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What are the Different Types of Agricultural Products?

By Felicia Dye
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 49,141
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Agriculture generally refers to the raising of a variety of plants and animals. This industry is one that is therefore dependent on many different agricultural products. Antibiotics, fertilizers, and pesticides tend to play a major role in the success of many agricultural ventures.

The animals that are raised for agricultural purposes range from ostriches to cows. Most animals have specific dietary needs, so what is given to one type of animal will typically not be suitable to feed all others. Different types of animal feed must therefore be produced. Compound feeds are agricultural products that typically combine raw materials such as corn or oats with additives such as vitamins and minerals. These may be fed to some animals but are not suitable for all animals.

For humans to have meat that is safe and beneficial for their health, they must get it from healthy animals. Antibiotics are often used to treat and prevent diseases in animals so that humans are not placed as risk. Animal antibiotics are also used to prevent outbreaks that could kill a flock or herd. Coccidiosis, for example, is a parasite that can affect sheep, pigs, and chickens. To prevent losses and the spread from one stock to another, animals are sometimes given anticoccidials to prevent this infection.

Insecticides are agricultural products that are produced to repel insects. Crops can be converted to useless matter if they are attacked by certain insects. It is important to prevent them from attacking the plants and to prevent the insects from laying viable eggs that will later produce threatening insects. Many insecticides accomplish both purposes.

Pesticides are also agricultural products that are designed to protect stocks. Pesticides are designed to kill a wider range of pests than insecticides. These products can be used to combat rodents, fungi, or viruses. There are pesticides available to treat both plants and animals.

Fertilizers are agricultural products that are used to promote plant growth. There are organic fertilizers such as compost and manure which are commercially available in some areas. Inorganic fertilizers are typically composed of chemicals such as urea or nitrogen and may be more accessible. The types of fertilizers that are used can be a matter of choice or a matter of government regulation.

Straw is a versatile agricultural product which is produced from dried plants. Straw is sometimes used for animal bedding in horse stables or chicken houses. It can be a source of food for animals such as cows and pigs. Straw is also used to cover plants and keep them warm during periods of cold weather.

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Discussion Comments
By pleonasm — On Aug 22, 2013

@umbra21 - I think that people like the idea of organic because it provides some protection. There may be some chemicals that are safe to use on farm animals and crops, but the average person has no way of knowing which ones are safe and which aren't.

But being organic isn't necessarily a way to stay safe. Look at the diseases that have resulted from people feeding farm animal offal to other animals. That could technically be called an organic agricultural product, but the outcome was devastating.

By umbra21 — On Aug 21, 2013

@croydon - The agriculture business is all linked together like that, to the point where I think you need to just say that something is "good enough" rather than trying to find a product that is completely pure.

I'm not a huge fan of the organic movement anyway, as I think it throws the baby out with the bathwater to some extent. Everything is made up of chemicals anyway, and I don't think that all agricultural products that use chemicals in their creation are a bad thing. It's just a matter of picking and choosing the right chemicals.

I'm more interested in permaculture, which is making agriculture sustainable, than in a strictly organic system.

By croydon — On Aug 20, 2013

If you're interested in trying to keep to organic products, you really need to make sure that the farms you're getting your food from only use organic agricultural products as well.

Often there will be contamination of one kind or another further up the line. It's almost impossible to find products that don't have some kind of chemical use or abuse somewhere in their origins.

For example, someone who claims to have organic eggs would also need to be feeding their chickens with organic feed and that feed would need to be grown with organic fertilizer and so forth.

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