What is the difference between today's and olden days agriculture?

Question

What is the difference between today's and olden days agriculture?

Answer 1

In today's agriculture, there seems to be more chemicals used to help plants grow faster. Whereas in the older days, they just used natural fertilizer from farm animals (mainly cows).This is just one aspect.

Answer 2

i think the technology has changed n made a huge difference

for ex-- irrigation facilities, electricity, organic foods n much more

Answer 3

Today there are not near as many dedicated, hard-working, knowledgable farmers/ranchers as there used to be.

Answer 4

one thing is scale

now it is profitable mostly on a large scale

before lots of small farms with only minor selling of farm products mostly for own household use

tools and machines

now high tech equipment, and very little labor

before horses and lots of labor to pick fruit, cotton, pile hay

fertilizing and pesticide

now artificial fertilizers and lots of pesticides

before natural fertilizing from farm animal  dung, use of turkeys and chickens and other animals and insects for pest control

crop rotation

now land is made to produce several crops a year

before land produced one crop per year and crops planted were rotated to avoid poor soil conditions

animal handling

now animals kept packed in large numbers in smaller space. this requires use of antibiotics and other drugs to keep them healthy. they are also fed supplements like hormones to make then grow bigger or produce more eggs and milk. Cattle are shipped to a fattening yard prior to slaughter. Mass production of animals for sale.

before animals were free to roam - at least in the summer -

no drugs were used. Animals were killed for own use, some were sold.

climate

now farmers have a pretty good idea what to do with their crops to avoid weather related problems since weather predictions are fairly accurate

before newly planted crops were lost to late frost and harvesting of crops were made impossible at times due to bad weather. there was very little knowledge of what the weather would be like the next day even

watering

now automatic watering is available if no sufficient rainfall

before farmers had to rely on rain, and often lost crops for the lack of water at some stage

Answer 5

Today's food it is full 100% with pesticedes and all sorts of poison chemicals

Answer 6

At the time of statehood in Wisconsin,  90% of the people were rural

By 2000 68% live in towns and cities.

Answer 7

technology automatiion

increase in  quantity and decrease in quality

and decrease in profit

Answer 8

today's is hi=tech chemical stuff/fancy machinery profit oriented

olden days was easier pace/ concern about maintaining soil quality along with crop profits

Answer 9

it is that nowadays everthing it done by machinary almost

and in long lost time they didn't!!

Answer 10

Today they spray fertilizer. They didn't before because they did not have to.

Also, yesterday's crops were four times the size they are today and for some plants and vegetables, more.

Everyone's garden had every vegetable, not just their 'favourites' like today's 'city' gardens, because they did not make money the way they can today so they would never have survived. Also they needed the added flavors as their were no junk flavors and additives or condiments.

You have good intentions!

Answer 11

the differences are technology in all aspects from larger more effiecient equipment to highly yielding production crops.

some things have remained the same, farmers are the only people producing a commodity that the buyer sets the price, it's too bad that enough farmers couldn't just sit on their crops for say a year and my guess is that the markets would come more in line with price comparable to the inflated inputs that are required to produce our grain and livestock........

Answer 12

Today's agriculture involves hybridization, which was introduced in 1912 by a scientist at cambridge university.... I know this because of a project I did on agricultural genetics. Also, plants have become domesticated, and therefore will not reproduce on their own. Also, farmers no longer have to save part of their harvest for replanting, b/c they can buy seed from many sources.

I live in Iowa, the hub of all agriculture in the country essentially, so you can believe me. Our state is the has the 3rd leading corn production in the world, and we also produce tons of soybeans, and cattle and pigs too, so yea.