Farming

The Issues Facing Modern Agriculture

Published:

October 9, 2024

Key Takeaways:

Challenges in agriculture vary from environmental issues to economic, social, and technological transformations.
Climate change is among the major problems, making it more difficult to predict weather events and causing disruptions in growing patterns.
A lack of labor in farming is a global issue that requires a collaborative effort to promote agriculture as a viable career.
Developing awareness about the existing problems and possible solutions is one of the key tools in overcoming current farming issues.

These are challenging times for agriculture. The human population continues to grow, and farms need to keep producing more food to ensure everyone has enough to eat. Yet a huge number of problems in agriculture today stand in the way, ranging from declining natural resources to economic strife.

So, in this article, we'll be looking at some of the most important agricultural issues today. Not all these problems currently have solutions, and although progress is happening, spreading awareness further is necessary.

Environmental Challenges

Looming largest over all the contemporary issues in agriculture is climate change. Significant shifts in the world's weather patterns cause more violent and unpredictable weather events that can easily disrupt farms. Seasons are becoming harder to predict, and major events like droughts are becoming an issue.

Plus, there's global warming, and there's no real doubt left that the planet is warming. The top ten hottest years on record have all happened since 2010, and it has been forty-seven years since the last colder-than-average year. This trend, left unchecked, will cause huge disruption in growing patterns as regions become inhospitable to their traditional crops.

Climate change is being exacerbated by water scarcity. Humanity's demand for water is quickly pushing the limits of what's available, and so far technological solutions — such as desalination plants converting seawater to fresh water — have failed to make much of an impact. According to the UN, every continent (except Antarctica) is experiencing fresh water scarcity, and the problem will only get worse as the temperature rises.

In addition, there's soil degradation caused by unsustainable farming practices, such as the overuse of harmful synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides that poison the soil.

For the latter agricultural problems, new techniques are being developed such as better no-till planting methods and an embrace of regenerative agriculture. If an individual farmer wants to help alleviate these issues, embracing pro-environmental farming is a great first step. However, it is important that the world governments prioritize combating climate change because resolving these environmental issues requires a centralized and collaborative approach.

Economic Issues

The economics of farming have become incredibly complicated, as farms' distribution and supply lines have gone global. As the COVID outbreak demonstrated, these global supply lines are easily disrupted, and major economic challenges result when they are.

In the US alone, farm revenues (adjusted for inflation) are dropping while costs of inputs are going up — and that's on top of rather substantial government subsidies for US farms. It's a similar story globally, with food costs going up worldwide as a direct result of farms' economic woes coupled with climate challenges and market disruptions in Europe stemming from the current Russia-Ukraine war.

This may be another case where significant input from world governments is expected to ensure efficiently working food distribution systems.

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Technological Challenges

At an individual level, farmers in developed countries are looking for solutions to lower their costs, such as utilizing climate-smart agricultural solutions like AI-powered systems. Networked cameras and computers can now monitor crops, recognize signs of disease and other problems, and alert farm owners. In some cases, these processes may even be automated to the point of being able to independently intervene, such as soil moisture monitors that can trigger irrigation systems as needed.

However, pricey new technology will do little to help farmers in developing countries who may lack both financial resources and necessary communications infrastructure. Initiatives that make better technology and data-management systems available to developing countries will undoubtedly help, but the scope of the problem is massive, and there's a limit to how much the private sector can do on its own to 'uplift' traditional farmers.

Compounding all of this, technologically and economically, is the ongoing problem of finding labor. In developed countries, the average age of farmers continues to go up, with fewer young people entering the field. In the US, for example, less than 10% of farm producers are under 35.

Nor is this a solely American problem. Europe is facing similar age issues as well. Even traditionally rural developing countries, such as Cambodia, are struggling to find enough farm labor. The core issue is that the cost of living continues to go up, necessitating higher wages that poorer farmers struggle to pay. Mechanization will undoubtedly replace many of those workers, but then that feeds into problems of unemployment and may create supply-side economic challenges.

As a part of the solution, it’s important for both governments and private groups to promote agriculture as a viable career for younger people. Emphasizing the role of smart systems and pitching agriculture as the 'next frontier' in technology could help make ag more appealing to educated workers.

Promoting Sustainable Technological Farming

At the heart of most of these current agricultural issues is that so much farming today is fundamentally unsustainable. Overuse of chemicals is causing real harm to the soil, and creating a disastrous spiral of using even more chemicals to counter the harm done by other chemicals. Deforestation is another major issue, with an estimated worldwide loss of 12% of tree cover since 2000 alone.

The rush to produce enough food to feed the 8 billion humans on Earth — and growing — is going to create even more challenges for sustainable agriculture down the line.

This is an area where trade groups and private organizations can help. Agriculture problems need to be better known among the public, with more practical solutions proposed than simply "buying organic." Encouraging the public to buy locally-grown produce could help put more money in local farmers' pockets and alleviate some of the burden on them.

In addition, farms — of all sizes and nations — should be encouraged to adopt smarter farming practices. At the same time, traditional farms should also be studied to look for insights. Many regenerative farming principles are based on traditional agriculture, enhanced with better use of technology to improve their effectiveness.

Ultimately, increased awareness, especially about controversial agricultural issues, may be one of the best options for combating these issues. Educating consumers on better buying, as well as educating farmers on new techniques and technology, could do a lot of good — for less money than most other initiatives.

Working Towards the Future

A combination of climate issues and economic uncertainty is creating numerous new challenges for modern agriculture. On a large scale, major government and private-group buy-in will be required to address the biggest problems. Individuals and small farms will mostly need to "work smarter, not harder" to make a difference locally.

Cropler is part of this effort! Our smart web-connected agri-cameras are being used worldwide to monitor crops and report their status back to farm owners. A small investment in affordable technology can produce much more reliable harvests, as well as generate a wealth of data for planning future plantings. Contact us to learn more about our products and how you can benefit from using them.