Recommendation, page-575

From a farmers point of view I took his comment on the farm land being mined refers to the farmers there not replacing nutrients yet. Meaning the soil in virgin condition has an inherent level of nutrients. Grow 50 years of crops on it and each year nutrients are removed in the grain the yields get worse. Small portions are left in the residue if returned to the soil but nowhere near enough to optimise yields. Ploughing also lowers soils organic carbon which in turn lowers moisture holding capacity and nutrient cycling through lower soil microbial activity. Basically if you don't replace what gets taken out each year your soil ends up stuffed. That's why I expect big yield responses to added fert from the trials. With that comes higher levels of residue which increases soil organic carbon. That's why the big shift here to zero till and higher fertiliser use. Not so simple as just throwing some seeds around and why I know giving these people access to fertiliser will be massively transformational.