June 2009

Fresh Country Air

By Matt Reese


I have found that sometimes it is important to first understand how things used to work so we can fully understand how good we have it now. My generation has been blessed with unprecedented technology. The distribution of this column, for example, would probably not have been possible without the benefit of e-mail and Internet unavailable just a few years ago.
I was reminded of this on a recent family trip to South Carolina. My wife, daughter and I went to a quaint lakeside cabin in South Carolina with her parents and sister. The cabin is very nice, but lacks the convenience of a garbage disposal that we are all accustomed to in our homes. My sister-in-law, having all her life enjoyed the benefits of a garbage disposal, thought nothing of scraping the dirty dishes directly into the sink. Though we were fortunate to dodge any serious repercussions from this, it was only after a lengthy sink/dirty-dish history lesson delivered by my father-in-law.
Along with kitchen conveniences, it may be hard for many younger members of society to fathom the challenges of wrestling with 8-tracks and records (yes, these were around in my youth) when compared to the unbelievable technology of today’s MP3 players. I was also recently told that a young man buying his first car was mystified by windows that had to be manually rolled down and dumbfounded by a lack of automatic locks in the older vehicle he was considering.
By understanding the past, we can better appreciate the present. The same is true with agriculture. June is dairy month and those who will enjoy some delicious ice cream in commemoration (myself included) can rest assured that they will be incurring a much lighter carbon footprint than that of ice cream lovers in the past.
In 1958 the U.S. had 18.8 million milk cows producing on average 6,585 pounds of milk per cow. That amount of production also came with 264 pounds of methane, 110 pounds of nitrogen and 48 pounds of phosphorus, according to David Galligan a professor of animal health economics with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
The current 9 million milk cows in the U.S. produce 19,576 pounds of milk per cow, tripling per cow production in the last five decades. U.S. cow numbers fell 52 percent since 1958 and total milk production grew an amazing 40 percent. Because of these tremendous gains in efficiency of today’s dairy farms, on a total basis, methane production dropped by 60 percent, nitrogen excretion dropped 6 percent and phosphorus excretion dropped 50 percent.
Dairy is certainly not alone with the tremendous improvements in production through the decades. Pork, beef, lamb and poultry producers are producing higher quality, lower fat and more consistent meat products than ever before. This is done in a more efficient manner, which improves animal health and minimizes environmental impacts.
Crops too have made great strides. Between 1987 and 2007, corn production has seen a 30 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions per bushel. Crop yields in general, including corn, soybeans and wheat, have boomed thanks to genetic improvements, biotechnology and tremendous strides in on-farm management.
As an example, from 1931 to 2006 there has been a 28.4 percent decrease in the number of acres planted to corn. During the same time period, the average per acre corn yield increased by 508.5 percent, bumping up total production by 372.4 percent on the reduced acreage, according to the National Corn Growers Association. It is with these kinds of advances that crop producers have continually been able to outpace world demand for food, feed and fuel.
These crops are planted, cared for and harvested with modern equipment that provides safety levels, precision and performance that could not even be imagined by previous generations. Now, many tractors, sprayers and combines -- using satellite guidance – to prevent over application of pesticides and nutrients, reduce driver fatigue and deliver never-dreamed-of precision to crop production.
With the ever-increasing scrutiny of every aspect of agriculture, from the environment to food safety, sometimes it can really help to take a look at the past to see how good we really have things today. So, whether at home or on a family vacation this summer, take some time to enjoy the wonderful food we have available thanks to centuries of agricultural improvements. And, when cleaning up after dinner, make sure there is a garbage disposal.

Matt Reese writes for Ohio’s Country Journal and lives in Baltimore, Ohio. For questions or comments, please contact him at mkcreese@yahoo.com. This column was brought to you by Ohio’s agricultural organizations.