Farming to Feed a Billion People

Compare Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes and 22 million acres of cropland to China, land of 1.3 billion people and only 15 percent arable land and you'll realize that the differences represent an opportunity for both.

Right now, through a combination of conserving resources and introducing modern farming techniques, China manages to produce enough to feed all of its people. However, imported grains and other foods from places like Minnesota can help sustain China's population into the future.

Most of China's farmland lies in eastern and central China. Some areas even yield two to three harvests per year. China's crops include soybeans, barley, sorghum, oats, potatoes, tea, oilseed crops, sugarcane, cotton and rubber.

While rice is the staple food for most people in China, in the north, people use wheat flour for bread and noodles. Minnesota is second to North Dakota in spring wheat production (plus oats and canola). In addition, Minnesota leads the nation in producing sugar beets and green peas and turkeys. Not to mention some of the nation's biggest yields of corn, soybeans, hogs and pigs.

All of these Minnesota products may ultimately end up on Chinese tables and, in fact, some already do. In the years 2000-2004, Minnesota sold $1.12 billion in agricultural commodities and processed foods in China.

To maximize its crop yields, China continues to modernize its farming practices and expand usable farmland through irrigation - bringing water to the crops while preventing soil erosion, a growing threat to China's agricultural areas. China's government is encouraging emphasis on research into new farming methods and biotechnology. In fact, Chinese agricultural scientists have been officially collaborating with U.S. researchers to address these issues, resulting in an exchange of both ideas and improved trade possibilities.

Similarly, with its recent entrance into the World Trade Organization (WTO), China is becoming more of a participant in the international economy. This provides additional income and therefore greater stability to the food system worldwide. China's WTO agreement also means its agricultural policies are more open to trade opportunities that will benefit Minnesota and other U.S. agricultural exports.

Even as trade and the urban economy surges ahead, rural China faces increased challenges. Chinese farmers have struggled for years with barely rising incomes, high taxes and fewer government benefits than non-agricultural workers receive. Though 60 percent of China's population originates in the countryside, unemployment between harvest seasons increasingly drives great numbers of rural residents to migrate to the cities. Many choose to remain in these urban areas, in spite of government policies against this practice, and in the face of widespread discrimination against rural migrants in cities. While they can earn more in urban centers and contribute to greater national income as a result, in time this is changing the picture of the rural landscape in China, much as the flight to cities has changed rural life in Minnesota.

Now, as Minnesota reaches out to China, it may find new opportunities in agriculture and Minnesota's outlook for farmers may be reshaped once again.

Factoids:

Minnesota farmers must export one out of every three rows of cropland to make a profit.

The average farm is 354 acres, while average market value of products per farm sold is $112,997

Still Curious?

www.ers.usda.gov/statefacts/mn.htm
Minnesota rural and agricultural data

U.S. Department of Agriculture
www.usda.gov

and

www.usda.gov/nass/
All about statistics on agriculture.

World Trade Organization
www.wto.org/
Information and facts about the trade, the organization and its member countries.

The American Embassy in China
www.usembassy-china.org.cn/
This United States Embassy site offers reports and links on all aspects of China's social, economic, and political scene.

The World Bank Group
www.worldbank.org.cn/English/Overview/overview_cas.htm
A review of China's transitions from a rural, agricultural to an urban, industrial society, and from a centrally planned to a more globally integrated market-based economy.