Have you ever heard of Cochrane’s Treadmill? No, it’s not the treadmill you exercise on; it’s more like a Ferris wheel, used to describe a cycle that occured starting with the advent of agricultural technology. It begins with the transition our ancestors made when they shifted from subsistence farming to farming for profit. Why is this important? Let me explain as I describe one crop native to my region.
The navel orange is a sweet citrus fruit. It has played a significant agricultural role in my bioregion with the help of Cochrane’s Treadmill. Cochrane’s Treadmill will keep cycling as long as farmers/operators make a profit. That is the goal of owning a business after all and should be. One would not want to or could not afford to lose money or even maintain their income because over time, the cost of living will rise. In order to get ahead of or off of the treadmill, an operator’s competition must decrease, and they must stay ahead by constantly purchasing and utilizing new farming technologies to outpace their competitors. Many borrow money or utilize government subsidy programs to do this. Eventually, the operator will need to expand their farm acreage because with the increase in production comes a decrease in the cost of the products. Operators who do stay ahead, can buy their less successful competitor’s land. But other farmers/operators will also want the land, so a bidding war ensues, driving up land values (Cochrane, 1993). Those operators that can’t keep up with new technology and continue to grow, will die off. Hence, we have less farmers who own more land, monopolies, and the inter-twinning’s of agribusiness and government.
The scene is set. Let’s go for a ride…
The first citrus plants were growing in Riverside, California in 1871 (Ferguson et al, 2011). It was William Wolfskill who was credited with the citrus revolution in Riverside, but it was in 1873 that Eliza Tibbets made the navel orange a Riverside legacy (Lee, 2010). The original tree still stands in Riverside today and is a historic monument (Ferguson et al, 2011). The navel orange did not produce seeds, which people preferred, and it grew well in the California Mediterranean climate (Lee, 2010). It was the result of a natural mutation from another orange tree that grew in Brazil. What occurred next, is the result of human intervention. Biological technology is the trigger for this cycle to begin, and it all started with the U.S. Department of Agriculture…
The U.S. Government stepped in and obtained cuttings from the trees in Brazil that produced the navels then shipped them to Riverside (Ferguson et al, 2011). This was a springboard for the beginning of the commercial citrus industry in my region. The consequence of the government’s involvement led to less biodiversity in citrus farming, rapid production of this crop, and farmers implementing new technology to increase efficiency, lower production costs and increase outputs; all variables in the treadmill.
The navel orange was not produced from a seed, which meant it would not reproduce; that is, without man’s intervention. To reproduce the fruit, scientists discovered they needed to graft bud sports to another tree trunk or roots. This process, sounding much like in vitro fertilization in human reproduction, was happening in the 1870’s to 1880’s, at a time I would not have thought the technology was capable of yet. The natural biology of fruit production was changing and becoming standardized with little variations in the final output. Oranges were being cloned. Currently, nearly every navel orange produced in California is from the original tree that was grown in Riverside in 1873 (Lee, 2010). This was an innovation; a key component to keep the treadmill turning (Cochrane, 1993).
Part of the rapid growth of the navel orange was the first ever large-scale marketing campaign to promote a commodity food (Siebert, 2003). I am sure you’ve heard of it…Sunkist? As its popularity and brand grew, the navel orange drew lobbyists asking for government support to help with production and so the Citrus Experiment Station (Agricultural Experiment Station, 2010) was established; a program administered by the University of Riverside. The program’s biological scientists study “citrus genetics, breeding, physiology and postharvest studies” (Lee, 2010). Cochrane’s Treadmill gets propelled into the stratosphere. Its attempt to create more innovative citrus products, made it impossible for other operator’s to compete. Especially as many did not have the same assets and resources to do so.
Rapid growth of all orange production showed the impact science had made, creating further dependence to stay on the treadmill. Census records show that in 1880, there were 17,038 orange trees, with Riverside County producing the most citrus grown in the state (Ferguson et al, 2011). Plantings of navel oranges, introduced in California by the USDA in 1870, contributed most to the boom (Geisseler et al, 2016). For navel oranges specifically, in 1920 there was about 50,000 acres and it increased in 1975 rising to about 120,000 acres and continuing upward to 140,000 acres in the early 2000’s. In the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, irrigation was being perfected as well as more fertilizers being used, which is reflected in the rise in production, sharply in the 1970’s (Geisseler et al, 2016).
Cochrane’s Treadmill continues today. Are there reasons a grower might now want to take the ride? What might benefit them? Can a farmer change direction along the way and still be profitable? What success stories do my farmer friends have who have chosen a different path?
References
Agricultural Experiment Station: University of Riverside. (2010, November 17). Retrieved February 5, 2017, from https://www.ucr.edu/research/centers/aes.html
Cochrane, W. W. (1993). The Development of American Agriculture: A Historical Analysis (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Ferguson, L., & Grafton-Cardwell, E. E. (2011). Citrus Production Manual. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, (3539).
Geisseler, D., & Horwath, W. R. (2016). Citrus Production in California. “Assessment of Plant Fertility and Fertilizer Requirements for Agricultural Crops in California”, funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture Fertilizer Research and Education Program (FREP). Retrieved February 5, 2017.
Lee, C. (2010, March & april). The History of Citrus in California. Retrieved February 5, 2017, from http://www.californiacountry.org/features/article.aspx?arID=695
Siebert, J. (2003). California Agriculture Dimensions and Issues. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.