Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: Turns out those old-fashioned ways of farming were actually pretty smart [View all]truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)14. Real farmers don't, but mechanized corporations do--Better Living Through Chemistry!
An integrated organic farm produces more, and better food per acre than a factory farm with less petroleum, fewer pesticides and less water. Labor costs are higher though. And there is a period of 3-4 years during change-over when yields will be less, and less predictable (see comment below about banks).
Farmers got sucked into the maw of chemical fertilizers and pesticides--always more!--after WWII. I guess the armament industry needed something to do with all those nitrates. Now, chemical farming is "normal" and banks are loathe to give operating loans to farmers who use "non-standard" techniques. That may have improved lately but it was certainly the case 10-15 years ago.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
36 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
Turns out those old-fashioned ways of farming were actually pretty smart [View all]
xchrom
Dec 2013
OP
No doubt they were right for their time, and worth exploring again, but that's only half the story.
Geoff R. Casavant
Dec 2013
#2
I read a study which disagreed - that Asian traditional methods had the highest yield
bhikkhu
Dec 2013
#6
Real farmers don't, but mechanized corporations do--Better Living Through Chemistry!
truebluegreen
Dec 2013
#14
You seriously can't follow a well reasoned argument without an outside reference?
kristopher
Dec 2013
#30
If the only factor was pesticide use and species extinction, then that might be a good argument
jeff47
Dec 2013
#8