This post discusses the factors that shaped the development of America’s modern agricultural production and distribution system (the Agro-Industrial Complex), and why it does not make as much sense today as it did in the 19th century.
The Agro-Industrial Complex provides the United States with much of its food. But many Americans are unfamiliar with how the Agro-Industrial Complex actually gets food to their tables. The Agro-Industrial Complex employs: (1) geographically concentrated crop production, (2) significant transportation infrastructure (primarily in the form of railroads) to distribute crops to the end-consumer or some other retail distribution channel, and (3) highly mechanized cultivation technology and machinery to feed the country. [1][2]
Head lettuce exemplifies the above features of the Agro-Industrial Complex. Head lettuce is cultivated lettuce that grows in a dense rosette. Common head lettuce includes iceberg lettuce and boston lettuce. In 2019, there were approximately 4.6B pounds of head lettuce produced in the United States. Of the 4.6B pounds produced, approximately 1.4B pounds (~30%) and 3.2B pounds (~70%) were produced in Arizona and California, respectively. [3] This fact demonstrates the highly concentrated nature of crop production in the US, which does not align with the geographic composition of head lettuce consumption. This results in significant transportation requirements that shorten crop shelf-life and are generally non-beneficial to the end-consumer. Further, the process of growing head lettuce has become increasingly mechanized over-time, with robotic cultivation and crop protection machinery and technology. How did this centralized mechanical production and continental distribution system come about? The answer may be rooted in the year 1862.
Three key pieces of legislation were passed in 1862: (1) the Homestead Act (of 1862), (2) the Pacific Railway Act, and (3) the Morrill Land Grant College Act (of 1862 – the Morrill Act). This legislation “readied the playing field” for the development of an industrialized agricultural infrastructure and identity within the American frontier, that still exists today.
The Homestead Act set aside vast tracts of western and midwestern land for citizens that wanted to make a better life for themselves on the American frontier. The Pacific Railway Act authorized and provided federal support for America’s first transcontinental rail system by providing government land. The Morrill Act provided each state with 30,000 acres of federal land per congressperson, and the states were directed to sell the land and use the proceeds from the sale to fund public colleges focused on agriculture and the mechanical arts (i.e., land-grant schools). [4][*] Collectively, these Acts provided America with the personnel, production, distribution, and innovation infrastructure for an agricultural value chain.
The Homestead Act specifically stipulated the following: (1) the government would grant the homesteader 160 acres of land for free, provided that (2) the homesteader would make the land their primary residence for five years and (3) improve the land – often through agricultural production – then (4) after five years the homesteader could file an application for the deed of the land. The Homestead Act eventually became quite a success. By 1932, over 1.6 million homestead applications were processed and more than 270 million acres (approximately 10% of all US lands) was passed into the hands of individuals. [5] These individuals often turned to agriculture to make a life for themselves and to fulfill their obligations under the Homestead Act.
The Pacific Railway Act was successful in facilitating the adoption, development and expansion of a transcontinental railroad network across the contiguous United States, which eventually would serve as critical distribution infrastructure for the Agro-Industrial Complex and allow for the centralization of production processes non-proximate to the end-consumer. The following graphic depicts the United States’ rapid adoption and expansion of several transcontinental railroad networks where the vertical line indicates the passing of the Pacific Railway Act, which coincided with the westward expansion of the American population facilitated by the Homestead Act [6]
The Morrill Act also became impactful in establishing many academic institutions devoted to the technological advancement of agricultural best practices and the mechanical equipment used in those best practices. Many prominent colleges can trace their origins back to the Morrill Act. For example, the Universities of Arkansas, West Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Idaho, and Cornell University were founded through the Morrill Act. [7] The Morrill Act placed a governmentally-reinforced emphasis on agricultural and mechanical innovation and established the importance of an agricultural infrastructure within the United States. Over time, the Morrill Act likely contributed to the Agro-Industrial Complex by expediting the rate of technological innovation, which therefore increased the economic efficiency by which food was produced. This sparked the development of a heavily-mechanized and output-oriented national agricultural identity reflected in the Agro-Industrial Complex.
These legislative acts laid the foundation for what would become the American Agro-Industrial Complex – an industrialized national food system borne out of 19th century political and geographic happenstance.
