Agriculture is not something that can be covered in just one page. Its too big and too large for even one person to grasp. Having worked in Horticulture for years I have a small understanding of the needs that come from raising fruits and vegetables. I know it takes a lot of hard work and that work is often being turned over more and more to large machines and larger corporations. But it still begins with a dream.

Lets first begin with where. Where do you place an agricultural system? Do you start with one person planting a small garden in his backyard or raising a few chickens? What about cows and horses? Sheep and goats? Llama and buffalo? Or even aquaculture and growing fish?

Many of today’s systems are family operated farms. One or two barns, machines for plowing and harvesting. Some family farms are quite large and do quite well financially while many struggle just to make ends meet.

Then there are religious oriented farms based on families of like mind and ideals growing all their own food, building their own homes and so on. Many of them do so well that finances is not an issue and they are continually growing and expanding.

There are conglomerates composed of individual farms or group farms and these are growing also as they set price and wage limits. Often the price stores pay for food is based on fast and mass production with enough redundancy to prevent calamitous events from wrecking havoc. In most cases this works if the farms are spread across various states and provinces. But as large corporations take over more and more land there is another danger which few speak of. Creating massive fields of similar crops such as corn, wheat, potatoes and so on leads to a need for pest control. Instead of rotating crops, rotating varieties the same plant species is planted year after year. This creates massive dangers for resistant pathogens and pests. And because the corporations and farmers often rely on that particular crop for their livelihood they pour in chemicals, change the genetic structure of plants, fill the soil with artificial fertilizers until one is not sure what they are eating.

The Bible speaks of giving the land a rest every seventh year. I believe we must not only follow this procedure but we must bring back multiple varieties of plants. If we want to grow corn then change the type of corn we grow each year. Create exchange centers where a person can take and trade with someone else who has also grown a different variety of corn. Stop genetic manipulation and instead invest in hardy seeds that resist the normal pathogens. Quit trying to plant the same plant year after year. Teach farmers how to diversify. Instead of one farmer having every machine create a neighbourhood machine center, like a co-op where everyone pays a certain rental based on size of fields or time used. Or if the families can afford it then lease out the machines but have a place where they can take the machines for repair as part of that lease.

Instead of massive fields which stretch for miles create more tree shelters. They don’t have to be forests but they will provide not only wind breaks but allow nature to return to the land. I know that deer and squirrels can be a nuisance to some types of crops but they are always going to be here and we need them. Tree breaks will also provide refuges for birds which eat insects which are also pests for plants and humans. And insects are much more damaging then deer. Tree breaks also provide shelter for humans and if gasoline shortages continue humans may be the ones who will have to help plant and harvest crops by hand.

Agriculture should also be organized to the extent that each farm produces the 10% of its own needs. In addition there needs to be a method of mapping crops within each region so that a variety needed for that regions survival can be attained. This is not taking away from the farmers freedom to plant his favorite crop or graze their favorite animal. But it does give folks an idea of what that region needs most of and can then provide incentives to raise what is needed.

For example if bio-fuels are used to power the tractors in that community and if that bio-fuel is soybean based, then perhaps 10% of the region will need to be soybean oriented.