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Crop Innovations
Each year a new crop of innovations in agriculture is being tested at farms and experiment stations across North Dakota. The innovations are attempting to respond to demands from the marketplace. New varieties of crops are
being developed at the request of the food industry. General Mills representatives
say they will look to buy only certain varieties to produce their cereals
in the future. The varieties give them the most desired results. For
example, the wrong variety of oats can gum up the machine that makes
Cheerios cereal, forcing them to shut down to clean the equipment. The
right variety of wheat can make a flake that doesn't settle in the box,
maintaining the volume the box had when it was filled. Crop scientists have also
created new crop varieties that resist disease or are immune to herbicides.
Biotechnology has come with some controversy when scientists modified
crop genes to make them resist the effects of herbicides. Genetically
modified crops have been banned in Europe with public concern about
the safety of so-called "Roundup Ready" crops that can be
sprayed with the herbicide "Roundup" and not be affected.
Advocates of genetically
modified commodities say they are safe, require less pesticide and can
create more food for a hungry world. Specialty Crops North Dakota farmers are
trying to find niche markets where they can get a premium price. They
know only raising wheat fence-row to fence-row is no longer profitable.
Farmers have always been encouraged to diversify their operations to
lower their financial risk as well as manage disease and soil fertility.
Today's farmer is going beyond that to crops offering a higher price.
Canola, mustard, crambe, sunflowers and other oilseed crops, legumes
like lentils, field peas, dry beans and soybeans have seen a surge of
interest from farmers looking to boost income and diversify crop rotations.
Crops like radish, coriander and fenugreek are also showing up on more
North Dakota farms. Some North Dakota farmers are irrigating their fields to grow higher-value crops like potatoes and other vegetables. Farmers are also studying alternative small grain crops like triticale, white wheat and canaryseed.
New technology today allows
capital to replace agricultural labor which improves the standard of
living for farmers. "Some say industrialization
is continuation of a process of adopting technology, expanding farm
size, and decreasing farm numbers that has been ongoing for most of
the 20th century. Others describe industrialization as agriculture creating
opportunities by adopting business strategies that have been practices
by other industries for some time. A third description of industrialization
is that it is the last straw; it is the economic pressure that will
cause the demise of many farms, rural businesses, and rural communities."
"Technology, likewise,
is a threat to our current agricultural system. Technology was the fountainhead
of our prosperity. Farmers invested and adapted their way to extremely
proficient farms. In the 1930s one United States farmer could supply
9.8 persons in his own country and abroad. by 1994, one farmer could
supply 129 people in the United States and abroad. It was technology
that made this possible, the steam engine for shipping by boat and rail,
barbed wire, the internal combustion engine, electricity, rural electrification,
plant and animal genetics, herbicides, pesticides, portable refrigeration,
radio, television, communication technologies, jet engines, and the
Internet."
"The competitive market
system allows only the lowest-cost producers to survive. Technology
has been the driving force toward lower per-unit costs. The adoption
of new technology has occurred intensely for the last 60 years. It has
resulted in specialization of commodity production and consolidation
of farms into larger units in an effort to gain economies of size and
increase profits. New technology results in capital replacing labor,
which improves the standard of living for those who adopt. " "Unfortunately, new
technology has resulted in far fewer farmers, and for those who have
not fully adjusted, it has resulted in lower incomes. Further, the profit
advantage of being an early adapter of new technology seems to last
for a shorter and shorter time due to the rapid pace of adoption. Additionally,
there may not even be much of a profit advantage with some of the latest
technology. "A considerable amount
of the latest production technology is being developed privately instead
of by public institutions. Private developers commonly price the technology
to leave very little extra profit for early adopters, perhaps with the
justification that they are taking the risk of developing the technology.
This certainly seems to be the case for genetically modified crops.
"The impact of technology
is not limited to production agriculture. New technology has facilitated
the development of a global economy. Communication and transportation
technology allows producers to learn about and quickly respond to market
opportunities in other parts of the world."
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Technology