Soil To The Rescue
Could the answer to our environmental problems be under our feet? Interview with Kristin Ohlson, author of The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet
agriculture
Study: 2ºC Warming Is Enough To Seriously Hurt Crop Yields
As farmers sow this year’s crops, they may be distracted by the fact that by the 2030s — just over 15 years from now — crop yields in temperate and tropical regions will suffer significantly due to climate change.
California Drought: Is this the big one?
Rainstorms finally arrived in California…but the big reservoirs are still pitifully low, and snow pack is less than a quarter of normal. Hundreds of thousands of acres will not be planted, and food bills will likely go up in North America, and possibly around the world.
Rube Goldberg Nature
The more I learn about it, the more Nature looks like a Rube Goldberg machine: energy and materials flow through convoluted paths to accomplish something seemingly simple.
Agriculture in a Changing World
"Agriculture is the oldest environmental problem," the Land Institute’s Wes Jackson tells us early in this 27-minute video.
Come on Home!: Ecological Agriculture and Sixteen Wonderful Farms that Point the Way
This essay uses over a dozen working farms across the country (& a few other countries) to illustrate some of the key principles of the ecologically-based agriculture that will be required in the transition ahead. …The next steps are up to you, kid.
More cow love, carbs, carbon, and culture
What services do wild and domesticated ruminants give to the land? How can we improve the quality of the land while also returning our relationship with cows from an industrial model to an agroecological one?
An Extended Recipe for Bread
If you see the rise, if you smell that sweet pungency and know the journey from soil to palate, if you follow the weather patterns and the turning of the seasons, the journey of a seed into a staple, you know that the journey is coming to an end.
Many Countries Reaching Diminishing Returns in Fertilizer Use
For the world as a whole, the era of rapidly growing fertilizer use is now history.
The Last Nomads and the Culture of Fear
My wife and I went semi-nomadic in 2010, traveling the mountain West for almost two years. Not having a settled home was eye-opening, and taught me a lot about one of my perennial themes: how much humans lost when we became domesticated by agriculture.
The Bean and Grain Project – Outperforming Chemical Agriculture
The Southern Williamette Bean and Grain Project is exploring bean, grain, and edible seed varieties which can be added to those already grown in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Unsustainable Farming: From Bird Droppings to Corporate Agriculture
The discovery of new lands to exploit, and new energy sources, helped reinforce the notion that human societies can always find a way around limitations upon its growth.
