Whether you’re interested in making an investment in the world of agriculture, or you’re merely interested in the workings of a market you might one day work within, this article looks at how the modern agricultural world is changing to incorporate the technologies, ideas, crops and requirements set by consumers and regulators in the modern age. Here, you’ll discover the latest trends and the key insights upon which you can base your judgments about an industry that’ll always be with us, sustaining human life on this planet for decades to come.
Advances in Genetics
The genetic modification of crop species has been a long-debated project across the world. Even before the requisite technology was applied to crop species, it’s been lauded as both a solution to food shortages across an increasingly prosperous world, as well as a potential evil that could lead to famine, food shortages and over-production. Whichever side of the argument you subscribe to, there are advances taking place across the world in this area that are fascinating to witness – and getting into the industry on this basis can reap incredibly profitable results, maximizing your yield year after year.
New Regulations
Across many markets, the agricultural sector is seeing increasing regulation in order to protect vital water sources, soil erosion, and other habitats and features of the natural world that suffer from intensive and industrial farming. You’ll see that in the modern era, fertilizers and pesticides are increasingly regulated, which means that farmers have to be careful about the chemicals that they put on their land. This is a natural result of the studies that have indicated that chemicals put into the soil end up in water sources, poisoning people across the world. Subsidies are largely reimbursing farmers for this change in regulations.
Emerging Crops
As ever, the agricultural industry is seeing new crops planted in order to serve new needs of society. For instance, the rise in vegetarianism and veganism is seeing the increase in demand for milk and other ‘dairy’ products sourced from plants instead of cows and goats. This demand is changing the business viability of planting the likes of soy and oats. Meanwhile, the boon in the CBD industry has meant that CBD hemp seeds for sale are increasing around the world, servicing the alternative medicine industry, as well as the fledgling legal marijuana industry across the United States.
High Tech Solutions
Digital technology is all around us, and so it should be of no surprise that farmers are increasingly using new forms of technology to help with their farming efforts. Whether this comes in the form of big data analytics to produce the largest yields, or in different forms of farming that make the most of the natural resources in the area – perhaps, for instance, also using land for wind turbines and solar panels – this represents new business opportunities for farmers in nations in which their profits are declining at a steady rate.
Farming will be with us as long as we are present on this planet – and these four changes are important in helping you understand the mechanisms in place to build up our agricultural industry across the globe.