G'day Tetlon. You said,.....*******We are destroying soil, and...

G'day Tetlon.
You said,.....

*******We are destroying soil, and using up ancient aquifers, salting landscapes, on a scale that is mind blowing. This is like printing money to get out of debt, it works for a while and then it breaks down in a way that does irreversible damage to a much bigger area.********



I reckon the damage agriculture does is a bit exagerated by the anti-farm brigade. If the soil was all so buggered, then yields globally would be falling. They are not, yields continue to rise. The soil on my farm has never been better. It is no longer ploughed, instead is sprayed with roundup. This has been the biggest improvment ever seen in farming. The stubble gets left on the surface, and yields have risen heaps. Since yields have risen, I need to use more fertilizer, and I do, and the organic content is also going up. Worms hate the plough, and my soil is full of worms too. Don't listen to everything the anti-farm mob tell you.

We are using up ancient aquifers. Agreed. There are big problems coming, and it's why I'm so excited to be a dryland farmer. There will be carnage.




********Have to start with the basics - make the best damn living soil you can. Catch and save rainwater, let it soak through the landscape, mulch the growing beds. Keep energy in the system as long as possible. Just because someone is not using fertilizer does not mean they are producing intelligently*********



How does an organic farmer make the best damn soil you can get? I'll tell ya, and it is very good soil. He goes and buys a heap of organic fertilizer, animal manure mainly, or better still buys compost. Compost made mainly from animal manure. Probably also adds some straw. All these inputs have originated from another farm mate, they haven't just appeared from thin air.

Just 3 grass crops provide most of humans calorie intake, corn, wheat, and rice. Production of these 3 crops is so massive that a billion tonnes of grain is able to be fed to animals. This billion tonnes of grain that is fed to animals produces hundreds of millions of tonnes of animal manure, which is what provides the organic agriculture industry with their nutrients. Plus all the straw used on organic farms.

In 1900, all crops were organic, as herbicides and fertilizers weren't invented. But these organic crops in 1900 also didn't have the massive supply of organic nutrients that todays organic farmers have. If you think organics can feed the world, it has to do it without the addition of the hundreds of millions of tonnes of inputs organic agriculture cureently gets fron conventional agriculture. It can't be done mate, and you just need a canculator and a bit of common sense to prove it.

The worlds agriculture needs to be as productive as it's possible to be. The more productive, the less land is needed, and the more land available for nature and wilderness.

If herbicides and fertilizers were banned, there would only be one winner. The winner would be farmers. Global food output would crash, and food prices would skyrocket.

Cheers mate.