FARMLAND: Family Farming

Author

Kelsey Faivre

Published

6/4/2014

Topics:

Lesson Plans - 9th - 12th

Target Grade Level / Age Range:

Grades 9-12

Time:

1 hour

Virtual Learning:

Use this document to convert the lesson into a virtual learning module for your students. Use the steps outlined to create the different elements of a Google Classroom or other online learning platform. You can also send the steps directly to students in a PDF, present them in a virtual meeting, or plug them into any other virtual learning module system.

Purpose:

Students will explore farm size in the U.S. and how farmers are able to feed a growing population.

Materials:

FARMLAND 44-minute documentary clip: 3:30-5:45 https://tubitv.com/movies/460157/farmland

Suggested Companion Resources

CommonGround on Family vs. Factory Farming: http://findourcommonground.com/food-facts/corporate-farms/
Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Sustainable Crop Production Intensification: http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/en/
DeGroot Farms Plant ’15 (drone YouTube video showing farm size): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ge-35hB2s
Green Bean Harvesting/Packing: https://youtu.be/V-LMT2dN-h8
Robots speed up lettuce harvest process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i62juq8Euk&feature=youtu.be
Migrant workers make Maine’s blueberry harvest possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qwR0OXZriA&feature=youtu.be

Vocabulary

Factory farm: a large industrialized farm; especially : a farm on which large numbers of livestock are raised indoors in conditions intended to maximize production at minimal cost
Sustainability: able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed, involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources, or able to last or continue for a long time
Family Farm: according to the USDA, a family farm is “any farm organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership or family corporation.”
Agriculture Sustainable Intensification: producing more of a product with fewer inputs while maintaining a healthy environment

Interest Approach or Motivator

Students will begin by discussing their own school or home gardens and comparing that to larger scale food production.

Background – Agricultural Connections

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, about 97% of U.S. farms are family owned and operated. Farms are becoming larger to accommodate more family member involvement and to remain profitable and competitive. The costs of farming continue to increase and so fewer people are able to go into farming. At the same time, farming practices are becoming more efficient, allowing farms to grow in size. This equates to more labor being mechanized and less need for manual labor on farms. The U.S. maintains one of the safest food supplies in the world, and Americans spend the smallest percentage of their disposable income on food. Much of this can be attributed to new technologies in agriculture and very efficient farming operations.

With a population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and fewer farmers than ever before, providing nutritious food for a growing world is a challenge. In 1982, there were 2.48 million farms in the United States. In 2012, there were 2.11 million farms. A farmer in 1960 fed 25 people, and a farmer today feeds 155. Most farms are larger than they ever, though most are still family owned. Family owned farms might incorporate their business as a management strategy to better protect themselves. These larger family farm businesses can purchase larger machinery that works efficiently, such as larger planters, mechanical harvesters and safe and effective crop protectants. They are able to maximize the production per acre, allow a single farm family to farm more acres, and protect the safety and yield of crops.

Procedures

Have the class discuss their home or school garden and keep track of responses on a white board for all students to see.
1. How would students describe the garden?
2. What kinds of food are grown?
3. How big is the garden?
4. Where does the food go?
5. How much human labor is required?
6. How many meals can the garden provide a day? For how long?
7. How efficient is the garden?
Play the FARMLAND documentary clip for students. Have them take notes on the key points of the clip and the topics and ideas they are most interested in.
Tell students that the average farm acreage in America 441 acres, but some farmers care for a lot more land than that, and some care for less. Play the DeGroot Farms YouTube video to give students an idea of what a larger farm would look like. Then, have them compare and contrast the farm and the garden in a Venn diagram either on the white board as a class or individually. Some key points are:
1. Farms today are larger than gardens. In fact, they are larger, on average, than ever before. Farms had to increase in size to remain productive in hard economic times, compete with other farms, and allow multiple generations of the farm family to live and work off of the farm. Larger farms often have the ability to incorporate incredible technology that improves efficiency and protects the environment. One example of this is Fair Oaks Dairy in Indiana that was able to install digesters to turn manure into fuel for their milk trucks. Sometimes larger farms are called “factory farms,” but most are still family owned and produce safe and healthy food.
2. 97% of farms in the U.S. are still owned by families that are dedicated to producing safe and healthy food.
3. Both farms and gardens require land and natural resources such as water, soil, and sun to be productive. They also require soil nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
4. Many farms in the United States only grow a few crops. A typical Midwestern farmer only grows corn and soybeans, maybe some alfalfa for hay, and possibly hogs or chickens. Most farms today are not as diversified as they used to be, and are certainly not as diversified as gardens, which typically grow many different types of produce.
5. Many acres can be managed by just a few people because of the machinery now used in agriculture. Combines, tractors, milking machines, and other technologically advanced machinery allow farmers to work more efficiently.
6. The average farmer today feeds 155 people.
7. Food from many farms are sold to companies that further process or package the food items. Some items, like milk, are typically sold locally, while other products, like corn, are shipped all over the world to be used in food and for ethanol.
8. Farms today are extremely efficient. Farmers know the best spacing between plants in their fields to maximize the land they have and care for their animals with welfare and productivity in mind.
9. Mechanization allows farmers to produce more food per farm with less labor. Play either the green bean harvesting/packing video or the robots in lettuce video for students. Explain how mechanization and an increase in farm size allows multiple families to be supported off of one farm, although additional help is often needed for a short time during harvest. Play the Migrant workers make Maine’s blueberry harvest possible video for students.
Introduce to students the idea of population growth. We live on a hungry planet, and with the world’s population predicted to reach 9 billion by the year 2050, producing enough food, especially protein, is a challenge for agriculture. A garden is an example of small-scale agriculture production; perhaps not the most efficient way of producing food. How do we scale that up to feed a world population? How do we ensure that that population’s nutritional needs are being met?
1. There is no easy answer to this, but farmers today are working to increase production while caring for the Earth. The average farmer today is working with far more efficient techniques than their parents were, and this efficiency is helping to produce more food on a shrinking amount of arable land.
2. As the population grows, the middle class in many foreign countries will grow as well. Those people are expected to adopt a diet that is higher in animal proteins and follows more closely with the Western diet. It’s important for a developing nation to have access to healthy, high quality food.
Discuss with students the importance of addressing nutritional needs. Food is one of the three basic necessities for humans (the others are shelter and clothing), and one of the benefits of having a school or home garden is a supply of fresh, healthy food options.
1. Why are the food choices coming from a school garden some of the healthiest choices for snacks and meals?
2. What food groups do the majority of foods grown in a garden fit into?
3. Many people in the world live in cities where gardens in their backyard are very difficult to find. Eating enough fruits and vegetables is very important, so affordable fruits and vegetables have to be available for purchase at stores and farmers markets. This is where large, efficient farms and technology have to come into play to produce enough food for the growing population.

Essential Files (maps, charts, pictures, or documents)

Did you know? (Ag facts)

97% of farms in the U.S. are owned by families
The average U.S. farmer feeds 166 people today. In 1960, a farmer only fed 25.

Extension Activities

Have students debate the benefits of small scale production and the benefits of large scale production.
Have students research a single commodity (crop). Have them research the cost of operation, how much of that commodity could be harvested per acre, prices for sale of that commodity.
- Considering the current price of the crop that the farmers would receive, how many acres would they have to produce to cover all of their costs and earn a minimum wage salary (roughly $15,000)?
- How many acres would they have to produce to cover costs and earn a middle income salary (for example, $40,000)?
- How many acres would they have to produce to cover all their costs and earn a middle income salary for themselves and a middle income salary for the two other people that the farm supports?

Author(s)