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

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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?

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If God is the answer, it must have been a very stupid question.

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..

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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)

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If God is the answer, it must have been a very stupid question.

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