Agricultural products

Agricultural products encompass all commodities derived from the production of animals and the growing of crops to be used by humans for food, fiber, shelter, medicinal applications, or aesthetic purposes.

Background

A nation’s ability to sustain an agricultural system with the capacity to feed, shelter, and clothe its population is perhaps its greatest natural resource. The human domestication of certain animals and cultivation of certain food crops predate written history. In modern society, the diversity of products that can be produced via agricultural technology is enormous. Major agricultural commodities can be divided into those that come from animals and those that are derived from plants.

Agricultural Products from Animals

The major animal-derived products can be divided into edible and inedible red meat products, milk and milk products, poultry and egg products, and wool and mohair. Red meat products refer primarily to those products that come from cattle (beef and veal), swine (pork), sheep (lamb and mutton), goats (chevon), and, to a lesser extent, other animals such as horses and buffalo.

Other than the meat itself, edible products from red meat animals include meat scraps used to make processed meats such as frankfurters and bologna; organ meats such as liver, tail, tongue, tripe (stomach), and sweetbread (thymus); and tallow or lard. The major inedible red meat products include rendered fat, which is used to make soap and formula animal feeds; bone meal, used in fertilizer and animal feeds; manure; and hides or skins, which are tanned and used to make leather products.

Milk and milk products, also referred to as dairy products, are major components of the human diet in many countries. Whole milk with part or all of the fat removed is sold as low-fat or skim milk. Evaporated and condensed milk refers to milk from which approximately 60 percent of the water has been removed, and dry or powdered milk has had at least 95 percent of the water removed. Cultured milk products such as buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, and cottage cheese are produced via fermentation by the addition of appropriate bacterial cultures to fluid dairy products. Cream products are separated from liquid milk and have a milk fat content of not less than 18 percent. Butter is made by separating the butterfat from either milk or cream and contains at least 80 percent by weight milk fat. Cheese is produced through the microbial action of a variety of bacteria and fungi on whole milk. Ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, and frozen custard are produced by freezing a variety of liquid milk products in combination with sugar and other ingredients.

Poultry products are nutritious and relatively inexpensive, and they are used by humans throughout the world. Broiler chickens provide most of the world’s poultry meat, but turkeys, roaster chickens, mature laying hens (fowl), ducks, geese, pigeons, and guinea hens are also consumed and may be more important than chickens in some parts of the world. Much of the poultry meat is processed into preformed products such as poultry rolls or nuggets, canned products, or cured and ground products such as frankfurters, bologna, turkey ham, or salami. Other than meat, poultry also provides eggs. The majority of the world’s eggs are now produced by chickens specifically selected to lay large numbers of eggs, but eggs from the other birds listed above are sometimes eaten. Eggs can be further processed and sold as liquid eggs or dried eggs. There is also an industry based on the meat and eggs from the ratite birds, such as the ostrich and emu.

The hair covering the skin of some farm animals is also considered an agricultural product. The two most important of these are wool from sheep and mohair from angora goats. Wool or mohair can be sheared annually from the same sheep or goat. The cleaned and processed fibers are woven into yarn, which can then be used to make carpet or cloth.

Agricultural Products from Plants

Agricultural products that are derived from plants are also diverse. They can be subdivided into timber products, grain crops, fiber crops, fruit crops, nut crops, vegetable crops, beverage crops, spice and drug crops, ornamental crops, forage crops, and other cash crops such as sugarcane, tobacco, artichoke, and rubber. Timber products include those materials derived from the trees of renewable forests. The two major products are lumber for building and paper, but other products such as pine tar, resin, and turpentine are also extracted from trees.

More cultivated land is devoted to the production of grain crops, also known as cereal grains, and fiber crops than to any other agricultural crop. Cereal grains are the edible seed from a variety of grasses. Throughout history, these crops have been primarily responsible for sustaining large human populations and domestic animal herds. The products from the world’s major grain crops include corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, and derivatives such as grain-based cereals and flours. Rice is the leading seed crop in the world and is the principal food crop of about half the world’s population. Corn, barley, rye, and rice are also used to produce alcoholic beverages. Grain sorghums are also produced in large quantities in the United States, but this grain is primarily used as feed for livestock. Cotton, flax, and hemp are the principal fiber plants grown in the United States, although less important crops such as ramie, jute, and sisal are also grown. While these plants are grown primarily for their fiber, which is used to make textiles, rope, twine, and similar products, other products such as cottonseed oil and linseed oil from flax are also produced.

Fruits from a variety of perennial plants are harvested for their refreshing flavors and nourishment. Fruits can be subdivided into temperate, subtropical, and tropical crops. Grapes, a temperate fruit grown for table use, winemaking, and raisins, account for approximately 25 percent of the fruit production of the world. Examples of other temperate fruits include the pome fruits (apple and pear), fruits (plum, peach, apricot), kiwi fruit, and berry fruits (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, cranberry, and blueberry). Tropical and subtropical fruit crops include banana, pineapple, mango, papaya, avocado, date, fig, olive, and citrus fruits (orange, lemon, and grapefruit). In addition to providing fresh fruit, the products from fruit crops can be canned, dried, converted to juices, and used to make jams and jellies or special products such as olive oil.

Nut crops refer to those woody plants that produce seed with firm shells that separate them from an inner kernel. Nuts are generally considered to be luxury food. They are often eaten as a delicacy (either fresh or canned) or consumed with candy or other sweets. Major temperate nut crops include walnut, almond, chestnut, pistachio, pecan, and hazelnut. Tropical nut crops include the coconut, cashew, Brazil nut, and macadamia. Nuts are characteristically rich in oil. The inedible tung nut is grown exclusively for its oil.

Vegetable crops are extremely diverse and range from starchy calorie sources (potato) to food that supplies vitamins and minerals (broccoli). Examples of the major vegetable crops include the edible legumes (beans, soybeans, peas, lentils, and peanuts); roots, tubers, and bulbs (potato, sweet potato, taro, yam, cassava, onion, sugar beet, and carrot); solanaceous fruits (tomato, eggplant, and chili pepper); salad plants (lettuce, endive, chicory, parsley, and garden cress); cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and radish); and vine crops (cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, squash, and gourd). Like fruit crops, vegetable produce can be served fresh, canned, frozen, or in an assortment of juices.

The world’s three most popular nonalcoholic beverages—coffee, tea, and cocoa—are produced in the tropics. These products represent a major proportion of the tropical world’s agricultural exports, and their production is the major industry in many tropical countries. Many plants or plant parts that possess strong aroma and flavor are grown for the purpose of producing spices. Because of the diverse biochemistry of plants, some crops are cultured for the production of medicinal drug compounds. There are more than two hundred spice and drug plants; some of the more common products are peppermint, nutmeg, garlic, vanilla, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, mustard, opium, quinine, belladonna, and digitalis.

Ornamental and forage crops are not consumed by humans. Ornamental crops are grown for aesthetic purposes and are divided into florist crops (flower and foliage plants) and landscape crops (nursery plants). Common ornamental crops include rose, orchid, carnation, chrysanthemum, and a variety of shrubs. Forage crops are grown to feed livestock and include a host of small grain grasses, clover, alfalfa, and a variety of straw crops for haymaking.

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