Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
industrial-like operations have become the main source of food and fiber. Technologically
sophisticated and highly standardized production techniques have penetrated most segments
of the farm and food economy, and advances in plant and animal sciences have resulted in
substantial increases in production. These advances have become linked tightly to a narrow
range of bulk products. 1
In the past, farmers produced bulk commodities that they sold to brokers, wholesalers, and
other middlemen, who, in turn, directed these commodities to food processors or retailers.
The consumer was presented with a fairly standard set of products on supermarket shelves.
Today, a case is being made—mostly by large food processors and retailers—that consumers
are no longer satisfied with the homogeneous fare they received in the past. They are now
“demanding” food products tailored to their individual tastes and preferences. “Have it your
way” at Burger King and “Think outside the bun” from Taco Bell are part of a push by the
food industry to create “you food,” food products that are tailored to your life. Fast-food
outlets sit at the end of supply chains that stretch around the world. The shelves in modern
grocery stores and supermarkets are stocked with products that have been produced and pro-
cessed thousands of miles away.
As U.S. agriculture has modernized and industrialized it has also regionalized. Farmers in
areas that were once characterized by diverse agricultural activities have been driven to ex-
ploit their “comparative advantage.” Producers in the Great Lakes states, for example, have
been able to establish and maintain a niche in dairy production. Producers in the Plains states
have been able to raise hogs cheaper than farmers elsewhere, while farmers in California and
several other Sunbelt states have used subsidized water and a favorable growing climate to
become the leading producers of fresh fruits and vegetables. More recently, agricultural re-
gionalization within the United States has given way to global regionalization as producers
from all over the world participate in an emerging “global” agricultural marketplace. 2
The emerging configuration of agriculture and food production in the United States and
the world has been guided by an economic development paradigm grounded in neoclassical/
market-based economics. For farm operators, the “production function,” which describes the
economic sustainability of agriculture in terms of the optimal balancing of land, labor, and
capital, has long served as an important tool for farm management. Throughout most of this
century, farm management professionals have emphasized substituting capital, in the form of
machinery, chemicals, and other off-farm inputs, for land and labor. 3
At another level, the neoclassical paradigm treats agriculture as just another industry, not
unlike manufacturing or mining, and calls for the introduction of labor-saving, mass-produc-
tion techniques throughout the production process. The guiding principles are that agricul-
tural production should be concentrated into fewer units to capture economies of scale, ma-
chinery should be substituted for labor whenever possible, and the remaining jobs should
Search WWH ::




Custom Search