Vertical Farming

With urban centers on the rise, finding land to farm will soon become a problem.  That’s where vertical farming comes in.  It uses innovative technology to essentially build agricultural skyscrapers.  These multi-story farms would permit year-round, indoor farming.  Insulated from weather, insects, and other problems, such farms would require less intensive labor and produce heartier crops than traditional methods.  This also lends itself to producing mass quantities of organic produce, making our food healthier for consumption.  Plus, since it requires no tractors or plows, vertical agriculture uses less fossil fuel and reduces negative environmental impacts!

Multitasking Farms

The number one way to make farmland more usable is to multipurpose it.  Already, numerous farmers are selling some of their land for wind turbine construction.  Wind power is a great source of clean, renewable energy.  It is also quite profitable as more and more people invest in sustainable power.  Plus, the skinny turbines leave plenty of space for crops to be grown around them. 

Robot Workers

Developers are creating “Functionoids” that will be able to handle most manual labor tasks on a farm.  These machines will require considerable upfront cost, but will pay for themselves in the long run.  Farmers can run these robotic helpers for $5 per hour, rather than an average $15 to $20 per hour for regular farmhands.  Another robotic helper is the MUSHEEP, which can safely harvest wool without harming sheep.   

Biotechnology

Recent developments in biotechnology have allowed agriculturalists to produce modified crops that are stronger, grow faster, and produce more useable products.  Soon, scientists will be able to do everything from increase protein content in fruit to grow plants immune to pests. 

Community Supported Agriculture

This business model is already sweeping around the world.  It involves a partnership between small to medium scale farms and local consumers.  Consumers buy stock in the farm and subsequently get a share of the crops.  Why is this so important?  It allows smaller farms to produce diverse crops without having to compete with big cash-crop plantations.  By growing multiple crops, soil depletion is less likely to occur.  Farmers are also free to experiment more freely with organic growing methods due to community support.