4.4.12.D--+Research+and+development+activities+that+relate+to+agriculture

**Research and Development Activities as they Relate to Agriculture**


 * Analyze the role of research, development and technology as it relates to the food and fiber system:[[image:1farming.jpg width="246" height="171" align="right" caption=""Fields of Crops""]] **

There were/are many technological advancements that relate to the Food and Fiber System (FFS). It started out with just using sticks and long objects to plant seeds and such in the soil to start of producing the products. One major invention that the FFS depends on greatly is all types of machinery. The machines that are used can take the place of manual labor that people or animals would be doing if the machines didn't exist. For instance the use of different types of tractors made the necessity for plow horses, mules, and oxen to decrease and eventually disappear. Another great technological advancement would be the ways of storing and and producing milk and other dairy products. Research also is a key point in the FFS. Scientists work everyday to try and find new ways to avoid pests and find answers to problems relating to conservation of water, soil, natural resources and our enviornment.


 * Research and analyze energy sources used and/or generated by producing, processing and marketing agricultural products:**

Many energy sources from the begining have been run off of agricultural products. In the first cars the engines were made so they could be run using peanut oil and ethanol. More recently the US has been pushing the use of renewable res ources to be used as energy sources and to be less dependent on non-renewable resources like oil since it is getting so expensive and not very ecologically sound for the environment. Some of the renewable resources that are in the working stages of eventually being used as energy sources are solar and wind power, bioproducts, biodiesel and ethanol. The US is said to depend more and more on energy in the near future and that would produce more harmful biproducts into the environment adding to the greenhouse affect and ruining our ozone layer. There is a lot of renewable resources around throughout the United States which we could convert energy uses to. Using biofuel instead of oil would be a move toward this. The main biofuel produced now is ethanol which is mainly produced by corn. Biodiesel is also another way to make the change and it could take the place of petroleum diesel. There are oils from soybeans, animal fats and grease which could be burned in order to produce energy and which are less harmful to the environment. Many of the changes that could be made are steps toward changing the dependance on non-renewable resources to renewable ones in which agriculture plays a big role.