Because trees and human crops use the soil very differently. (And trees just doing their own thing use soils far differently to trees being grown for a silvicul

Because trees and human crops use the soil very differently. (And trees just doing their own thing use soils far differently to trees being grown for a silvicultural enterprise, for obvious reasons, we want more timber faster) Here's a very obvious example, the Amazon, there's reasons that slash and burn farmers there have to keep cutting down more forest, it's called "soil exhaustion". [0] Another example from an areas I can speak more soundly on, look at the forest in this photo[1], lots of trees, right? Some of them are 100m high. But they're growing on a podzol[2]. Good luck growing crops in that without massive amounts of uneconomic inputs. You'd need huge amounts of lime to reduce the acidity, huge amounts of organic material to increase fertility, never mind the question of managing water retention - too much is bad, too little is bad. Oh, and of course you might need to add additional minerals like selenium or cobalt. [3] Soil science is a separate discipline for a reason. It's complicated as hell. [0]: https://www.dw.com/en/the-amazon-nutrient-rich-rainforests-on-useless-soils/a-50139632 https://www.dw.com/en/the-amazon-nutrient-rich-rainforests-o... [1]: https://hikingscenery.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/P1050707-1024x362.jpg https://hikingscenery.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/P105070... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podzol#Characteristics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podzol#Characteristics [3]: https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/14187/bush-sickness https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/14187/bush-sickness So sure, once you've cut down all the trees, and then spent millions remedying water retention/drainage issues of soil structure, millions adding organic material, millions changing pH, and millions remedying any mineral deficiencies, sure, you can grow food there. Although, have you thought about erosion? And why removing trees can render soils far more prone to erosion?