As we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States, we’re grateful for farmers who work tirelessly to grow our food. We give thanks too for the bountiful resources we have in North America: productive soils, structured markets, a quality infrastructure and the technology that allows us to keep improving efficiency and yields. Other areas of the world are not as fortunate.
Howard G. Buffett, a speaker at the Borlaug Dialogue symposium during the World Food Prize this fall, has worked extensively in Africa to alleviate hunger. A farmer, philanthropist, and son of Warren Buffett, he is also a gifted photographer, and documented the hunger situation in his book, Fragile – The Human Condition. Through his journey, he discovered that we can’t solve other people’s problems, no matter how much money we spend; people need to be engaged in solving their own problems, with help from others.
According to the United Nations, today is the day. Our population will reach 7 billion.
And, while most of us are blessed to have a bountiful food supply – and even a healthy stash of treats on this Halloween day – this population milestone has many asking what it will take to meet the needs of a population that is growing by an estimated 200,000 people each day.
Thanks to an expanding population and growing need for food, a U.S. Department of Agriculture outlook report forecasts that five percent more college graduates with expertise in agricultural and food systems, renewable energy, and the environment will be needed from 2010 to 2015.
According to FeedstuffsFoodlink.com, “Optimistic Career Outlook Awaits Ag Graduates”, the USDA projects about 54,400 annual career openings nationally for individuals with college degrees in food, renewable resources, and environmental specialties through 2015.
What can ag grads expect for available occupational opportunities in the coming years? (more…)
Case IH helped bring the story of production agriculture to more than 2.5 million consumers as part of Farm Journal Media’s Farmers Feeding the World exhibit at Taste of Chicago, June 24 through July 3.
The exhibit featured a Case IH Steiger® Quadtrac® 600 tractor, the world’s highest horsepower production tractor, along with a large screen TV playing video of how farmers use Case IH tractors and equipment in the field. The purpose of the display was to show consumers how Case IH is helping farmers grow safe and healthy food for an ever-increasing population.
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Remember the Case IH blog post back in April that featured the TIME magazine blog article, “Is the world ready for seven billion people?”
The seven billionth person will likely be born in 2011. And, most experts believe that in about 40 years the world population will grow to nine billion people!
Ready or not, here they come, and to our farmers out there, we need your help to feed them.
Check out Case IH’s latest “From the Field” video post on The Weather Channel titled, “How will growers feed the world?” This video post discusses how innovative Case IH equipment can help farmers maximize efficiency from every acre of land, so they can Be Ready to feed the world.
As you’re gearing up to get in the fields this spring, I want to share a TIME magazine blog post in which author, Bryan Walsh, poses the question: “Is the world ready for seven billion people?
In his blog, Walsh comments that sometime this year the world’s seventh billionth person will be born. To put that in perspective, it took the world 50 years to grow from three billion people to seven billion people. If you think that’s fast, think about this: the sixth billionth person born is just 11 years old!
The world’s population keeps growing, and agriculture has to keep pace. You need innovative equipment to get the most out of every acre and advice from people who know your ground like they know their equipment. The world of farming is changing. Case IH can help you be ready. For example, our Axial-Flow combines help producers be more efficient by providing cleaner grain samples out of the field.
