This is part of a series of 17 geocaches placed near outdoor art installations. The geocaches will only be available until mid-October. For other geocaches in the series, see the bookmark list UCA 2018. You may also find helpful the following guide to the UCA geocaches: (link to google drive document).
If you notice any damage to the art installation, please mention it in your log. The cache owner will communicate with the artist.
Stop 8: "That You May Live" by Ericka Walker
Artist's description of the installation: In 1806, the Kings County Agricultural Society changed it's motto to "Be Industrious That You May Live". Even prior to this organization's in 1790, the survival of agriculturalists of this region meant maintaining dynamic relationships between the production of crops, animal husbandry, machine maintenance, and land management. Being industrious not only facilitated their livelihoods, however. More than almost any other factor it was permanent agriculture and its associated technological advances that insured the entrechment and rapid expansion of European settlement across North America. Whether this expansion is seen mostly as noble, or disastrous, its deepening impact on the land is utterly undeniable. Equally undeniable is the difficult act of balancing contemporary agricultural labours with the realities of a changing climate and increasing world population.
High on this list of pressing issues in agriculture is soil conservation. The reparation of damaged earth, and the maintenance of healthy soil bodies is an evolving science, though it has long been observed that modern tillage methods are perennial culprits in the degradation of soil quality. Some predictions claim that the world has an average of 60 years of harvests left, and taken alongside deforestation and climate change, destructive tilling practices and implements have led to the degradation and erosion of one third of the world’s arable soils. For over half a century, agronomists, engineers, and farmers have been working to find solutions. New farming implements, designed with soil health in mind, have played a key role in this evolving agricultural revolution. The machinery pictured in this mural represents advancements in no-till technology, practices that - when compared to the work of previous implements - disturbs relatively little topsoil, contributing to the longevity of the land used for sowing crops. It is an image of hope and good-purpose, but also emblematic of an ongoing call for progress as farmers attempt to to feed the world. Because, unbeknownst to many of us outside of the industry, farmers constantly have to decide whether and how advancements in agricultural technologies and practices can be applied, while also serving their interests as stewards of the land.