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Farmland

Has anyone in here ever researched the dilemma of maintaining and sustaining good farmland. I have (go figure... ) and the situatuion is pretty shatty. Not just for industrial nations, but for the world abroad. The largest threats today come from farmers themselves with really nasty ass practices ... Its not just the organics issue (the abstaining from the use of any form of "harmful" chemicals to promote specific growth qualties or greater production, ect.), but also the basic practices that farmers have been using for centuries that is causing the loss of top soil, and nutirents in our lands which are the single most important assets that farmers have.

Example: In the polouse valley in washington state, U.S.A., we have lost anywhere for 30-100 inches of top soil with in 100 years of farming. pretty amazing. pretty depressing. in many places accross the world, lands that were once fertile have now turned to sand or clay, causing communties to move to other locations, only to consume that locale aswell... no matter what anyone says, no matter how you look at it we are destroying what we depend on. and if we continue to use these practices we will run out of food.

there are many other problems aswell. erosion is a huge one. We lose way too much soil to water run off. the reason for the most part is that farmers leave feilds naked and bare to avoid the spread of unwanted plants.. anyways, we are losing our soil fast and much of it is going into our lakes, oceans and lower plains....

im out of time for the moment, i will add more concerns later. please begin discussing this topic and what you know of it.. what are some solutions that have arisen in your mind... i have many ideas. please ask questions if you are confused or think im a fucking idiot for bringing this up....

I thought we had learned from our mistakes from the dustbowl era of the 30s. Other than that I have very little contribution to this topic haha. Good luck finding those knowledgeable in this issue.

yeah thats the problem most poeple dont know about all the problems we face with agriculture. its very alarming.

suggested reading: New Roots for Agriculture , By Wes Jackson. Even though it was written 20 years ago, it displays the problems the world faces very vividly and honestly and also presents some very intriguing soltuions.

IMO a bigger threat is the spread of suburbia on fertile lands... govts are allowing this instead of rehabiliting abandonned areas, it is cheaper but in the long run everyone looses

Australia has huge problems with poor agricultural practices. I dont think the main problem is the fact that we're losing topsoil (because basically there wasnt any decent topsoil to start with) but the fact that salinity is such a problem.
With clearing of forests for agricultural uses we get a rise in the water table, bringing along with it all the salt and nutrients along with it. In some cases the water table is only a few inches below the surface of the ground, and renders the land useless.
Australia has already lost millions of sq kilometers to this problem, and i was wondering if the United States, or anywhere else, is facing similar problems.

hey trancedfarmer i was wondering your opinion was on geneticaly engineered / altered / enhanced crop. seeing as it has the power to cause higher yield on a smaller peice of land, is advancment in technology such as that helpful in any way?

I took some soil science classes when I was at Cal Poly SLO and this is a major problem for the world. As for the United States, we have been using better farming techniques since the dustbowl. Some farming equipment is illegal to use as a result. As for the rest of the world, unfortunately they are still uneducated. Do you guys want to know the #1 cause of quality top soil loss?

Rain.

Rain destroys soil, everytime an acre of growth is removed from the rainforests, that super rich soil is lost forever since there isn't any growth to protect that soil from the rain erosion.

quote:

Originally posted by Izzy hey trancedfarmer i was wondering your opinion was on geneticaly engineered / altered / enhanced crop. seeing as it has the power to cause higher yield on a smaller peice of land, is advancment in technology such as that helpful in any way?

it can be helpful but for the most part it has caused health concerns and environmental concerns. im not against, i just think the scientists should be more repsonsible and thorough in their testing and studies and reach well formed conclusions..

quote:

Originally posted by trancedfarmer it can be helpful but for the most part it has caused health concerns and environmental concerns. im not against, i just think the scientists should be more repsonsible and thorough in their testing and studies and reach well formed conclusions..

ya i know what you mean and i agree.
problem is detecting some of the potential health problems are almost impossible to measure. no one can really tell if prolonged digestion of certain crop can cause a certain illness, because that would entail a 30 year research project that with all the potential outer influences having such an impact on the expirement, it would basicly render it useless... (kinda like trying to prove the micro wave by daily use in the long range causes cancer, such things are basicly impossible to desicively prove)

for instance they put DNA from fish into Tomatoes to give them longer shelf life... i actually think thats kinda funny...

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