LeadByExample’s Recent Comments

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  Life on the farm

  What can I hope to learn from the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" that I have not learned in 53 years of living, working, and being around our family farm. My farm land is organically managed and I receive no subsidies, but the 9.4 billion dollars in subsidies you mention in 2005 is $9,400.00 per farmer at 1 million farmers. Farmers survive on subsidies, the vision many city folk have is all farmers are rich, with a new Caddy in the barn, that's rubbish. Many, many farmers have a 2nd job off the farm to pay the bills, you Ron Steenblik, need to spend some time in the country and less time reading books, to provide an accurate assessment of life on the farm.On Unintended or not, the consequences were predictable posted 2 years, 7 months ago 23 Responses

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  Ethanol; A feel good program

  I'm with you Tom, ethanol from corn is waste of time and energy. Higher CAFE standards, energy conservation programs of all stripes would be a better expenditure of taxpayer funds, not ADM ethanol subsidies. One point I would like to make is the current cost of grain, let's take corn. I remember corn being $2.50 per bushel in 1975, adjusting for inflation, $4.00 corn is not out of line. Farm commodities in general have really not kept up with inflation, when you factor in the increase in input costs, fuel, fertilizer, machinery and the like, the average farmer works very hard for very little.On Unintended or not, the consequences were predictable posted 2 years, 7 months ago 23 Responses

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  Organic Imports

  I have to ask the question, just how organic are the products being imported from China, Mexico and other countries, especially imported grains. How rigorous is the organic inspection process in China? The treading water of organic production in the U.S. seems to coincide with the USDA becoming involved, many producers dropped organic certification at this time. The constant bombardment of the organic standards by  giant "organic" agri-business could likely spell doom, large organic dairies resisting grazing requirements is but one example.On If organic food is so popular, why are so few farms transitioning their land? posted 2 years, 7 months ago 21 Responses

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  Flooding from industrial agriculture

  This is a great article, one other point about the use of synthetic fertilizers vs natural soil fertility is the loss of organic matter in the soil, normally referred to as a percentage of organic matter. The higher the organic matter in the soil, the greater the water holding capacity, like a sponge. Organically managed land will absorb a large rainfall, and store the moisture for future use, while industrial farmed land will be underwater, with runoff, loss of topsoil, and flooding the result.On My address to the Southern Appalachian Youth on Food conference posted 2 years, 8 months ago 4 Responses

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  Life in the soil

  Other fine works on soil fertility are the "Albrecht Papers" by William A. Albrecht, Ph.D. and Eco-Farm by Charles Walters and C.J. Fenzau available at http://www.acresusa.comOn Reviving a much-cited, little-read sustainable-ag masterpiece posted 2 years, 8 months ago 5 Responses