Navarro 1

Esther Navarro

Ramirez

English

29 November 2023

Is Agriculture Improving?

Each year more technology is added to our world. That is meant to change and improve us, but
for agriculture that may not be the case. For years agriculture has kept the world full and healthy and it
has all been done with people's loving and genial hands. What should we do with this new technology?
Should we adapt? What will the farm workers do? Will this have a negative impact on our health? The
answer is no we should not let this new technology take over, it's not affordable, not good for our health
and will leave millions jobless. Although many believe that adding new technology into agriculture would
make agriculture production and labor a lot easier, many fail to see the dangers and losses the people
around agriculture will face.
Adding new technology to agriculture will be the downfall for the agriculture industry. This new
technology has many problems that come with it but the first thing farmers notice is that it is not
affordable. These innovations will cost anywhere from $1500 to $300,000. Farmers are almost always in
debt because of the equipment and random expenses that come with owning so many crops and or
livestock. Adding this new technology will only put small farms in more debt. Obtaining this new
technology would ideally be awesome, but at the high price it comes in there is really a limited amount
you can do with it. When buying this new technology at the price it is you’d hope it could do multiple
things. The reality is that it doesn’t meaning yes you would improve one area but at the same time be
paying double because you would still need workers in other areas of the farm. For the bigger farms this
investment could be worth it but for smaller local farms smart technology just can't save them cash. This
new technology may be good for farmers who could afford it. Some may even want to grow into an
independent farm, but for most farms this is more of an expense then a money saver. Smart technology
in agriculture is not affordable and will only cause more problems and debts for farmers.
The agricultural industry is a very delicate industry. With one small change everything around us
can change. That is why if we add new technology to agriculture our food prices will rise. From rising cost
in supplies and new technology expenses consumers will be paying more as prices will rise.from rising
cost in supplies and new expensive technology changes inn consumers prices will be higher. When prices
start changing in the foundation which is the farms in this case we have to change prices for your
products. When the prices from this technology start to hit the farms there will have to be someone who
has to help pay and that will be the customers. With labor shortages food costs are now 10% higher than
they were at this time last year. The farms that have already installed this technology had to let people
go to afford the technology which only leaves more work for the farmers causing food prices to already
start rising. New technology has been around since 2020 and made the food supplies chain very fragile.
Since the pandemic people were let go for the technology and when people wanted to return the we not
being treated with the respect they deserve they were viewed as a second option. With the market rising
and workers not being treated well there is a shortage in labor forcing prices to only rise higher.
With this new added technology the market will be changed but there will also be changes in the
foundations of the farms. Such as immigrants losing their jobs. The states report that immigrants have
helped feed America for many centuries. Recently from 2010 to 2020 there has been a decline in
workers. From not being treated correctly to the new addition of technology there is no doubt that there
is no doubt that there will be people who choose to leave the farms. In some cases the farmers even
have to let them go because they can not afford to continue paying for their labor. “Back in the day there
was people galore.” Said Vanessa quinlan these days rules have changed putting treatment sfirst. In the
past farm workers were paid very little. They would get paid cents for every fruit they picked. Recently
they have started paying by the hour which is fair but many farmers do not like this. This creates a
chained reaction which leads to farms turning to technology which only puts them in more debt. There is
a lot of power given to employers over farm workers. Farm owners have the power to ruin the lives of
their workers and with the tediousness of agriculture it is difficult to both satisfy the workers and not
mess with the farm's stability. With this all pulling up some farms think it’s easier to give into the
technology, but they do not think of the results it will have on their crops.
With all the changes going on with the crop workers also come changes that will happen to the
crops. In addition to adding new technology we will be adding more pollutants to the water and air
which is what will grow in our crops. Just how we thought about the foundation of the farms we have to
think about our health's foundations. With these new pollutants we might be adding to our bodies.
Agriculture technology has created substantial environmental effects. The new technology they have
added has already added toxins and pesticides to water in rivers that people are advised to not go in
now. Those are chemicals that are sprayed on our crops then go into our bodies. If chemicals are this
strong we can only imagine when a piece of machinery leaks a chemical that is not used on our crops
how that will affect our health. The use of chemicals on crops invites various diseases to our bodies and
livestock around us. There are many different diseases that can come and attack not only us but our
livestock as well. Livestock is very delicate to viruses and if even one animal gets sick we can lose the
entire herd. With the chemical fertilizers being used with this machinery it can hurt not only us but our
livestock farms as well.
To conclude, agriculture is better off focusing on improving the rights of treatment of immigrant
workers. With focusing on the issues we have now instead of trying to replace the problem we can
improve our crops and immigrant rights. Understanding agriculture’s needs and changes is difficult but
agriculture is better off focusing on their methods then trying to start all over from the beginning. By not
adding new technology and methods farms can put more money in their crops then going into debt.
With fixing problems instead of replacing them we even make our produce prices lower with workers
getting paid more. Our immigrant workers will have better treatment and higher pay with the
improvement which will help our labor shortages. With all our improvements we will be able to keep
ourselves healthy and even make and help our planet and environment healthy. With agriculture
focusing and fixing our problems instead of replacing them with machinery we will have a healthier
happier environment and planet. Without technology the environment will be healthier. Agriculture will
be able to improve and continue as quoted by my cousin Pedro Arámbula Navarro, owner of livestock
and vineyards “New technology in agriculture will be the end of fresh produce. This is the way they get
us and slowly turn our foods into plastics.”

Work cited
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"Immigrant Farmworkers and America's Food Production - 5

Things to Know." Fwd.us,
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and Rising Food Prices." NBC News,
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/farmers-pushing-immigration-r
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Gonzales, Oscar. "Continuing Cesar Chavez's Legacy in Supporting Farmworkers." Www.usda.gov,

31 Mar. 2022,
www.usda.gov/media/blog/2022/03/31/continuing-cesar-chavezs
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