Editing Intensive farming (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of agriculture}}
[[File:Agriculture (Plowing) CNE-v1-p58-H.jpg|thumb|left|Early 20th-century image of a tractor ploughing an [[alfalfa]] field]]

[[British Agricultural Revolution|Agricultural development in Britain between the 16th century and the mid-19th century]] saw a massive increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn contributed to unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped enable the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Historians cited [[enclosure]], [[mechanised agriculture|mechanization]], [[four-field crop rotation]], and [[selective breeding]] as the most important innovations.<ref>* Overton, Mark. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/agricultural_revolution_01.shtml Agricultural Revolution in England 1500–1850] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425140017/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/agricultural_revolution_01.shtml |date=2021-04-25 }} (September 19, 2002), BBC.
* [[Deborah Valenze|Valenze, Deborah]]. ''The First Industrial Woman'' (New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1995), p. 183.
* Kagan, Donald. ''The Western Heritage'' (London: Prentice Hall, 2004), pp. 535–539.</ref>

Industrial agriculture arose in the Industrial Revolution. By the early 19th century, agricultural techniques, implements, seed stocks, and [[cultivar]]s had so improved that yield per land unit was many times that seen in the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="Kingsbury">{{cite book |last=Kingsbury |first=Noel |year=2009 |title=Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226437132 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2019}}

The first phase involved a continuing process of mechanization. Horse-drawn machinery such as the [[McCormick reaper]] revolutionized harvesting, while inventions such as the [[cotton gin]] reduced the cost of processing. During this same period, farmers began to use [[Traction engine|steam-powered]] [[threshing machine|threshers]] and [[tractor]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brettman |first=Allan |title=Collectors at Great Oregon Steam-Up are always steamed about their passion |date=July 24, 2010 |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]] |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/these_collectors_are_always_st.html |access-date=September 20, 2019 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183637/http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/these_collectors_are_always_st.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ovlr.org/Rooth/MR.SteamTractor.1.html|title=Member's Prose & Pages – Mike Rooth – Locomotives – Steam Tractor, Part I|website=Ottawa Valley Land Rovers |access-date=2019-12-31|archive-date=2019-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829185744/https://www.ovlr.org/Rooth/MR.SteamTractor.1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://historylink101.com/lessons/farm-city/steam-engine.htm |title=Steam Engines |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=History Link 101 |publisher=History Source LLC |access-date=20 September 2019 |archive-date=26 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926173016/http://historylink101.com/lessons/farm-city/steam-engine.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1892, the first [[gasoline engine|gasoline-powered]] tractor was successfully developed, and in 1923, the [[International Harvester]] [[Farmall]] tractor became the first all-purpose tractor, marking an inflection point in the replacement of draft animals with machines. Mechanical harvesters ([[combine harvester|combines]]), planters, transplanters, and other equipment were then developed, further revolutionizing agriculture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/hort_306/text/lec32.pdf |title=Agricultural Scientific Revolution: Mechanical |author=Janick, Jules |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=2013-05-24 |archive-date=2013-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525074054/http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Hort_306/text/lec32.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> These inventions increased yields and allowed individual farmers to manage increasingly large farms.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/52548/52645.aspx |title=The Impact of Mechanization on Agriculture |journal=The Bridge on Agriculture and Information Technology |date=Fall 2011 |volume=41 |author=Reid, John F. |issue=3 |access-date=2013-11-05 |archive-date=2013-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105033809/http://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/52548/52645.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

The identification of [[nitrogen]], [[phosphorus]], and [[potassium]] (NPK) as critical factors in plant growth led to the manufacture of synthetic [[fertilizer]]s, further increasing [[crop yields]]. In 1909, the [[Haber-Bosch]] method to synthesize [[ammonium nitrate]] was first demonstrated. NPK fertilizers stimulated the first concerns about industrial agriculture, due to concerns that they came with side effects such as [[Soil compaction (agriculture)|soil compaction]], [[soil erosion]], and declines in overall [[soil fertility]], along with health concerns about toxic chemicals [[food chain|entering the food supply]].<ref name="Stinner2007">{{Cite book |year=2007 |author=Stinner, D.H |chapter=The Science of Organic Farming |editor=William Lockeretz |title=Organic Farming: An International History |publisher=Oxfordshire, UK & Cambridge, Massachusetts: CAB International (CABI) |isbn=978-0-85199-833-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25QnL3-njZQC&q=%22Organic+farming%22 |access-date=30 April 2013}} (ebook {{ISBN|978-1-84593-289-3}})</ref>

