Bird droppings were a foundation of modern agriculture and American empire

Long before synthetic fertilizers, the global guano trade reshaped farming, fueled American expansion and exposed the hidden human costs of feeding the modern world.

By: Edward D. Melillo, Amherst College, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: July 27, 2026

Words: 1,544

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 2 days ago

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By Edward D. Melillo, Amherst College

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-third of the world’s fertilizer normally passes, has made clear that access to nutrients for crops remains as strategically important in the 21st century as access to oil.

As an environmental historian, I study how fertilizer transformed the modern world. That history is about more than scientific innovation or agricultural progress. It also reveals the hidden …

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