The Agro-Industrial Complex, however, is not appropriately tailored to the demographics and demands of Americans today – especially given the exciting technologies entering the market. It is true that the Agro-Industrial Complex has become much more efficient over time and the availability and affordability of food on a national scale was instrumental in America’s development throughout the late 19th, 20th and early 21st centuries. But, the Agro-Industrial Complex of today does not meet the needs and demands of consumers of tomorrow. The Agro-Industrial Complex optimizes for an outdated outcome (principally cheap food production). While today’s consumers demand healthy, sustainably- and locally-grown food with less emphasis on price. It is time for a change.
One avenue of meaningful change comes in the form of controlled environment agriculture (CEA), also colloquially known as indoor farming. Cornell University defines CEA as “an advanced and intensive form of hydroponically-based agriculture where plants grow within a controlled environment to optimize horticultural practices.” [8] Advances in CEA have the potential to upend the Agro-Industrial Complex and provide consumers with the options they desire. Importantly, CEA makes possible a decentralized future of agriculture (DeAg), in which indoor farming production hubs are geographically distributed and strategically proximate to population centers, big and small, to provide them with their fresh produce in a localized, sustainable, and affordable manner through targeted micro-distribution channels.
DeAg provides the modern end-consumer with fresher, longer-lasting, and healthier food, year-round, regardless of climate. Specifically, DeAg provides for: (1) hyper-localized production and distribution, often within hours of the end-consumer (as mentioned above), (2) weather-independent crop production (even more so for highly sophisticated CEA systems), (3) greater production and operating efficiencies via increased control of environment conditions, and (4) greater visibility into, and control of, the plant itself. These qualities align well with the demands of tomorrow’s end-consumer. [9]
However, it is important to acknowledge certain limitations to CEA, as it stands today. These limitations primarily relate to the large physical size or extended grow cycles of certain crops, which are not yet conducive to modern CEA technologies. Although it seems likely, if not probable, that folks in the space will continue to develop more sophisticated CEA technologies that spread the benefits of CEA to a wider variety of crops – especially if America approaches its development with the same fervor with which America approached the development of the existing Agro-Industrial Complex.
This gradual decentralization of the Agro-Industrial Complex shares similarities with other movements related to the decentralization of industry (generally). Three examples include the decentralization of manufacturing (through the advent of additive manufacturing, or 3D-printing), the decentralization of power generation through distributed generation projects, and the decentralization of finance and centralized record-keeping through distributed ledger technology.
DeAg promises a future in which the country’s agricultural profile more accurately employs the technologies of today to meet the demands of the consumers of tomorrow, sustainably, efficiently, and healthily.
* We acknowledge the inseparable relationship between certain legislative acts passed in 1862 and the racial implications and racial political motivations of such acts. In not explicitly discussing the racial implications of 1862 legislation, we do not intend to minimize or otherwise belittle the importance of such legislation in moving us towards a more unified, diverse, and dynamic America.
-Luke N. Deasy
Sources
1) USDA: <a href=”https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/44197/13566_eib3_1_.pdf”>The 20th Century Transformation of US Agriculture and Farm Policy</a>
2) Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future: <a href=”https://www.foodsystemprimer.org/food-production/industrialization-of-agriculture/”>Industrialization of Agriculture</a>
3) USDA: <a href=”https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/vegean20.pdf”>Vegetables 2019 Summary</a>
4) Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis: <a href=”https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2007/1862-legislation-that-shaped-the-west”>1862: Legislation that shaped the West</a>
5) National Archive: <a href=”https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act#background”>The Homestead Act of 1862</a>
6) ALFRED: <a href=”https://alfred.stlouisfed.org/series?seid=A02F2AUSA374NNBR&utm_source=series_page&utm_medium=related_content&utm_term=related_resources&utm_campaign=alfred#0″>Miles of Railroad Built for United States</a>
7) Texas A&M: <a href=”https://today.tamu.edu/2020/07/02/the-morrill-act-still-has-a-huge-impact-on-the-u-s-and-the-world/”>The Morrill Act Still Has A Huge Impact On The U.S. And The World</a>
8) Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: <a href=”https://cea.cals.cornell.edu/”>Controlled Environment Agriculture</a>
9) Envonics: <a href=”https://envonics.com/blogs/controlled-environment-agriculture-a-sustainable-solution-to-locally-grown-organic-produce/”>Controlled Environment Agriculture: A sustainable solution to locally grown organic produce.</a>