The discovery of [[vitamin]]s and their role in [[nutrition]], in the first two decades of the 20th century, led to vitamin supplements, which in the 1920s allowed some livestock to be raised indoors, reducing their exposure to adverse natural elements.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Semba |first=Richard D. |date=2012 |title=The discovery of the vitamins |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23798048/#:~:text=The%20discovery%20of%20the%20vitamins%20was%20a%20major%20scientific%20achievement,at%20the%20mid-twentieth%20century. |journal=International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research |volume=82 |issue=5 |pages=310–315 |doi=10.1024/0300-9831/a000124 |issn=0300-9831 |pmid=23798048}}</ref>

Following [[World War II]] synthetic fertilizer use increased rapidly.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fertilizer.org/ifa/HomePage/SUSTAINABILITY/Climate-change/A-historical-perspective.html |title=A Historical Perspective |publisher=International Fertilizer Industry Association |access-date=2013-05-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309153521/http://www.fertilizer.org/ifa/HomePage/SUSTAINABILITY/Climate-change/A-historical-perspective.html |archive-date=2012-03-09}}</ref>

The discovery of [[antibiotic]]s and [[vaccine]]s facilitated raising livestock by reducing diseases.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hoelzer|first1=Karin|last2=Bielke|first2=Lisa|last3=Blake|first3=Damer P.|last4=Cox|first4=Eric|last5=Cutting|first5=Simon M.|last6=Devriendt|first6=Bert|last7=Erlacher-Vindel|first7=Elisabeth|last8=Goossens|first8=Evy|last9=Karaca|first9=Kemal|last10=Lemiere|first10=Stephane|last11=Metzner|first11=Martin|date=2018-07-31|title=Vaccines as alternatives to antibiotics for food producing animals. Part 1: challenges and needs|journal=Veterinary Research|volume=49|issue=1|pages=64|doi=10.1186/s13567-018-0560-8|issn=1297-9716|pmc=6066911|pmid=30060757 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kirchhelle |first=Claas |date=2018-08-07 |title=Pharming animals: a global history of antibiotics in food production (1935–2017) |journal=Palgrave Communications |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1057/s41599-018-0152-2 |issn=2055-1045|doi-access=free }}</ref> Developments in logistics and refrigeration as well as processing technology made long-distance distribution feasible. [[Integrated pest management]] is the modern method to minimize pesticide use to more sustainable levels.<ref>{{Cite web|last=US EPA|first=OCSPP|date=2015-09-28|title=Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Principles|url=https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/integrated-pest-management-ipm-principles|access-date=2021-05-22|publisher=US EPA|language=en|archive-date=2017-07-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729012539/https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/integrated-pest-management-ipm-principles|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Integrated Pest Management {{!}} Sustainable Campus |url=https://sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/campus-initiatives/land-water/sustainable-landscapes-trail/integrated-pest-management#:~:text=Integrated%20pest%20management%20is%20sustainable,reduce%20them%20to%20acceptable%20levels. |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=sustainablecampus.cornell.edu}}</ref>

There are concerns over the [[sustainability]] of industrial agriculture, and the environmental effects of fertilizers and pesticides, which has given rise to the [[organic movement]]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/04/history-nitrogen-fertilizer-ammonium-nitrate |author=Philpott, Tom |title=A Brief History of Our Deadly Addiction to Nitrogen Fertilizer |date=19 April 2013 |magazine=Mother Jones}}</ref> and has built a market for sustainable intensive farming, as well as funding for the development of [[appropriate technology]].