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| If you’re a farmer, pat yourself on the back; you’ve earned it |
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One of the best videos is out and about on the Internet and needs to be out and about at every meeting and venue possible. It’s called “One Hungry Planet,” produced by BASF Ag Products, and it can be found on YouTube.
It’s simple, it’s interesting and the graphics and music keep you wanting to watch. There is no huge Kansas wheat field with six combines in a staggered row. There are no cute pictures of little kids feeding calves or leather-skinned farmers throwing bales on a wagon. It’s all done with catchy graphics and easily read phrases. And the music is indescribably fun.
While these tidbits keep you watching, the message is simple, yet powerful: Farmers feed the world.
Some of the statistics are amazing. U.S. farmers provide 18 percent of the world’s food, using 10 percent of its farmland. From 1950 to 2000, average corn yields grew from 39 bushels per acre to 153.
From 1987 to 2007 farmers grew 40 percent more corn, 30 percent more soybeans and 19 percent more wheat, all on the same amount of land. Average cereal yields increased 155 percent between 1961 and 2005.
In 1940, one farmer produced enough to feed 19 people. In 1970 one farmer produced enough to feed 73 people. In 2010 one farmer will produce enough to feed 155 people.
As productivity has improved, so have conservation techniques, decreasing erosion by 43 percent from the practice of smart crop rotation and no-till farming. Farmers are also conserving more water, to the tune of 50-80 percent.
There are 6.8 billion people in the world today. In 2050 it is projected there will be 9.3 billion. That means the world’s appetite will double in the next 20 years. By 2050 farmers will have to grow as much food as they have produced since farming began in 10,000 B.C.
These facts are not only powerful, but are perfect answers to those who would like to rid the world of large farmers with tractors over 40 hp.
For producers who grow our food – aren’t you amazed at what you do? The video reiterated what I’ve said for a long time: Farmers have to be part agronomist, meteorologist, economist and conservationist, and all optimist.
With help from research and allied industry, farmers are an incredibly progressive group of people who have achieved unbelievable accomplishments. One farmer feeding 155 people? Except for Jesus when he fed the 5000 with a loaf of bread and a few fish, no one man has even come close to this.
If you haven’t seen the video, find it, watch it and memorize those statistics. Then when you are faced with someone who thinks each of us should produce our own food and we should only have the number of children that we can afford to feed, tell them just exactly how many mouths you feed in a year of planting, harvesting and marketing while working 20-hour days to bring home just enough for your family to survive.
Thank you for your hard work and dedication. And my family, with their full pantry of food and sated appetites, thank you too.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers who have any questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication. |
| 6/23/2010 |
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