Hat tip to Hal Bauer
Posts Tagged ‘Agriculture’
Our American food
October 31, 2015Why are small farmers more productive?
April 13, 2015A study by an organization called GRAIN concludes that, although small farmers produce more than half the world’s food, they own only a quarter of the world’s land, and that their share is shrinking.
I think the same principle is at work here, to a lesser extent, as was the case in the USSR and China under Stalin and Mao, when forced collective farming resulted in starvation.
On small farms, owners are the same as managers, and, even if they have hired hands, they are not separate from the workers. Naturally they will work harder, pay closer attention and exercise more independent judgment than if they were employees of a big corporation or a government.
Why, then, are large farming operations crowding out the small independent farmers? My guess is that it is because they have economies of scale that lower operating costs per acre, more bargaining power in dealing with lenders, suppliers and food buyers, and, last but far from least, more influence with governments.
LINK
GRAIN – hungry for land: small farmers feed the world with less than a quarter of all farmland.
Cannabis is the world’s most profitable crop
March 28, 2015Source: Information Is Beautiful
Who will own the Ukrainian breadbasket?
May 19, 2014The rich black soil of Ukraine is the nation’s greatest asset. The soil made Ukraine the breadbasket of Europe and Russia in an earlier era, and while nowadays Europeans import wheat from North America, the Ukrainian land is still a coveted prize.
Investment in farmland by wealthy Ukrainians has tripled in the past five years, and the previous Ukrainian government discussed allowing foreigners to purchase Ukraine land.
There was even talk that the Chinese would lease an area larger than Massachusetts for 50 years. I put this under the heading of “interesting if true.” The fact that something is discussed doesn’t mean it will happen. But Chinese have been buying up large amounts of farmland in Africa and Australia, so there is no reason why they wouldn’t be interested in Ukraine.
The conflict with Russia has disrupted both Ukrainian grain exports and the Ukrainian harvest, but this is temporary. Analysts seek a great potential in Ukraine as a breadbasket, not for Europe and Russia, but for the rising middle class of Asia.
Who will own the breadbasket? Ukraine has accepted a rescue package for the International Monetary Fund, which typically demands that countries open up their resources to foreign investment. Presumably, in the current state of affairs, this would not include Russian investment.
The struggle in Ukraine is not only a conflict over language, ethnicity and political ideology; it is a struggle for control of resources.
Why America needs its farmers
October 2, 2013Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farms in Virginia, is a famous organic farmer. Also smart—he puts his chicken coops on wheels so that he can have fertilizer wherever on his farm he wants.
Back in August, he heard a talk by Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack said that in 2012, the number of American farmers declined. The percentage of Americans who are farmers have been declining for some time, but 2012 was the first year that the actual number of farmers declined.
Vilsack said American needs its farmers, and the reason he gave surprised Salatin, and surprised me, too, although maybe it won’t surprise you.
What could be the most important contribution that increasing farmers could offer to the nation? Better food? Better soil development? Better care for animals? Better care for plants?
Here’s his answer: although rural America only has 16 percent of the population, it gives 40 percent of the personnel to the military. Say what? You mean when it’s all said and done, at the end of the day, the bottom line—you know all the cliches—the whole reason for increasing farms is to provide cannon fodder for American imperial might. He said rural kids grow up with a sense of wanting to give something back, and if we lose that value system, we’ll lose our military might.
So folks, it all boils down to American military muscle. It’s not about food, healing the land, stewarding precious soil and resources; it’s all about making sure we keep a steady stream of youngsters going into the military.
Click on A Letter from Joel Salatin to read his full account of his encounter with Vilsack.
Click on Polyface Inc. for Salatin’s Polyface farm web page.
Click on Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farming Wisdom for more.
Hat tip to corrente for the link.
Let’s war on the enemy within: Feral hogs
May 2, 2013For more than a decade, the federal government has been handling out military equipment to local governments while expanding the budget and capabilities of the Department of Homeland Security. It is time to use this equipment and capability on a dangerous enemy within: Feral hogs.
You think I’m kidding?
The feral hog population of the United States numbers in the millions. Nobody knows how many there are. One source says there are 5 million in the USA, another that there are 2.5 million in Texas alone. All agree that their numbers are increasing rapidly and that they are spreading to all states of the Union.
Feral hogs destroy an estimated $1.5 billion worth of livestock and crops every year. They kill game animals and destroy the natural habitat—the latter by rooting up trees, shrubs and plants until nothing is left but a wasteland. They carry diseases and parasites than can spread to people and livestock.
They breed frequently and have large litters. Game experts say it is necessary to kill 60 to 70 percent of the wild hog population every year just to keep the population stable.
On a visit to San Antonio, I met a man who makes a living hunting feral hogs. He said they typically weigh hundreds of pounds, and he has seen tracks of a hog that must have weighed 1,000.
The feral hog population originated with the first Spanish settlers of the Southwest, who brought herds of pigs with them to assure a secure meat supply. U.S. pioneers in the South and Southwest would typically let their hogs roam free, and hunt and kill them when they needed meat to eat. Natural selection made the surviving wild hog population more intelligent and adaptable.
The turning point came when sportsmen imported wild boars as game animals. Wild boars are ferocious, intelligent and hard to kill. They have thick skulls and thick hides, and can be killed only by a well-aimed, high-caliber bullet hitting a vital organ. A wounded wild boar is one of the most dangerous creatures on earth. And they have no natural predators, at least not in North America.
Some wild boars escaped into the wild and inter-bred with the existing feral hog population. The result was a super-hog, like something out of a Michael Crichton novel. When I read about these creatures and their adaptability and ability to learn, I give thanks that they don’t have opposable thumbs.
Feral hogs can’t be controlled by ordinary hunting methods. We need to mobilize our war technology—helicopter gunships, infrared sensors, killer drones, signature strikes. We also could use the help of people who have stockpiled high-caliber, military-type weapons. They could make a good contribution by organizing into well-ordered militias and fighting an undisputed enemy within.
Feral hogs are gaining a foothold in New York state, but they’re not yet a noticeable problem here in the Rochester area. We have deer, which have lost their fear of humankind, wandering into the suburbs and sometimes into the city, which is a big nuisance. A farmer friend of mine is troubled by coyotes, which have migrated from west to east in North America. But as yet, no feral hogs.
The feral hog situation is much worse in some parts of Europe. Wild boars wander into urban areas in Germany and have been known to attack people. Some of them are radioactive, a lingering result of the Chernobyl disaster, although all that really means in practice is that their meat is not safe to eat.