happens when nutrients are stripped from the soil due to things like lack of biodiversity in plants. If one plant is farmed year after year, it will suck up the same nutrients. Things like crop rotation can help reintroduce vital nutrients into the soil. An example of crop rotation can be growing corn one year, oats the next, legumes after that, and then have pasture the next year. Corn is a very demanding crop, and can strip the soil of a large amount of nitrogen. Oats on the other hand, can be used as a “nurse crop”.A nurse crop is used to replenish lost nutrients in depleted soil. Rotating crops year after year can lead to a healthier field, leading to a better end product. Tilling the

Coxe has studied the sector for more than 35 years as a strategist for BMO Financial Group. He says it didn’t have to come to this. “We’ve got a situation where there has been no incentive to allocate significant new capital to agriculture or to develop new technologies to dramatically expand crop output.”

Agriculture in the United States has changed dramatically over the centuries. Since the 1960’s large commercial farms have been leading in sales. As a direct result of their success we, as a society, have access to affordable food. However, the success of large farms has lead to many negative impacts such as increased usage of resources and decreased diversity in crop fields. This begs the question, what can be done to reduce the negative impacts of large farms. One solution growing in popularity is sustainable agriculture. The idea of sustainable agriculture is to create farms that need little to no outside help from irrigation, pesticides, or fertilizers. Sustainability can be achieved in many way through