This week the Florence Rotary Club was honored to have the Director of Policy for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Warren Beeler, as our speaker. In January 2013 he was appointed to this position by Agriculture Commissioner James Comer who said:
“He (Beeler) is one of the most respected leaders in animal agriculture, and I am honored to work with him to ensure that everything we do at KDA is most beneficial to our family farmers and agri-businesses.” (kyagr.com retrieved 6/25/14)
According to Beeler the world will need to produce 100% more food by 2050 to feed the growing population. However, while the population is increasing to a projected 9.32 billion the world’s farming acariage is diminision. Between 1997 to 2007 we have lost 22 million acres of farmland in the U.S. Therefore the farmers will need to produce more with less.
Kentucy farmers cash receipts brought in $5.284 billion in 2012. Amazingly the number one farm product is Poultry – $1.045 billion.
Along with everything else, agriculture has also changed. Livestock and poultry farms are bigger than they were 25 or 50 years ago. They have grown in order to remain profitable and to supply increasing demand not only here in the United States but around the world.
Rural America went through a painful period during the agriculture crisis of the 1980s. Economic conditions changed dramatically and the market prices farmers received for what they produced failed to keep up with inflation. Farmers realized they had to either increase the size of their operations or learn to live on less money year after year.
New technologies that allowed livestock and poultry producers to continue to live and work in rural America are now coming under attack. Beeler said:
“The farm you see today may not look like it did 25 or 50 years ago, but I want to assure you that today’s producers recognize the same ethical obligation to produce food safely and humanely.”
A vast majority of the pigs and chickens raised in the U.S. today are still housed in pens but there are walls and a roof to protect them from such things as bad weather and coyotes. Rodents and birds have a more difficult time mixing with the animals and spreading disease. The barns are cleaned on a regular basis and fans help circulate the air and keep the animals comfortable. The result has been better control of herd health and welfare and improved productivity. Fifty years ago most farms grew a little bit of everything. Pigs and chickens were raised outdoors where weather extremes, predators and disease took a toll.
Yet another startling fact by Beeler is:
“Today we produce 81% more chicken per bird than in 1950. Twenty-one days to hatch the egg, forty-eight days to produce a 5 pound bird (69 days total).”
Farmers discovered that housing the animals inside barns allowed them to better monitor health and provide for individual needs. Compared to 1950 farmers are producing 63% more milk with 58% fewer cows. An astounding 10 gallons of milk per cow per day!
Today’s agricultural production is environmentally friendly, green, and totally sustainable with only a shadow of the carbon footprint as compared with the past.
Today livestock are the most comfortable and cared for ever in history.
Beeler concluded:
“The greatest thing is we are learning and improving everyday. It just going to get better.”
