Land Ethics

In the world of agriculture there is a constant struggle for land use. With any use of land come ethical issues. Is it right to turn wilderness into fields? Or is it right to turn farmland into developed land? These are two ethical issues that come from land management that have a direct effect on the food market as well as the ecosystem. There are many benefits to farmland as well as disadvantages. Therefore advancements in land production must be made to use farmland to its full potential.

There is a constant struggle in developed countries to keep farm land and ranch land. A study by American Farmland Trust estimates that fifty acres of farm and ranch land are lost to development each hour in the United States. They also state that twenty-four million acres of agricultural land has been developed since 1982. These are alarming rates for farming and ranching in the United States and the future of agriculture. The numbers potentially have a direct impact on the countries food production. Farm and ranch land also serve as habitats for many forms of wildlife. This habitat loss can force animals to move into developed areas where they might not thrive.

Developing is necessary for expansion of the population and industry. The population of the country and world are only growing which is where expanding into new land is necessary. Industry also requires new facilities and buildings in order to grow. The rapid expansion outward poses a threat to valuable land, but the growth must go somewhere, so why not up or in older developed areas that no longer serve a purpose? Fargo for an example keeps growing outward instead of upward. There are new developments everyday it seems, but all these new buildings never seem to be more than two or three stories tall. Maybe the costs are too high to build up, but the problem with expanding out is once the land is converted it is highly unlikely for the land to be used for agriculture ever again. The abundance of land in the area currently makes it easy for expansion out, but someday the limit may be reached and practices similar to the expanding in Fargo will have to change drastically.

There are also developing countries that have converted valuable natural habitats such as forests into farm land. Places like the Amazon rainforest, the Brazilian savanna, and rainforests in the lowland of Indonesia all are under fire as farming and ranching becomes more popular. The loss of forests to rapidly expanding agriculture poses a huge problem, but one of the biggest problems come from the mono culture practices of these developing countries. Once land has been used in monoculture, or used for one specific crop, the land loses important nutrients needed to grow the crop. This leads to more land clearing instead of proper land management and crop rotation. And with more land clearing, animals that live in these forests such as tigers, elephants, rhinoceros, and many other species are forced out of their habitats, leading to decreased numbers and endangerment.

The farmers in these developing countries are only doing what it takes to provide the crops that are in demand. They plant soybeans or corn in a mono culture because it is the most profitable for them to grow. The land is cheap for them to clear and plant more crops, so they don’t worry about whether the land they clear is taken care of properly. These practices will lead to poor land, and more land clearing to keep up with the demand.

Oliver Dixon [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I believe that it is a shame to convert agricultural land into developed land, but to a certain extent it must be done. Expansion of developed land is necessary, but proper expansion needs to be taken into consideration as land is limited in the world. The growth of farming in developing countries is very important to their economies, but proper use of the land they clear should be considered. Forests are an important part of the world’s ecosystem. Farmers in such areas have to consider the long term effects of clearing these forests. The only real solution to these problems comes from agricultural advancements in land management that help farmers and ranchers to use the land to its full potential making it possible to achieve the same yield goals using less land.

Works Cited:

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/impacts/habitat_loss/

https://www.farmland.org/our-work/areas-of-focus/farmland

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AClearing_the_land_at_Nether_Muirskie_-_geograph.org.uk_-_178360.jpg

Drones

In today’s agriculture, technology is used wherever and whenever possible. Recently, within the past couple years the use of drones in agriculture has become a very hot topic. The potential benefit of the use of drones is sky high. Using drones opens a whole new world of opportunity for technology in the agricultural field. However drones still aren't widely accepted in the United States and with their private use expanding to a larger scale comes a lot of controversy.

The main benefit of using drones in agriculture is their ability to inexpensively tell a farmer how their field is functioning at virtually any time of the day, given the weather permits flight. Drones have the capability to help farmers advance to a new level of crop management. In an afternoon a farmer could use a drone to fly over his fields and tell him what he needs to know in order to grow his crops to their potential. The drone would send real time images with true color, infrared, and thermal imaging. These images could then be used to spot potential pest outbreaks, weed outbreaks, areas that need water, and so much more. Once the data from the drone determines a pest infestation for example, the farmer can then act and treat the specific area. This would save the farmer money and time by minimizing the infestation and minimizing the area sprayed. An article by 9 News in Colorado claimed a farmer could save $20 dollars an acre by using drones.

"ILA 2010 Samstag 099" by ILA-boy - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ILA_2010_Samstag_099.JPG#/media/File:ILA_2010_Samstag_099.JPG

With the expansion of such technology, problems will follow. Along with all the benefits comes the threat of privacy infractions. Farmers worry about others looking at their fields and other parts of their property. Others also worry about using drones for spying on people and the ease of access that would come with such a market.

The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to make official laws for drones. There will be restrictions on drone flight in order to contain the usage. Drone operators will be required to fly under a certain height above the ground and the drone would have to stay within the sight of the operator. Certain areas such as airports would also be off limits in order to avoid mid-air incidents with manned aircraft. Among other details, operators would be required to pass a written test to become certified. The test would have to be renewed every two years or so, similar to other certifications in the agricultural field already in place.

As restrictions are lifted, people will begin to warm up to the idea of using drones in a commercial sense with all the possibilities they bring. Currently companies can use drones for mainly research with the proper permit from the FAA. Most states do not currently have restrictions on drones, but as the idea of drone usage becomes more and more popular many states have passed restrictions on how they can be used and what they can be used for. The FAA is still working on legislation defining drones and the federal restrictions that will be implemented.

