Education: commercial farming
Have you ever wondered where the food on your plate comes from? This week we take a look at large-scale farming
LAST week we learnt that there are two types of farming: subsistence and commercial. Subsistence farming is when someone farms on a small scale and produces just enough to feed their family.
Commercial farming is practised on a large scale and usually focuses on one crop – such as mealies – or a type of animal, such as cattle for the meat market. Let’s find out more about commercial farming.
HISTORY
People started farming about 10 000 years ago. It was an important step in the development of humankind. Before agriculture, people were nomadic hunter-gatherers who moved around in search of food sources such as wild animals or edible plants.
Once they settled down and started farming, towns and cities could develop because agriculture provided enough food for a larger, denser population.
The first crops to be planted were wheat and barley. Agriculture developed at around the same time in various places around the world, such as Ancient Egypt, the Fertile Crescent (an area in the Middle East that today roughly covers Israel, Syria and Iraq), as well as in Central America and East Asia.
COMMERCIAL FARMS
Commercial farmers produce food and other produce on a large scale and sell it for profit. They make enough money for living expenses and to reinvest in their farm by buying seeds (or animals) for the next harvest.
Unlike subsistence farmers, commercial farmers don’t really cultivate food for their own use. Instead they use the profit from their farming activities to buy food and anything else they need. Their farm is run like a business and their main goal is to make as much money as possible.
There are three main types of commercial farming: livestock, crops or a combination of the two, which is called mixed farming. The trend worldwide is for commercial farmers to have a combination, which is referred to as diversification.
Farming with livestock – including poultry – means raising animals for their meat, milk, eggs, wool or feathers. Livestock
farmers – such as sheep and cattle farmers – usually need large farms for the animals to roam. Think for example of the Karoo’s large sheep farms.
We call this extensive farming or extensive agriculture. Extensive farming needs relatively few workers compared to the size of the farm, so it’s not labour-intensive. In general, this type of farming also doesn’t require large cash investments.
Intensive farming occupies relatively small pieces of land but the aim is to produce a high yield – making this the opposite of extensive farming. A lot of money is invested in this type of farming and many hands are needed at harvest time.
Intensive farming makes use of machines and technology to be as cost-effective as possible. The large greenhouses in the Netherlands or the terraced rice paddies of Southeast Asia are good examples of this.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE
Agriculture in SA ranges from intensive crop farming and mixed farming in the winter rainfall areas (especially the Western Cape) and areas with high summer rainfall, to cattle farming in the Bushveld and sheep farming in drier areas such as the Karoo. South African farmers cultivate mealies on a large scale. Other crops include wheat, sugarcane and sunflowers. SA produces enough of the most important agricultural products to sustain the local market, and also exports produce such as citrus, soft fruit, flowers (such as proteas) and locally bottled wine.
CHALLENGES
Farmers’ success depends on many challenges. They continually have to work hard to improve their profit margin. Climate change and drought are also threats as all farming depends on water.
Many farmers recognise the need for land reform because apartheid laws prevented black people from buying farmland. About 1,1 million black people were displaced from “white” rural areas during the ’60s and ’70s.
The government is investigating policies such as radical economic transformation and land reform without compensation, which many farmers regard as threats. This causes uncertainty within the agricultural sector and could ultimately harm it.
The government wants to rectify the injustices of the past, which disadvantaged black farmers. It’s a noble aim, but unfortunately many of the government’s land reform projects fail as those who get land haven’t been trained in agriculture and struggle to make a profit with their farm.
Since 1994 the number of commercial farmers in SA shrunk from about 120 000 to just 35 000. This is worrying because farmers are the key to ensuring the food security of 55 million South Africans.
Farmers provide jobs to about 650 000 people, most of whom are unskilled. Without enough commercial farmers the economy will slow down and rural areas and small towns especially will suffer.