Earth Day Every Day

earth day every day

Earth Day Reflection: Fulfilling Our Responsibilities

Spring brings warmer weather and a chance to step outside. It also brings Earth Day, on April 22. It carries a special meaning to those of us who focus on the land as part of our livelihood.

For the general public, Earth Day is a welcome excuse to break daily routine and infuse nature into their busy, increasingly disconnected lives: a trip to the arboretum, gardening, a hike in the forest preserve. For farmers, ranchers and others steeped in agriculture, our lives are already saturated with all things soil, water, weather and sky. Every day is Earth Day when you’re in agriculture – our lives depend on it. So, what are some unique ways farmers and ranchers can celebrate?

This year, we’re taking some time to reflect on an important Earth Day theme: Responsibility. Farmers and ranchers have an inherent responsibility to their land and livestock, but it goes beyond that. They also have a responsibility to future generations and to the nourishment and well-being of Earth’s growing population. Earth Day reminds us to reflect on the innovative work being done in farming communities to help fulfill these responsibilities.

Precision Agriculture

Farmers and ranchers have the monumental task to feed more and more mouths on less and less acreage of farmland1. They also have to handle whatever challenges Mother Nature throws at them. How can they produce food more effectively? Some have turned to Precision Agriculture to tackle this task. Precision Agriculture is the use of software and soil analysis technology to help farmers produce crops more efficiently. By dividing a large plot of land into smaller sections based on data taken from technology systems like GPS-equipped harvesters, farms can grow crops in the soil that best suits their needs, which reduces the need for additional passes through the field.2,3 With these innovations, farmers and ranchers are better able to adapt and fulfill their responsibility of feeding our growing population.

Bio-Technology

With the decreasing amount of farmland, it’s also critical that the land remains productive and sustainable for generations to come. This means minimizing usage of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. While the organic farming movement answers some of these questions, it isn’t - and may never be - enough to feed our population effectively and at an affordable price point. The American Farm Bureau Federation is focused on legislation that allows farmers and ranchers to innovate using biotechnology. Agricultural biotechnology uses a strong understanding of genetics and DNA to enhance production in ways that simply crossbreeding two plants cannot. This scientific field is used to produce genetically modified crops, diagnose crop and livestock diseases on a molecular level, and create cheaper, safer human and livestock vaccines, among other innovations.4 With these policy changes, farmers and ranchers will be able to fulfill their responsibility to both the land and future generations of farmers while optimizing production.

Farm Bureau Efforts

NDFB’s mission is to support men and women in agriculture in all their daily responsibilities so they can meet the needs of their families and communities. Continual investment in research and legislative policies will allow farmers and ranchers to effectively adapt and overcome future obstacles.

In addition to research and legislative policy, NDFB also has a general responsibility to support our members. Our continual partnerships with companies such as Case IH provide discounts to members so they can save money and focus on their other daily responsibilities!

These are just some of the initiatives currently going on that promote responsibility. We want to hear from you! What does responsibility mean to you? What are you working on to fulfill these promises?

[Let us know on Facebook or Twitter using #EarthDayResponsibility]

Sources:

1. http://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/2016/03/04/population-growing-but-us-farm-acreage-declining/

2. https://soilsmatter.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/what-is-precision-agriculture-and-why-is-it-important/

3. http://cropwatch.unl.edu/ssm

4. http://absp2.cornell.edu/resources/briefs/documents/warp_briefs_eng_scr.pdf  

 

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