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The documentary talks a lot about economics of farming, including the perverse incentives created by government subsidies Regenerative farming is cheaper in th
by chubot 4y ago
The documentary talks a lot about economics of farming, including the perverse incentives created by government subsidies
Regenerative farming is cheaper in the long run because you're not buying fertilizer (they talk about how much that costs), and because soil with plant matter retains water
The yields are higher, and diverse crops mean more potential sources of income
However it probably doesn't produce results in the first year, and it takes more knowledge and skilled labor -- you can't just apply a formula to any piece of land. It takes some local knowledge, which farmers used to have, but can be lost when factory farms come in
- giantg2 4y agoSure, you could grow diverse crops. Some small farms do and then sell it restaurants, sell their "system" or knowledge, etc (and theres still debate about their economic viability). However, that won't apply to all the land. Commodity crops are in demand, so the majority of the land will be used for that. Most farmers wouldn't be interested in diverse crops due to the cost of various equipment, difficulty in marketing, and potential labor needs. Bill Gates is all about the environment and owns tons of farm land. Is he implementing regenerative farming, or just business as usual? I'd be interested to see if he's adopted it, or why he hasn't.
- feet 4y agoThose crops are only in demand because of ridiculous subsidy making them cheap
- giantg2 4y agoI highly doubt that. What else are we going to feed the animals for meat? If we cut back on meat, we would likely see an increase in soy demand. The subsidies might have created the demand, but now that we are in this lifestyle removing the subsidies will not reverse it fully. Edit: why disagree?
- myshpa 4y agoMore than three-quarters (77%) of global soy is fed to livestock for meat and dairy production. https://ourworldindata.org/soy https://ourworldindata.org/soy
- giantg2 4y agoOk... and what replaces that if we just decide not subsidize soy anymore? Under the current conditions, it seems consumption will only drop slightly and people will simply pay more. Just as we saw in the pandemic with China sourcing its soy.
- myshpa 4y agoNo, we should decide to stop subsidizing meat/dairy. Soy production (in moderate quantities) is not harmful to the planet, animal agriculture is.
- feet 4y agoSoy monoculture farming is harmful
- feet 4y agoIs soy the natural prey of cows, pigs, and sheep or do they eat other things if left to their own devices?