To Regenerate The Soil A New Agricultural System Is Needed
$MON
Give our Soil some Love’in
After years of growing GE Corn and Soybean many farmers are now noticing a decline in crop productivity, which again is the exact converse of Monsanto’s (NYSE:MON) promises. And the reason for this decline is directly linked with declining soil health.
As noted: “What has happened, primarily with industrial agriculture, is that using glyphosate and transgenic (plant) varieties, and all the chemical fertilizers that we’re putting out there, we’ve decreased soil Organic matter, which is the Key to soil health, because it affects all the properties of the soil.”
As expected, many nutrients, especially the micro-nutrient levels, have also decreased in our food.
As a result of these adverse effects, an increasing numbers of farmers are ready for change, and many now want to revert back to non-GMO crops. This is part of the answer, but it is not the entire solution.
The soil must be actively regenerated with appropriate processes. It is not enough to just switch to non-GMO seeds.
Using cover crops is an important part of the solution, as it helps build up Organic matter in the soil, breaks up compactions, and allows for better water and air infiltration below the surface of the soil, which helps beneficial microorganisms thrive. Incorporating holistic herd management is another Key component.
Experts believe there is a lot of opportunity for that, and some farmers are already doing it. And, if we could have the grazers on the land to process that vegetative material and deposit the organic matter around, that along with treatment with bio-charcoal (bio-Char*), and wood vinegar will go a long way to reviving and remediating these damaged soils.
Notes: Bio-Char is charcoal used as a soil amendment. Like most charcoal, biochar is created by pyrolysis of biomass. Bio-Char an approach to carbon sequestration to produce negative CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions. Thus, bio-Char has the potential to help mitigate climate change, via carbon sequestration. Independently, bio-Char can increase soil fertility of acidic soils (low pH soils), increase agricultural productivity, and provide protection against some foliar and soil-borne diseases. Bio-Char is a stable solid, rich in carbon, and can endure in soil for thousands of years, and it relieves the pressure on forests.
Wood Vinegar: Pyroligneous acid, also called Wood Vinegar, is a dark liquid produced through the natural act of carbonization, which occurs when wood is heated in an airless container during charcoal production. Its main components are acetic acid, acetone, and methanol. It is a commercial source for acetic acid, the vinegar often contains 80-90% water along with some 200 organic compounds. Wood Vinegar is being used to support soil wellbeing.
A big problem is that we have a separation of the various types of agriculture.
Most of the CAFO’s (confined animal feeding operations) in the Western US, and we ship all of the grain out there. By taking the nutrients away from the mid-west and eastern farms the western feed lots grow huge of piles of manure that need to be in the soil.
The demand for meat that is not fed with GE (genetically engineered) crops is growing in America, and with that we will see more local processors and local feeding operations where we have grass-fed cattle and hogs.
We are seeing a turn towards that now, because most of those large feeding operations are using the commodity Corn and Soybean, which are Roundup Ready.
As the consumers learn and demand more safe and healthy meats this change will happen across the nation.
Then we can have a complete, sustainable system with livestock and the feed grains being grown in the same landscape sans the GE grains, chemicals and pesticides. A healthier consumer begets a healthier society.
Eat healthy, Be healthy, Live lively.
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
The post To Regenerate The Soil A New Agricultural System Is Needed appeared first on Live Trading News.