Works Cited:

9 News

 http://www.9news.com/story/money/business/2015/03/09/agricultural-drones-farming-colorado/24674521/

National Conference of State Legislatures

http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/current-uas-state-law-landscape.aspx

Knowing the Soil

One of the main goals of agriculture and agricultural engineers is feeding the world. What is one big factor that directly relates to production of food? The soil that it grows in! In the past, all the soil in a field was treated the same with uniform management. In order to move forward in the quest of feeding the world, it has been realized that knowing the soil one is working with and managing it properly with advanced equipment can greatly improve yields. One of the best ways to know the soil is to map it properly. Once it is mapped properly, a whole new window of variable rate applications can be opened. One company that can aid in this process is Veris Technologies and their soil sensing machinery.

Veris V3150

With Veris machinery there are three types of sensors that can be used to map the soil: electrical conductivity sensors, organic matter sensors, and pH sensors. These three maps of the soil can tell one a lot of information. To start, an understanding of how it all works and what data it gives is necessary to realize the benefits.

Electrical conductivity mapping is done using electrical currents traveling through the soil. Veris uses disks on their machines that act as electrodes, sending currents into the soil, while other disks on the machine measure the change in voltage based on the composition of the soil. This is done at certain depths of one to three feet. The composition of the soil is one of the keys to understanding the soil. The composition of the soil gives the amount of sand, silt, and clay or the texture of the soil, along with salt content. This is extremely important, because a field can change soil composition in a matter of meters. This means how a farmer is to manage one part of the field versus another part of the same field greatly depends on the texture of the soil. For example certain soil textures tend to support growth more readily than others meaning more seed can be planted in the right soil.

Organic matter sensors and pH sensors do exactly what the names imply; they measure the amount of organic matter in the soil and the pH of the soil. The organic matter is essential for crop growth and managing organic matter is a key to increasing yields. Veris uses a dual-wavelength optical sensor with a sapphire window to measure organic matter. A shoe on the machine digs just under the surface allowing the sapphire window to drag across the soil. This allows it to measure the organic matter of the soil.

The pH of a field is important as well. The proper pH level is essential to maximize growth of crops. The problem is pH can change rapidly, so how a farmer should apply product to change pH should change rapidly as well. This can only be done with a proper map of the pH. Veris uses two sensors on their machines that constantly measure pH and rinse as the machine is pulled across the field, giving accurate readings of pH.

A raw pH map from a Veris V3150

These maps help utilize the soil to its full potential, increasing yields and saving money by limiting areas that are less productive all while also treating these areas properly. In a changing world where more land is converted from farm land to industrial use, land has to be used to its full potential and detailed maps of the soil are an important tool in doing so.

Sources

www.veristech.com

Map provided by LRSC Precision Ag Center

Photo by Talon Mack

Explanation of Agricultural Engineering

Agricultural engineers solve problems in their field by taking elements from mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, and chemical engineering and applying them toward agriculture problems. Many times agricultural engineering is combined with biosystems engineering to give graduates an even better understanding of agriculture as a whole. The problems faced by agricultural engineers are some of the biggest problems facing our country and planet.

There are many different paths an agricultural engineer may take. The variety of work an agricultural engineer may face is endless. They are involved in solving problems from any and all types of living systems and processing products from natural and biological resources.

Agricultural engineering according to the Merriam-Webster definition is: the branch of engineering that deals with the design of farm machinery, the location and planning of farm structures, farm drainage, soil management and erosion control, water supply and irrigation, rural electrification, and the processing of farm products.

One path an agricultural engineer may take is the growing and processing of biofuels. As petroleum products continue to be used and depleted, alternate fuels gain more and more attention. Biofuels from plants and animals are continually researched by agricultural engineers in order to develop a process that produces fuel efficiently and readily while keeping the cost down.

One of the biggest problems that agricultural engineers face is feeding the planet. From the field to the processing of the food, agricultural engineers are involved in bettering the efficiency and maximizing food production in order to feed a growing population. The involvement of agricultural engineers in feeding the world is nearly limitless, but one way they get involved is designing equipment to plant, maintain, and harvest agricultural plant products. The product then needs to be stored. Proper and efficient storage facilities are also designed by agricultural engineers to ensure the product is ready for processing. After the plants are harvested and stored, they design the process plants that process the agricultural products. The products from plants aren't limited to just food, the products we gain from plants is endless and continually researched.

By SSGT Scott Stewart [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFarming_near_Omaha%2C_Nebraska_in_1988.JPEG

Plant production is just one way they help feed the population. They are also behind the developing of livestock facilities, such as dairies. All of these processes produce some sort of waste, which agricultural engineers are also involved. The proper disposal of agriculture waste is extremely important, not only because of the harmful effects of improper disposal, but because of the usefulness agricultural waste possesses in the areas of fertilizing or production of energy. Other forms of waste management include dealing with runoff of products put on fields such as pesticides and nitrogen.

Yet another important field that agricultural engineers are involved in is water and land management. They help determine the best and most efficient ways to manage the land and water in an area to help avoid a crisis, all while balancing conservation and maximizing the use of the land and water. This can involve erosion control and irrigation methods.

This only scratched the surface of the importance of agricultural engineers. As the importance of agriculture grows, the jobs of agricultural engineers grow as well.