Traditional Farming versus Corporate Farming

Running head: TRADITIONAL FARMING VERSUS CORPORATE FARMING
Traditional Farming versus Corporate Farming
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1TRADITIONAL FARMING VERSUS CORPORATE FARMING
As opined by Baldwin (2018), farming is considered to be one of the oldest
professions of the world and its origin can be traced back to thousands of years ago when the
human beings first leaned to civilize. Denham, Iriarte and Vrydaghs (2016) are of the
viewpoint that farming is one of the most important professions of the world because of the
fact that the farmers are responsible for cultivating the crops or rearing the cattle which is
being consumed by the human beings for sustenance. However, in the recent times with the
development of new innovative technologies and also in the light of the issues of
sustainability, the cannon of framing had undergone a significant amount of change (Minot,
2018). For example, it is seen that unlike the traditional methods of farming which were used
extensively in the earlier times, the modern day farmer are increasingly resorting to the usage
of the method of corporate farming for the cultivation of crops and also for rearing of
livestock (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018). This change in the method of farming can be
attributed to the ever increasing demand for food products on the part of human civilization,
the population of which is growing at an exponential rate. This essay will compare and
contrast the traditional and the corporate farming methods in the particular context of the
nation of New Zealand.
Howley et al. (2015) have articulated the viewpoint that the agricultural or the
farming sector is the largest tradable sector in the nation of New Zealand and directly
contributes towards the more than thirds of the products which are being exported out of the
nation under discussion here. More importantly, as of 2016, it was seen that the sector under
discussion here contributed more than $34.78 billion towards the GDP of the concerned
nation which accounted for more than 17.1% of its entire GDP (Stuff.co.nz, 2019). As opined
by Olson (2017), the farming of NZ is not only known for the high quality of crops or food
products that it offers to the people but at the same time for the high quality livestock and
related products or services as well. For example, it is seen that the nation under discussion

2TRADITIONAL FARMING VERSUS CORPORATE FARMING
here earns more than $6.77 billion from meat, $12.1 billion from dairy, other animal products
$812 million and livestock exports $242 million (Environmentguide.org.nz, 2019). Needless
to say, this not enables the concerned nation to meet the food demands of its citizens but at
the same time had contributed in a significant manner towards the growth of its national
economy as well. However, in the recent times it is seen that the landscape of the farming
sector in NZ had undergone a significant amount of change and the farmers are increasingly
switching from the traditional farming methods to the corporate method of farming.
The people of NZ as well as the Maoris over the centuries had been taking the help of
the traditional methods of farming for the cultivation of crops and the rearing of livestock and
its related products was only a side-business or a source of extra income for them (Mellor,
2017). However, it was seen that this used to take a significant amount of labor on the part of
the cultivators and also the returns from the land were not significant enough to maintain the
farms and also the families which dependent on the farm for their livelihood (Glover &
Kusterer, 2016). The real change came with the introduction of the Industrial Revolution in
the nation under discussion here and the net result of this was the farmers soon realized the
opportunities presented by the usage of these machineries for the purpose of cultivating crops
(Olson, 2017). For example, it was seen that the usage of these machineries can not only
reduce the human labor that it need for farming but at the same time increased the production
of crops as well and compared to earlier method was much cost effective (Graeub et al.,
2016). In addition to this, the increasing demand for meat, livestock products and others soon
made the farmers realize the prospective economic opportunities presented by the same.
Thus, they began to embrace the systematic method of farming through which they not only
focused on the systematic cultivation of crops but at the same time focused on the livestock
business as well. More importantly, the collaboration with different farming units, agencies,
unions and others also significantly enhanced the prospects of these farmers and presently it