What is ‘industrial agriculture’? Is it necessary?

Industrial agriculture simply means a large-scale, intensive, mechanized farm that contrasts to a traditional farm that farmers used to operate in the past. But is it really necessary to benefit modern society?

Industrial agriculture genuinely helps with the production of crops and livestock. For crops, there are many methods used to boost productivity. The most common ones include using chemicals to keep the plants safe from getting spoiled by insects and diseases. Additionally, monoculture can be used, which means the cultivation of a single crop in a given area. Monoculture is extremely helpful, especially to farmers who can focus on a single species instead of needing to go through a variety of care methods for each and every single one of the diverse types of plants and crops there are. By using monoculture, farmers are also able to use machinery to plant many crops at a single time instead of having to go through the repeated process for one crop species in a field at a time. 

Additionally, for livestock, industrial agriculture can boost production. Industrial livestock farming happens on CAFOs, which stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. CAFOs are also known as factory farms. Farmers decide to choose this option as they can produce meat, dairy, and eggs in the cheapest ways. This will be beneficial for them as they can produce more food with lower costs and sell more, leading to substantial profits. However, even though CAFOs are very easy for people to take care of since the animals are in one place, it is still very harmful for the animals living there. CAFOs can also be harmful to nearby communities. According to official research by organizations, CAFOs “may cause many health effects to their neighbors from pollution damage to the air, land and water.” Since there are many animals clumped together in one area, lots of waste will be made which will lead to possibly unsanitary conditions. 

The real question is therefore whether industrial agriculture is really necessary in our modern times, or whether we can possibly find another alternative for it. Even though the human population is rapidly growing, I think that industrial agriculture is not very necessary. The first major problem is that industrial agriculture negatively affects the environment.  Industrial agriculture can negatively affect the environment through air and water pollution, soil depletion, diminishing biodiversity, and the decrease in fish. Losing or harming these will make the world suffer due to all of the pollution caused. Therefore, rather than using industrial agriculture, people should turn to agroecology, agroforestry, and intercropping that will still allow them to grow sufficient amounts of crops without harming the environment.

Additionally, industrial agriculture is not a sensible path for the world to follow because monoculture can threaten food security. For example, if a farmer decides to plant only one specific type of plant, it becomes extremely vulnerable since harmful organisms or certain bacteria can grow stronger and could threaten an entire type of crop. Insects that eat monoculture plants can spread really quickly through regions, and a disease or virus could wipe out the entire farm.

In summary, industrial agriculture can be used for various benefits, but at the end of the day, it is not something that should continue to be used. This is also supported by research that noted “without intensive industrial practices that flood markets, destroy soil, and exploit farmers, many communities wouldn’t need a hero to provide food.” It has also been shown that people could still live without the food from industrial agriculture. Already, 70%~80% of the world is being fed by smaller farms. If we expand this percentage, we can replace industrial agriculture forever. As you can see from this evidence, unlike the status quo, people can definitely survive without using harsh industrial agriculture methods. Therefore, I believe it is not always reasonable to use industrial agriculture at the end of the day and we should try to find a more advanced, alternative way to handle this situation.