Agriculture 101: The basics of agriculture

10-27-20221

Webster's 1828 Dictionary definition of agriculture: In general sense, the cultivation of the ground, for the purpose of producing vegetables, and fruits, for the use of man and beast; or the art of preparing the soil, sowing and planting seeds, dressing the plants, and removing the crops. In this sense, the word includes gardening, or horticulture, and also the raising and feeding of cattle, or stock. But in a more common and appropriate sense, it is used to signify that species of cultivation which is intended to raise grain and other crops for man and beast. It is equivalent to husbandry. Agriculture is the most general occupation of man.

"Hi Kids, I have been asked to talk about the basics of American agriculture. Agriculture is really the industry of growing and caring for plants and animals. It is the science of growing food for people, but it also included growing flowers, trees, grass or turf and landscaping lawns. So agriculture really includes anything that grows. Agriculture goes beyond growing food it also includes marketing what is grown and than processing it for people to eat. When learning about agriculture you will hear terms such as husbandry, horticulture, agronomy, animal husbandry, and hydroponics, so the best way to learn about agriculture is to learn the language of an agriculturalist. Click Here To Go To The Glossary of Agricultural Terms."

What is a farmer?

Have you ever heard the statement he is just a dumb farmer? Well if you have don't you believe it! Just take a look a some of the things a farmer deals with all the time.

One of the first thing a farmer must decide is "What crops am I going to plant this year?". Sounds simple doesn't it? This decision was often made two years before. He has to consider what was planted in each field the last two years. Farmers must understand crop rotation. When the farmer decides what crop to plant he must decide what brand and what variety he must buy.
Once he decides on what crops to plant more decisions have to be made. Should he no till or minimum till or fully work the soil, is the soil dry enough to plant, should he use pre-emergent herbicide or post-emergent herbicide, how far apart should the rows be, and how many seeds should he plant per acre are just some of the decisions he must make.
When harvest time comes he must decide when the crops are ready to harvest. Are they ripe enough, are they dry enough, should they be sold right out of the field or should they be stored to sell later?

Farmers must be certified to used many chemicals. This takes study and testing. Then he must use all chemicals according to the label instruction; if he doesn't he may face fines or even possible jail terms.

A farmer must know all about the animals he has on his farm. He must be part veterinarian, part animal nutritionist, part nurse and a full time animal welfarist.

A farmer must be part carpenter, part electrician, part plumber, and part mechanic, part technology expert, part agronomist and part horticulturist, part entomologist and part hydrologist, part chemist, part scientist, part environmentalist, part forest ranger and part game warden. He also must know his limitations in each of these areas.

A farmer must also be part economist. He must follow the grain and livestock markets every day so he can decide when and how to sell his crops or livestock. He has to manage operating loans, bank accounts, cash flow and insurance, not to mention being a bookkeeper and part accountant.

A farmer is also part educator, training family members and hired hands. He also is always a full time student. He can never stop studying and learning to improving the old ways of farming and learning new ways. A farmer always must be improving in everything he does and in everyway he does it.

Just a dumb farmer, not hardly!

What Is Farming: We looked at what is farmer is, now let's look what farming is.

Farming is really growing food. It begins with knowing what must be done, knowing how to do it and than doing it right so the farmer can grow healthy plants and livestock so they can produce healthy nutritious grain, vegetables, fruit, meat and milk.

It doesn't matter whether you are planting corn or wheat or growing grass for the cows farming begins with the soil. The soil must be prepared before the seed can be planted. The soil may need to be plowed or cultivated. Fertilizer may need to be applied. Farming is applying the right herbicide at the right time to control weeds. It is applying the right pesticide to control the bugs that may infest his crops. Farming is watching crops and livestock grow and working to avoid possible problems that may come about and doing what needs to be done when a problem does arise.

Farming is not just growing grain, fruits, vegetables, meat and milk. Is is knowing when his crops and livestock are ready to go to the market. Knowing when to sell and how to sell is the ultimate goal of farming.

So farming is knowing what food to grow, knowing how to grow it, knowing how to sell it and than doing everything right.

Check out this article by Suzanne Tanner Of Able Safety

Transformative Tech: How Technology Is Helping Small Farms Distribute

Agriculture really begins with the soil. Agronomy is the branch of agriculture that deals with soil health.

Story of Farming (historylink101.com)

Farming Agriculture Growing Food (basicknowledge101.com)

Ag 101 | Agriculture | US EPA

Farming Equipment

Agriculture4kids * Tom May * P.O. Box 111, Port Jefferson OH 45360-0111 * Email: tom@agriculture4kids.com * Phone: 937-507-9413