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What Ants Can Teach Humans about Farming

How tiny fungus farmers made a model of sustainable agriculture.

By Matthew Bian
Jan 5, 2022 5:50 PMJan 18, 2022 3:31 PM
Leaf Cutter Ant
(Credit: Fotos593/Shutterstock)

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“I know of no pursuit in which more zeal & important service can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture,” opined George Washington in a 1794 letter. While the prevalence of the frontier farmer has admittedly decreased since Washington’s day, agriculture itself is arguably one of humanity’s crowning achievements, laying the groundwork for the rise of civilization and allowing the human population to exponentially proliferate. 

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