INTENSIVE FARMING

Intensive agriculture is a method of farming that uses large amounts of labor and investment to increase the yield of the land. In an industrialized society this typically means the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals that boost yield, and the acquisition and use of machinery to aid planting, chemical application, and picking. In theory, this reduces the amount of land needed for an economically viable farm to grow crops or raise animals. However, in countries such as the United States and Canada these methods are often used to overproduce products as companies attempt to increase their market share. Profit is then diminished so that farmers must continue overproducing in order to stay economically viable, and often seek compensation for low profits via government subsidies.