On The Job by Jessica Cohn at a Farm RED CHAIR PRESS
Jobs in Agriculture America is like a huge farmers market New produce keeps coming into season Each region has the right weather for certain fruits and vegetables The The state fruit of Washington is the apple That is because six out of ten apples come from there Wisconsin grows the most cranberries They grow well in the sandy and wet areas of the state Growers like Gil Schieber of Washington are busy all year long His orchard has 1,600 trees He says he is busiest in spring The branches of the apple trees need to be thinned The workers have to get rid of weeds and insects They need to build new structures such as frames for the plants to grow on 4
World Harvest Agriculture is a giant business in America One in three acres grows food that is sold to other countries For example U S farms grow half of all corn grown world-wide A lot of corn is made into ethanol a fuel that burns more cleanly than oil Many crops are raw materials that get used in other products For example cotton plants grow well on farms in the South The cotton fibers can be made into cloth From California to the New York Islands 2 3 billion Total number of acres of U S land 26 percent Land used for pastures rounded 20 percent Approximate amount of land used for crops Source U S Department of Agriculture 5
