There are two connotations to the term “agribusiness.” In a more general sense, the word is used to identify the integrated and diverse components of modern crop production, including the actual grower, but also many others: silo operators; fertilizer, seed, and farm implement salespeople; agricultural technicians; and others involved in agricultural production. When used this way, the word is inclusive of all aspects of modern agricultural economics, including the marketing and advertising of agricultural commodities, and is not focused simply on production techniques and methods. In a more specific sense, the term may be used interchangeably with the phrases “industrial farming,” “corporate farming,” or “factory farming.” In this context, “agribusiness” means the application of mass production techniques to farming along with the advent of large agricultural units, typically under corporate ownership. Production in this system relies on achieving economies of scale, either through the acquisition and combination of farmland into larger parcels (for crop production), or through the concentration of animals into high-density facilities, where feeding, breeding, and processing costs are minimized (for livestock production).
Agribusiness in the sense of factory farming is a widespread phenomenon in the agricultural ecology of the industrialized world and may be seen as a continuation of the agricultural revolution initiated in Great Britain in the early 1700s. The most obvious spatial manifestations of agribusiness are extensive farms, and animal husbandry methods utilizing high-density units like poultry houses, hog parlors, or other so-called Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, a designation 2 Agribusiness assigned in the United States by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since the 1940s, shifts in many areas of agriculture have occurred, resulting in larger, more intensively utilized production units. For example, in 1970, the average dairy farm in the United States had 19 cows, but by 2007 that number had risen to 128 cows per farm. In some regions, particularly in western states, the increase was much larger than the national average. The overall size of farms has increased substantially as well. The size of the average farm in the United States increased from about 150 acres in the 1930s to more than 400 acres in 2002, although the total number of farms in the United States has decreased steadily since the 1940s. Nevertheless, non-family farms, that is, those corporately owned, account for only about two percent of all farms in the country, although the corporate farms produce almost 14 percent of total agricultural output by value. Moreover, corporate farming is particularly important in the production of meat and animal products. A handful of corporations slaughter the great majority of livestock in the United States, and in the case of beef, account for more than 80 percent of the output.
The emergence of agribusiness may be traced to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It was only a short time before the mass-production techniques of the factory began to be applied to the countryside. This was especially true in the case of mechanization, with a steady progression of machines replacing both man and animal power in the fields after 1820. The advent of steam-powered equipment gave even greater momentum to the process of mechanization since such machines could do the work of many men, or several draft animals, faster and more efficiently. This had the effect of drastically reducing the agricultural labor force, as well as intensifying competition, as the relative prices of agricultural commodities fell because of mass production. By the 1930s affordable Commercial fertilizers had become widely available in the United States, a development that substantially increased yields. A decade later, advances in genetic science and botanical engineering, still a major component of agribusiness, paid enormous dividends in total production, especially the hybrids generated as a result of the Green Revolution. Food production in many parts of the world skyrocketed, as the new technology was married in many cases with advanced business strategies and an expanding market. Since the application of High Yield Varieties (HYVs) of wheat and rice in India in the 1960s, the country has avoided major food shortages for the past 50 years, in spite of a rapidly growing population.
Agribusiness today is characterized by technological innovations and managerial methods that have vastly increased production. An example of the former is the technique of hydroponics, a technology that enables higher-value vegetables to be grown intensively in large greenhouses rather than in agricultural fields. There are multiple advantages to producing vegetables in this manner. First, the greenhouse presents a closed environment that allows for easier control of insect Agribusiness 3 pests, limits the incidence of plant disease, and avoids the impact of adverse weather on the plants. Soil is not necessary for this type of production, as the plants are grown in an inert media saturated with a solution of water and plant food that provides all the nutrients necessary for the plant to thrive. In some cases, individual plants are often fed via a system of drip irrigation, which greatly reduces the amount of water required, another major advantage in the process. Artificial lighting in these facilities can supplement natural sunlight, and in the United States, yields maybe 6–8 times what a comparable field would produce. A related approach is utilized in aquaculture, in which both plant and animal products are produced in a confined aquatic space, usually a pond or large tank. A large percentage of fish and shellfish are now produced this way rather than being harvested from the ocean or fresh-water bodies.
Animal products have also seen enormous increases in yields due to agribusiness advances. Much of the world’s meat and eggs are produced using factory farming techniques, which cluster animals in high-density enclosures. These facilities allow for intensive farming and maximum output, and advocates of these production strategies argue that they are not only the most efficient mode of production but that they provide humane conditions for livestock. An example of the increased efficiency may be seen in the fact that over the last 40 years, the number of hog farms in the United States has declined precipitously, but production of pork meat products has greatly increased, as hog farming has shifted to factory farming. There is no question that such approaches to meat production have allowed the ever-rising demand for animal products to be met, but the new production techniques have brought new challenges and problems as well. The large scale of factory farming operations and the high density of animal confinement results in environmental challenges, as large amounts of waste, noise, and other undesirable side effects must be addressed and properly contained. Moreover, ethical questions concerning the welfare of animals have become a major issue in North America and Europe, with many animal rights advocates calling for the curtailment or complete abandonment of some procedures, such as the removal of the beaks of poultry and the use of so-called “sow stalls” for breeding pigs. Some countries in Europe and a few U.S. states have limited or banned the use of some confinement techniques, although defenders of factory farming suggest that these procedures are necessary to prevent animals from injuring themselves or other livestock. Factory farmers also contend that producing animal products on a scale that will meet future demand requires the continuation of confinement and mass-production strategies.
Concern over agribusiness production techniques has led to a number of alternatives. Critics question the sustainable development of some agribusiness production techniques. The rise of organic farming is in many cases in direct response to concerns over the mass production strategies pursued by large farming 4 Agribusiness corporations, especially the use of large amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Organically produced vegetables and fruits have become a multi-billion dollar industry, and legislation governing what may be labeled “organically grown” has been passed in many states. The condition of livestock in CAFOs has elicited responses from animal rights activists, who argue that such confinement and the techniques employed in the production of animal commodities are inhumane and unnecessary. The use of gestation crates in pork production, for example, is viewed as cruel by activists, and indeed this technique has been outlawed in some countries and U.S. states. Because of the controversy, some companies have pledged to eliminate the practice in the near future. Likewise, mass production of eggs and chickens by using large-scale chicken houses has been answered by the free range movement, which advocates allowing animals to roam freely outside rather than being confined. Free-range poultry accounts for up to a quarter of the total produced in some countries, but there are disadvantages to this method as well. Free-range poultry units must be much larger in the area to allow the animals to roam and forage and are economically less efficient than methods based on confinement. Other opponents of large-scale agribusiness promote the return to “multi-species” farming, where animals are not confined and are allowed to roam and mingle on pastureland; but while such alternatives may be viewed as more humane, they typically are far less productive and result in higher prices. With the global population and demand for food steadily rising, some commentators question whether the alternative approaches in production to large agribusiness methods can adequately and cost-effectively satisfy the world’s need for food.
