The Importance of Agriculture to Everyday Life
Farmers have an unbelievable story to tell about how we are producing the most nutritious, safest, and lowest cost food supply in the history of mankind. Our success on the farm has allowed our entire population to have a longer average lifespan with the highest standard of living on the planet. Access to a safe and healthy food supply is the top reason why we are living longer today.
Sharing our experience as farmers is critical. Today, people are asking questions not only about our food safety but also food security, which is understandable. It is important for us to communicate what we do, and why, on the farm and how it allows us to provide nutrition to our society, even through difficult times.
People want to learn, and modern agriculture is not easy to explain in quick sound bites, but it is easy for farmers to convey why they use the products they do to produce a healthy and high-yielding crop. It is important for farmers to show their passion and share how we need to continue to access modern agriculture tools to supply a safe, affordable, and sustainable food supply going forward, not only for Canadians, but also for our global community.
To provide information and support, Maizex Seeds launched Be Rooted, Be Involved. This initiative provides information on the technologies we use in agriculture today, the role they play in the security of our food supply and how important they are in preserving the environment for future generations.
Did You Know…
Facts We Can All Share:
- It takes well over 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to register a GMO trait or pesticide on a global basis. Share the fact that farmers cannot use or even try any new seed-based technology until there is government approval based on years of extensive testing to protect human health and ensure environmental safety. In many provinces of Canada you cannot apply a pesticide until certified through a grower pesticide training course.
- Reduced tillage and no-till farming are primary tools farmers can use to manage soil and water erosion. This would not be possible without herbicides and seed treatments made from organic sources. Without these tools, farmers would need to rely more heavily on extensive tillage to ensure a safe, harvestable crop, thereby compromising soil and water quality.
- Seed treatments are used in crops like corn to protect the seed and seedling from soil-borne insects or diseases. Using a seed treatment reduces pesticide use by as much as 99%. This is because only the seed is treated; a combined area of roughly 2.3m2/ha (25 ft2/acre) in a corn field when compared to broadcast applications covering 10,000m2/Ha (43,560 ft2/acre).
- Farmers only use the technologies they need based on field scouting and their experience with each field on their farm. Companies like Maizex offer different combinations of seed treatments or traits for example, to ensure that farmers only use the technologies they need to ensure a safe, harvestable crop. Farming today requires a great deal of expensive inputs to produce a high yielding crop. Farmers are both environmentalists and economists, using only what they need based on first, environmental, and then cost purposes. Farmers have always been optimistic futurists, wanting to leave their farms in better shape for future generations.
