Intensive farming
Intensive farming, also known as industrial farming, is a large-scale agricultural practice that focuses on maximizing crop production through heavy mechanization and the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. This approach has become increasingly prevalent in response to the growing global population and the demand for food, particularly in economically developed regions. The transition from small farms to larger, more technologically advanced operations began in the 19th century and accelerated after World War II, significantly increasing productivity.
While intensive farming has led to remarkable gains in food production—such as one U.S. farmworker being able to feed over one hundred people by 2010—its environmental impacts are a significant concern. The reliance on fossil fuels for machinery and transportation contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, while the extensive use of chemicals can lead to soil degradation, water contamination, and health risks for farmworkers and consumers alike.
Additionally, intensive farming practices also include animal factory farms, which raise ethical questions regarding animal welfare. Efforts to mitigate the negative effects of intensive farming are underway, with some practices focusing on sustainability, reduced chemical use, and improved animal treatment. The discourse surrounding intensive farming continues to evolve, reflecting diverse perspectives on food production, environmental stewardship, and ethical responsibilities.
Subject Terms
Intensive farming
DEFINITION: Large-scale, high-production agriculture that relies heavily on the use of mechanization and chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers
The world’s growing population requires ever-increasing amounts of food, and intensive farming provides high levels of crop production on the land available. The greatest challenge to such farming is its long-term sustainability; intensive farming’s dependence on fossil fuel–burning heavy equipment and its reliance on chemicals to eliminate pests and replace nutrients in soil are damaging to the environment.
During the nineteenth century, the US economy was largely dependent on the agricultural production of thousands of small farms. As the country industrialized, and particularly after World War II, small farmers began to consolidate their lands, with the result that there were fewer farm operators and much larger farms. Mechanization, in the form of tractors, seed application implements, and other heavy equipment, as well as technological advancements in chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers contributed to supporting the infrastructure of these large-scale farming operations and lowered the farmers’ labor costs.
As world continues to rise, demand for food also rises, and food crops require land for production. With the spread of urbanization and suburbanization, productive cropland has become increasingly scarce. Intensive farming, also known as industrial farming, maximizes crop production on the land available by relying heavily on the mechanization of many processes, by treating even marginal soils with chemical fertilizers to increase yield, and by using chemical pesticides and herbicides. Such large-scale commercial agriculture is very capital-intensive in nature, and most intensive farming operations are thus found in the world’s economically developed regions.
Industrial farming operations make extensive use of technology to run systems and monitor resources, both to keep labor costs low and to increase productivity. For example, many such vast farms have switched from labor-intensive manually operated systems to computer-controlled center-pivot irrigation systems. Some farms use technology to facilitate the and control of their land resources.
Benefits of Large-Scale Farming
From the 1940s into the 1980s, the so-called Green Revolution in agriculture did much to transform regions that had been dependent on more traditional forms of farming into areas that could produce greater amounts of food for their populations through more intensive agriculture. The impact of the Green Revolution was especially strong in some developing nations, such as India, where the shift to larger farms and greater mechanization was highly successful.
Increased food production is the largest benefit of intensive commercial farming. In the United States, the level of crop production on farms doubled between the nineteenth and twenty-first century. It has been estimated that in the 1960s one US farmworker produced enough fiber and food for about thirty people; by 2010, the number of people whose food needs could be met by a single US farmworker had increased to more than one hundred.
Environmental Impacts
The practices associated with industrial farming have a number of negative impacts on the environment. Running heavy machinery, producing fertilizers and pesticides, and processing, storing, marketing, selling, and transporting massive amounts of crops require a great deal of energy, most of which comes from natural gas and oil. For example, grain grown in the midwestern United States might be shipped to Michigan for milling and processing into cereal; the finished product, a breakfast cereal, thus might travel thousands of miles before it reaches a consumer’s table. This intense dependence on petroleum for agricultural production has long-term negative impacts on the environment, as fossil-fuel supplies are finite and the burning of fossil fuels contributes to carbon dioxide emissions, which have been linked to global warming.
The pesticides used in intensive farming have come under scrutiny for health reasons, with many critics pointing out the danger of to farmworkers and questioning how residues that may remain on crops could affect consumers of the resulting food product. In addition, pesticides and fertilizers used across vast fields are carried into water sources by irrigation and rainfall runoff. Furthermore, the soil of industrial farms is degraded over time and requires large amounts of fertilizers to rebuild nutrients; yet another impact on the soil is the erosion that can be caused by the use of heavy machinery and intensive irrigation.
The water requirements of huge industrial farms are another factor with impacts on the environment. Many dams have been built specifically to direct water resources to enable crop irrigation, and other sources have also been affected. For example, it has been projected that the deep wells being used as water sources for industrial farms in the American Midwest could eventually run low given the demands of these farms and the continual encroachment of cities and suburbs into formerly rural areas.
Intensive farming also includes animal factory farms. Nearly all animals raised for food in the United States come from factory farms. These farms produce large volumes of meat or other products for the lowest possible price. Animals are kept in extremely small cages that limit or prevent movement. This enables thousands of animals to be kept in one barn or shed. Only a few laws exist to protect these animals. The Humane Slaughter Act requires that animals not be treated cruelly at slaughterhouses. This law does not apply to birds, such as chickens, however. The 28-hour law prevents animals from being transported to slaughterhouses more than 28 hours at a time.
In recognition of the negative impacts that traditional industrial farming practices can have on the environment, some farm operators have instituted conservation methods such as minimal tillage, which reduces erosion, and integrated pest management, which reduces pesticide use. Additionally, some farms have invested in fuel-efficient heavy equipment and in technologies, such as GIS, that can increase efficiency of land management while keeping crop production high.
Another way in which industrial farms have tried to improve yields while reducing the use of pesticides is by planting genetically modified (GM) seeds. Such genetically modified organisms are often engineered for greater disease and pest resistance and for tolerance to herbicides. This method is not without controversy, however. Opponents fear that modified genes could be transmitted by pollination to nearby conventional crops and weaken the genetic diversity of the particular plant species. Others are concerned that not enough research has been conducted on the health effects of consuming GM foods.
Experts have recommended changes to reduce the harm caused by intensive farming. Among them are the use of sustainable farming pratices that have a low ecological impact. Farmers can reduce their use of fossil fuels as well as pesticides and fertilizers. Groups such as World Animal Protection are working to end factory farming by lobbying for laws to ensure that farm animals are treated humanely. They are also encourging the public to consume less meat and rely more on plant-based products, and supporting research to show that factory farms significantly contribute to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Bibliography
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