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After 10,000 Years of Agriculture, Whither Agronomy?

School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH 43210

View larger version (22K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Trends in U.S. demographics, farm numbers, farm size, and land in farms, 1850–2006. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, 1975; Hoppe, 2001; USDA-NASS, 2006a, 2006b; USDA-ERS, 2007b. Note: Changes in census definition of farms and methodology account for some graph irregularities, e.g., 1974–1975 and 1994–2000. Farm number anomaly in 1935 reflects people returning to farming due to the Great Depression followed by the impact of WWII.

View larger version (21K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Average U.S. corn yields: 1900–2002. Source: USDA-NASS, 2006a.

View larger version (19K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 3. U.S. harvested area of oats and soybean, 1900–2000. Source: USDA-NASS, 2006a.

View larger version (26K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Conceptual illustration of Biological Condition or Functional Integrity for two ecosystems (A & B) with differing vulnerabilities to perturbation. Source: Modified from Karr (2000) and Loucks (2000). Note: Sustainability and Resiliency thresholds indicate approximate indices below which continued ecosystem perturbation under specific uses is not sustainable and the capacity for resiliency is severely compromised.

View larger version (21K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Trends in U.S. irrigated agriculture, 1900–2002. Source: USDA-NASS, 2006a.

View larger version (49K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 6. A food future without agriculture? The New Yorker Collection, 2005. J.B. Handelsman from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. Copied with permission.