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I think the Ogallala is an indication that industrial farming cannot work long term. The immense increase in yields from advanced machinery and GMO crops effect
by throwawaysea 5y ago
I think the Ogallala is an indication that industrial farming cannot work long term. The immense increase in yields from advanced machinery and GMO crops effectively means that rich farmlands are basically shipping out vast quantities of water and disrupting the local balance. The underground aquifers don’t have much more left, so we will have to confront this at some point. Maybe that means a new advance in farming technology and reduced consumption, but I also wonder if we just need fewer people and a lot of other problems go away without needing to roll the dice on the possibility of new advancements.
- kickout 5y agoThe problem is we try and grow crops in places like Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma (corn, soybeans) that have no business being grown there. There production could disappear overnight and no one would notice. Problem is what are you replacing the economic activity with? Ideally it would be pasture fed cattle, but again that's 'inefficient' compared to other production tactics. I'd rather people in Nebraska/high Plains use the Ogallala aquifer than California residents.
- CameronNemo 5y agoSomething that Desert really drove home was that the universe doesn't owe you a solution. Just because we back ourselves into a corner does not mean we will be able to innovate our way up and out.