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V. Modern Commercial Agriculture: The Third Agricultural Revolution
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Introduction to Modern Agriculture
The second agricultural revolution reached its peak during the hundred and fifty years from the post-Civil War era to 2000. This period saw the development of barbed wire, various forms of harvesting machines (particularly Cyrus McCormick's reaper), and the tractor -- first with a steam engine and then with a gasoline engine -- which replaced draft animals. The revolution's major impact was the reduction in the number of people needed to operate farms.
The third agricultural revolution, beginning approximately 250 years after the start of the second, has three distinctive features. The first is the removal of the lines distinguishing agriculture as primary, secondary, and tertiary activities. Farmers and agriculturists now engage one or more, including the primary activity of crop production, some sort of secondary activity such as manufacturing or processing the crops, and tertiary activities such as marketing and advertising their products through co-ops and other marketing organizations. The second distinctive feature of this agricultural revolution is more intensive mechanization; biotechnology is the third. Mechanization began replacing animal and human labor in the United States during the late nineteenth century. After World War II, mechanization spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Machines have gotten larger, more powerful, and more efficient.
The biotechnological phase began with chemical farming -- the substitution of inorganic fertilizers and manufactured products for manure and humus to increase soil fertility. Chemicals were also used to control pests, and a wide variety of herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides have been produced in a never-ending effort to enhance the yields. This became widespread in the United States in the 1950s and spread to Europe in the 1960s and to the rest of the world during the last three decades of the twentieth century.
Food processing -- adding economic value to agriculture products -- is the third part of the revolution, and the part that is achieving (or attracting or gaining) the most energy and investment. While the first two phases of the revolution are focused on inputs into the agricultural process, the third is focused on output. Farmers frequently talk about the third phase as "value added," and of course it's the third part that involves agriculturists in secondary and tertiary activities. One of the indications of this has been the use of the term "agribusiness" in the United States to describe the blending of old agricultural farm-centered cultures to this new, more integrated form of production and culture. One of the most significant features of the third revolution is the elimination of the difference between urban and rural lifestyles.
The industrialization of agriculture in general has caused a number of changes in agrarian societies. First, there has been change in the application of rural labor as machines replace or enhance the efficiencies of human labor. In a sense, the industrialization of agriculture creates surplus labor in the rural areas that can be used for other urban activities. Second, there is the development and introduction of new and innovative inputs such as seeds, chemicals, and different kinds of technologies that supplement or replace locally produced products. Third, there has been a development of substitutes for some kinds of agricultural products. Fourth, new uses for agricultural products have been developed. The conversion of corn to sugar for use in soft drinks is an example.
To read the narrative and see further sections under each listed heading, please see "More" below.
Green Revolution
The third revolution began in the 1960s when a combination of technologies was made available to Mexico and countries in Asia in an effort to improve the diets of people in those regions.
Consumption, Nutrition, and Hunger
Despite the dramatic increase in food supply and reduction in hunger in the world as a result of the diffusion of Green Revolution technology, there have been numerous people who have found reasons to criticize this innovation.
Industrial/Commercial Agriculture
A useful way to envision the industrialization of agriculture is as a complex circulation system based on the urban industrial cores.
Environmental Change: Desertification and Deforestation
Perhaps the most dramatic impacts have occurred on the margins of arid regions where agriculturists, for a variety of reasons, have expanded into areas that have thin topsoil and vegetation.
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