This is a term paper written at the request of Dr. Dave Wilson for Agroecology 1000 at the University of Wyoming. Both of the students in this group created this term paper and each one comes from an agricultural background.

Feel free to contact either of us if you have any questions.

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It’s 5 a.m. and the sun is rising. With the rising of that sun comes the rising of the farmer. He rolls out of bed and wanders into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. While the coffee is brewing, he goes back into the bedroom to wake his wife, then into the adjoining bedrooms to wake his kids. As they are all getting dressed and preparing for a typical summer’s day, the farmer thinks to himself how proud he is to have such a great family. After the kids are ready, they head out with their father to do the mornings’ chores. There are animals to feed and crops to tend to. The mother stays in the house to prepare a breakfast fit for royalty. No one complains. They all know this is how they make a living and they have grown to love each and every aspect of living on a farm. It’s a way of life and something they thoroughly enjoy. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

This traditional image of a farming life is something that used to be especially common and accurate in America; however, with the advancements in technology and modern ways, the depiction of small farm life is decreasing and the survival of small farms is getting much more difficult. According to Oxfam America, due to industrial farming, small farms have dwindled by nearly five million since the 1930’s. While these farms are suffering, so are the communities around those farms. Small town, rural America is going to have to compete with large, industrial farms or will eventually and officially be a part of American history.

This may raise questions such as “Why is it such a bad thing for farming to adapt to the change in technology?” or “If industrial farming is such a booming business, then it must be needed, right?” In answering these questions, pros and cons of industrial farming will be discussed. It isn’t such a bad thing that farming adapts to the extreme changes in technology, but at the same time, it’s very important to maintain and preserve those small farms and communities around them. Small farms are the backbone of American culture and shouldn’t be tossed out the window. To answer the other question; yes, industrial farming is demanded. As America is increasing in population, more food is needed. Industrial farming produces mass amounts of food at a high yield, which is, in the end, good for the economy. It also increases the export markets and can provide for more food to be sent overseas. However, do these advantages of industrial farming justify for the damage they cause to the environment and traditional small farms?

To contradict the benefits, there are also many disadvantages to industrial farming. Because of industrial farming, small farms are a suffering business. Not only does the small farm itself suffer, but oftentimes so does the community around it. Small, rural communities only thrive if they rely on the people and businesses around them. If those small farms fail, so does the rest of the community.

In addition, it has been proven that mass-production in agriculture has its downfalls. For example, industrial farms are responsible for many environmental problems. One of the most common problems noticed is the depletion of minerals and the erosion of the topsoil. Small farms rotate the variety of crops they farm and do everything possible to keep the soil at its best. They do this because they farm there each year and always have to use the same land. Industrial farms, on the contrary, use the same land over and over, and can’t rotate crops. These corporate farms specialize in just one crop and don’t have the variety of crops to rotate. Industrial farming also pollutes the air, water, and soil in amounts not comparable to small farming.

Furthermore, higher levels of food contamination are due to industrial slaughterhouses and have resulted in many food-borne illnesses. According to sustainabletable.org, in the United States, food-borne illness sickens 76 million people, causes 325,000 hospitalizations, and kills 5,000 people every year. Moreover, a 1998 study conducted by Consumer Reports revealed that 71% of store-bought chicken were contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for thousands of deaths and millions of sicknesses.

Many may believe that small farms are a thing of the past, and that those who rely on them will not be able to support a family. In reality, however, a family can, in fact, successfully support a family. According to John Ikerd from the University of Missouri, a farm with $50,000 in gross sales can easily contribute at least $25,000 to their family. And furthermore, a farm with gross sales of $100,000 can be a full-time family farm.

With this in mind, small family farms are important to the traditional image of American agriculture. While industrial farming is becoming a huge competitor to small farms, it is also causing many concerns and damages to the environment, as well as the health of the nation.

In ten years or so, I hope to be rising with the sun to start the coffee and wake my kids to do the chores together. As we do this, I hope to teach them the importance of responsibility and hard work. I’ll teach them how the survival of small family farming is the backbone of American agriculture and aspects learned on that farm will help them to achieve many goals throughout their lifetime. As, John Ikerd said, in reference to small farming, “They do the things they do best, the things they have a passion for, and as a consequence, do them better.”