What is the difference between crops and farm animals?

Crops are plants that farmers grow, like wheat, vegetables and fruit. Farm animals, like cows, sheep and chickens, are raised for products such as milk, eggs and meat. Many farms do both.

Where does bread come from?

Bread starts as a crop called wheat. Farmers harvest the wheat, the grains are ground into flour, and bakers mix the flour with water and yeast to make bread.

Crops and Farming: How We Grow Our Food | Nature

Where does our food come from?

Think about everything you ate today. Bread, rice, pasta, cereal, vegetables, fruit. Almost all of it began life as a plant growing in a field. The people who grow these plants are farmers, and the plants they grow on purpose for food are called crops.

Without farming, there would not be enough food for the billions of people on Earth. So how does it work?

What is a crop?

A crop is a plant grown in large amounts, usually in big fields, to feed people or animals. Some of the most important crops in the world are called staple crops, because they form the base of so many people's meals:

Wheat — ground into flour for bread, pasta and cereal
Rice — the main food for billions of people, especially in Asia
Corn (maize) — eaten on the cob, or made into flour, oil and animal feed
Potatoes — packed with energy, grown almost everywhere

Farmers also grow fruit, vegetables, beans and crops for animals to eat. To see more of the foods that come from plants, read Fruits and Vegetables We Eat.

The farming year

Growing a crop is not a one-day job. It follows the seasons and takes most of the year. Here are the main steps a farmer follows.

1. Prepare the soil

First the farmer ploughs the field, turning over the soil to make it loose and ready. Healthy soil is everything in farming — it holds the water and nutrients the plants need. You can learn why in Soil and Why It Matters.

2. Sow the seeds

Next the farmer sows the seeds, spreading them across the field. With water, warmth and good soil, the seeds sprout and tiny green shoots push up.

3. Care for the crop

As the crop grows, the farmer looks after it. This means making sure it has enough water, removing weeds that would steal its water and sunlight, and protecting it from pests like hungry insects. Some farmers add fertiliser to feed the soil.

4. Harvest

At last the crop is ripe. This is the harvest — the busy, exciting time when the ripe crop is gathered in. Long ago, people cut wheat by hand with curved blades. Today a giant machine called a combine harvester can harvest a whole field in hours.

From field to plate

After the harvest, crops travel a long way before they reach you. Wheat grains are ground into flour, then baked into bread. Rice is dried and packed into bags. Vegetables are washed, boxed and sent to shops. Every meal you eat is the end of a journey that started with a seed and a farmer's hard work.

What every crop needs

A crop is just a plant, so it needs the same things all plants need:

Sunlight to make food by photosynthesis
Water from rain or watering
Good soil full of nutrients
Room to grow, free of weeds and pests

When all of these come together, a tiny seed can feed a family.

Grow your own crop

You do not need a farm to grow a crop. You can grow one on a windowsill!

Fill a small pot or tray with damp soil or compost.
Sprinkle a few cress seeds or bean seeds on top, and cover lightly with a little more soil.
Put it on a sunny windowsill and keep the soil damp, not soaked.
Watch every day. In a few days, tiny green shoots appear. Cress can be ready to harvest and eat in a sandwich within a week!

Keep a diary: when did the shoots appear? How tall is the crop each day? You have just done what farmers do all over the world — turned a seed into food.

Crops and Farming: How We Grow Our Food

Key takeaways