Agriculture and Cal Poly Land All living organisms exist at some point in the carbon cycle - Birth, Life, Death, Decay Early agriculture was involved with improving production of food and fiber This represented manipulation of the carbon cycle Needed to manipulate water cycle (irrigation) Needed to manipulate nutrient cycle (fertilizers) Needed to harness and use energy to facilitate the process (solar, fossil fuel, hydro) This is the era of agriculture that society wants to be associated with - advertisers recognize that people in today's world want to believe that their food is produced by farm families, that the soil is tended and tilled with care, that animals are stewarded with respect and skill, that vegetables are produced in gardens, etc. Over the last 20 years - agriculture has evolved more into the cycling of money Decisions are made based upon the bottom line for shareholders of corporations - not on effective production Intensive livestock operations are more about marketing concentrates (corn and soybeans) and pharmaceuticals than on meat. Orchards and vineyards are more likely to be developed to take advantage of tax structure or appreciating land values than for the fruits, nuts, or wine produced. The future can be one of two directions. - the current trend will result in less and less agriculture in "developed" countries like the USA. It will result in agriculture in "developing" countries that is controlled by corporations operating from foreign lands. Rural economies and society in both types of countries will be sacrificed under this scenario Or - a sustainable future would be created with an agriculture described by Paul Hawken and others - with an emphasis on renewable stewardship of the land and emphasis on strong rural economies and society. A sustainable future is only possible with sustainable ecosystem function and a stable economy.