What is Agriculture?



	When most people think of agriculture, they picture farmers in the field, producing animals and crops. Agriculture is often thought of as "cows, sows, and plows" or "weeds, seeds, and feeds." This may be a depiction of how agriculture used to be in the past, but times have changed. Today, most agriculture is seen as a technology based industry that includes production, agriscience, and agribusiness. The Agribusiness Association of Australia and New Zealand has an excellent definition of agribusiness: "…the food and fibre (fiber) business. It includes all the activities involved in the production, processing and distribution of food and fibre (fiber) products; input supply, agricultural production, marketing and processing together with related activities in government and education." Agricultural literacy is important to everyone because it is very much a part of our daily lives. It is in the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the houses of which we stay. These things come directly or indirectly (after further processing) from agriculture. It is a worldwide industry and the largest industry in the United States!

Site Created by: Deanna Locke

Last Updated: 12/03/02