4 ms·

Not the person you’re replying to, but China over literally Millenia have effectively terraformed mountains into channels and channels of rice paddies for the c

Not the person you’re replying to, but China over literally Millenia have effectively terraformed mountains into channels and channels of rice paddies for the cultivation of rice - areas that westerners would not typically consider farmland. Of course you can also plant rice on flat fields (and China does as well), but this does skew the comparative ratios of acres of land use : people fed.

defrost 3y ago
I'm a westerner in agriculture (Australian, northern territory cattle stations -> mining - Geophysics -> large acre grains) and I consider that to be farmland. Maybe you're thinking of some specific subset of urban western non agricultural people. Of course in western culture the "typical" westerner lives in an urban environment so perhaps that explains the disconnect.
- somenameforme 3y ago
  I expect people think I'm somehow 'tricking' them with terminology with China's farmland figures. Many seem to think that you need multiple acres per person for basic sustainability, so there must be some catch. Nope, farmland is just any land where farming (or ranching) is happening. It's not fixed, nor does it exclude certain types of farm/ranchland.
- SgtBastard 3y ago
  Friend, I’m Aussie as well and listing mining and geophysics as having anything to agriculture weakens your appeal to authority, making the subsequent snark even less appropriate for HN. Do better.
  - defrost 3y ago
    "Friend" my actual life experience is no appeal to authority, it's two decades around cattle and stations, two decades travelling the world writing GIS code for exploration geophysics across more than half the existing countries of the globe and another two decades around agriculture. Everybody I've met in 60+ years considers the land that rice farmers farm rice on to be farmland. Perhaps you might do better policing others less and working more on making a point.
    - SgtBastard 3y ago
      Several cogent points have been made about why China might have unexpectedly high agriculture output per acre used to a lay person - all of which you seem to wish to curmudgeonly argue against strawmen variants of.

defrost 3y ago

I'm a westerner in agriculture (Australian, northern territory cattle stations -> mining - Geophysics -> large acre grains) and I consider that to be farmland. Maybe you're thinking of some specific subset of urban western non agricultural people. Of course in western culture the "typical" westerner lives in an urban environment so perhaps that explains the disconnect.

somenameforme 3y ago
I expect people think I'm somehow 'tricking' them with terminology with China's farmland figures. Many seem to think that you need multiple acres per person for basic sustainability, so there must be some catch. Nope, farmland is just any land where farming (or ranching) is happening. It's not fixed, nor does it exclude certain types of farm/ranchland.
SgtBastard 3y ago
Friend, I’m Aussie as well and listing mining and geophysics as having anything to agriculture weakens your appeal to authority, making the subsequent snark even less appropriate for HN. Do better.
- defrost 3y ago
  "Friend" my actual life experience is no appeal to authority, it's two decades around cattle and stations, two decades travelling the world writing GIS code for exploration geophysics across more than half the existing countries of the globe and another two decades around agriculture. Everybody I've met in 60+ years considers the land that rice farmers farm rice on to be farmland. Perhaps you might do better policing others less and working more on making a point.
  - SgtBastard 3y ago
    Several cogent points have been made about why China might have unexpectedly high agriculture output per acre used to a lay person - all of which you seem to wish to curmudgeonly argue against strawmen variants of.