Agriculture and Electricity - Why is the bread in Europe so much better than in the U.S.?
In the first edition of this blog, I noted that “the electric sector underpins every other essential industry sector, and it also relies on many of them. I…think of the overlaps like the Olympic rings – all interlinked, with some overlapping more than others.”
For the next several editions, I’ll continue to focus on each critical infrastructure sector in relation to the electric sector because electricity – which began to be deployed as a service close to 150 years ago – has enabled the progress, convenience and abundance that are hallmarks of modern life. Thereafter, I’ll get into the overlapping policy issues in more detail.
In this edition, I’ll delve into electricity’s interrelationship with agriculture. I thought it fitting to discuss the growing and production of food on the week when my family and I are traveling to three countries in Europe that have practically cornered the market on amazing food – Spain, France, and Italy! And, no, I will not attempt to answer that most existential question posed in the title. I can assume the amazing European bread has something to do with the soil and the variety of wheat that can only grow here and not in the U.S. (as I recall, even the great Julia Child struggled with this question when trying to replicate French cuisine for American housewives back in the day). All I know is that it’s not even in the same league – Americans win at a lot of things, but not at the art of baking bread or pasta making or anything made with wheat for that matter.
If I’ve made you hungry, feel free to pause and grab a bite before I go into the history (cue the Jeopardy tune for those who need the break). Okay, now we’re back…from an historical standpoint, the term agriculture refers to the domestication of both plants and animals. While humans have gathered grains, nuts and fruits and hunted animals for food since our origins, the systematic growing of certain foods and gathering together of certain preferred animals to be raised for consumption did not begin until about 13,000-11,500 years ago. Just like with the other developments I’ve discussed previously in this blog, various ancient peoples around the globe domesticated foods independently. The first animals to be raised for food were pigs and sheep, followed by cattle. Eventually, camels and horses were domesticated, but not primarily for food consumption. Cows/oxen were both eaten and used to help cultivate other foods.
About 11,500 years ago, the “foundational” crops are seen in the fossil record – wheat, peas, barley, lentils, chickpeas, flax, and bitter vetch, which is a type of ancient legume primarily used to feed cattle and other ruminants. Around 10,000 years ago, beans and potatoes were developed in the Americas, millet in China, and bananas in New Guinea. Other tubers such as sweet potatoes also took root (ha!) during this era. The eventual domestication of cotton about 6,000 years ago in what is now called Peru became a game-changer in textiles, as I discussed in my previous blog related to the history of manufacturing.
Scholars postulate that humans undertook the major change from hunting and gathering to what we think of as agriculture because of climate change – the last Ice Age heralded in drier seasons, leading in turn to a need to store food during seasons when growing was limited. As National Geographic notes,
“Agriculture enabled people to produce surplus food. They could use this extra food when crops failed or trade it for other goods. Food surpluses allowed people to work at other tasks unrelated to farming. Agriculture kept formerly nomadic people near their fields and led to the development of permanent villages.”
These villages then grew into cities. These groups of people and, eventually, nation-states, traded with each other and, in so doing, expanded their knowledge.
As was the case with transportation, water, and communications, the Romans shaped how we would think about agriculture for hundreds of years after their empire crumbled. They created the manorial system that was also used in the Islamic world and that carried over into the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This system encouraged fortified manor houses that enabled farmers to tend to their animals and crops in peace (theoretically, at least). They also created the aqueducts I discussed in one of the first editions of this blog, which provided both drinking water for people and animals as well as irrigation for crops.
When Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, he brought with him crops from Europe, such as wheat, and brought back maize and other food unique to North America. Maybe I have answered the existential question I posed earlier – wheat was imported and might not be as suited to our American soil and climate, as is corn, soybeans, and other products. Hmmm. Anyway, this is just an example of how food was traded as humans expanded their ability to travel and interact globally.
Like in the other fields we have discussed, major improvements to agricultural production began in the 1700s, with inventions like the horse-drawn seed drill invented by Jethro Tull (did you know the band name was an homage?), the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical reaper, John and Hiram Pitts’ horse-powered thresher, and John Deere’s steel plow, among others. All these inventions reduced the manpower, horsepower, or cattle power needed to produce food. According to National Geographic, “Along with new machines, there were several important advances in farming methods. By selectively breeding animals (breeding those with desirable traits), farmers increased the size and productivity of their livestock.”
And then came electricity. Electric pumps enabled water to flow through irrigation canals and to keep it flowing for subsurface and surface irrigation. Wastewater treatment facilities powered by electricity and enabled by developments in chemical processes in some cases allowed for re-use of treated sewage for crops. Electricity underpinned the development of chemical fertilizers, including the game-changing Haber-Bosch process that enabled industrial scale deployment of synthesized ammonium nitrate fertilizer – significantly increasing crop yields.
The arid American West, fed by major rivers, has become increasingly populated and successful because of electricity-enabled irrigation and drinking water supply, as mentioned in my blog about water and electricity. The U.S. has increased its capabilities in agriculture such that our county can feed large swaths of the world. While other policy, animal humaneness, and environmental discussions are being had around agriculture, it is clear that where there is ample irrigation, supported by electricity, there is more food. The lack of irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, can be tied to a lack of electric infrastructure to support it.
Here are some other ways that the agriculture sector and the electric sector overlap:
Reliance on transportation. Agriculture relies on the transportation sector to ship its goods and services and provide needed machines, tools, and parts, while the electric sector still needs coal delivered as well as machines, tools, and parts.
Reliance on critical manufacturing. If the parts are not available, the tractor does not run and the water does not get pumped for irrigation.
Environmental regulation. Both face significant regulation and scrutiny related to their impacts on water, air and land – and should continue to collaborate to educate regulators and policy makers on their needs.
The use of natural gas. Natural gas is a critical input (feedstock) into fertilizers, as part of the Haber-Bosch process mentioned above. Natural gas comprises approximately 40% of domestic electricity generation. Natural gas is under pressure relative to its greenhouse gas emissions, a fact that both industries must address.
Reliance on water. Water is essential for agricultural production. Utilities also use traditional hydropower and new water-power technologies to produce emissions-free electricity. But the resource can be constrained in drought conditions, especially out West.
Workforce challenges and the knowledge drain that has resulted from retirements in recent years.
Supply chain constraints that impact every aspect of infrastructure deployment and maintenance.
How to best use technology to create efficiencies and minimize expenses.
How to manage the cybersecurity risk that comes with those technology deployments.
I say we get these two industries together for some discussions about how to work together to tackle these challenges – I’ll bring the baguettes.