Comments LeadByExample has made

  • 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, 8 months ago 23 Responses

  • 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, 8 months ago 23 Responses

  • 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, 8 months ago 21 Responses

  • 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

  • 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, 9 months ago 5 Responses

  • Performance testing

    eldrenkamp makes some good points about quality verification. Blowing insulation in existing walls and getting all the voids is tricky, if this is being done during the heating season, an infrared camera can be used during the insulating process to make sure all spaces are filled. For an infrared camera to work there has to be a temperature differential between the conditioned space and the outdoor temperature, can also be done in summer when the home is air conditioned. Another trick is during the initial blower door test (before weatherization) infrared scan all thermal boundries (building envelope surfaces) and document this for the energy retrofit company to identify exactly the air leakage points and poorly insulated areas. Yet one more method for identifying air leaks is to reverse the blower door, pressurize the house, and use theatrical fog to pinpoint air leakage areas.On Umbra on insulation, again posted 2 years, 9 months ago 5 Responses

  • Do it yourself insulation

    As a builder, this is one area I leave to the pro's, blowing your own insulation is like hanging your own garage door. Yes you can do it yourself but skilled trades people will do the same work in a fraction of the time. The insulation companies buy insulation in large quantities for a lower price than the home handy person will buy it for at the home improvement chains, if you have to rent the blower to boot, there is little money to be saved. A note about professional blown insulation, ask for a certificate (builders statement) for the finished insulation, stating the R-value, type of insulation and thickness, and number of bags used. One positive aspect of blown fiberglass is the light weight so high R-values can be achieved without fear of overloading the ceiling drywall.On Umbra on insulation, again posted 2 years, 9 months ago 5 Responses

  • Texas taking a cue from Minnesota

    This is good news for Texas and clean air. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the Renewable Energy Bill this week which requires MN utilities to get 25% of their electricity from renewable sources (wind, solar, water, biomass) by the year 2025. A bill called the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007 is also in the works that calls for major energy conservation and CO2 reduction.

    Link to Renewable Energy Bill signing
    http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_053112044.htmlOn This is huge posted 2 years, 9 months ago 21 Responses

  • Very energy efficient homes are cost effective

    This is a good article and one can quickly see the gulf between the NAHB and the Living Building Challenge. The large production builders in this country are currently a huge, immovable object and they build the majority of the new homes. The NAHB would have you believe making new homes very energy efficient is cost prohibitive and would price buyers out of the market. Fear of the unknown and business as usual keep big builders from building more efficient homes, case study after case study shows low energy use homes are cost effective. The extra money spent on insulation, infiltration reduction, better windows and high efficiency equipment are offset by much lower heating and cooling bills and actually produce a positive net cash flow. The European Passive House is a very good example of quality built, low energy use housing, for my money, I would follow their example. On LEED Homes, in my opinion, the standards are not high enough for energy performance, the minimum standard for air infiltration is .35 ACH (air changes per hour), this should be less than .1 for any kind of building performance.On Is it really all that rosy? posted 2 years, 9 months ago 1 Response

  • Factory farms and the organic label

    As long as we are expressing outrage, let's not forget about the mega dairies with thousands of cows in confinement, never seeing pasture or the light of day calling themselves organic. The USDA is a great threat to organics and in time will water down the standards so organic products will be indistinguishable from their chemical laden counterparts.On A dairy giant does the right thing posted 2 years, 9 months ago 1 Response

  • Great article, Tom

    One other point about Mexico and corn is the genetic modification of this crop which Mexico did not want. Food as a weapon is alive and well, the massive federal sudsidies to ADM, Cargill, Con Agra and others must end.On How Archer Daniels Midland cashes in on Mexico's tortilla woes posted 2 years, 9 months ago 6 Responses

  • Seven oil leaks speak volumes

    Sounds like you did the right thing to me, a car leaking oil all over the place is not good. I am also dependent on oil but I am driving only when needed and try to plan trips covering multiple stops.On A sad realization posted 2 years, 9 months ago 11 Responses

  • How the USDA spends taxpayer's money

    The bigger point is where are the tax dollars going, not for informing the public on sustainable agricultural methods, but the continuation of the chemical, factory farm myth.On And what you can do about it posted 2 years, 9 months ago 55 Responses

  • Some like it hot

    The smart money is on conservation and energy efficient technologies, global warming aside, what do we do when the oil runs out? The U.S could easily reduce CO2 emissions by 1/2 and never miss a beat, gluttonous use of energy may be could for the energy providers bottom line, but everything else suffers.On Bush administration put on the defensive over climate change posted 2 years, 9 months ago 6 Responses

  • It's a start

    I quit watching This Old House when Bob Vila left. Too many of the projects featured in recent years were too large and expensive and really went away from the original concept of the show. This Green House looks to be a greatly needed program on what we can do with existing homes to bring them up to (hopefully) a high level of energy efficiency. So much can be done to the current housing stock to make it more energy efficient and also much more comfortable to live in.On This Old House does a green renovation in Austin posted 2 years, 9 months ago 4 Responses

  • Saved by the prairie

    I believe the native grass harvest for fuel puposes (ethanol, butanol) could take place after the grasses have reached dormancy (Sept. in MN). At this point all of the sequestration has taken place and the biomass is there to be used. A rotation for soil fertility purposes is certainly in order, but I think you could harvest every 2 or 3 years and maintain a dynamic soil. Native grasses have a very high energy content, equal to that of hardwood per pound. The grass could be harvested in the fall, pelletized, and burned in capable furnaces.On Be afraid posted 2 years, 10 months ago 14 Responses

  • Carbon Sequestration

    The potential of the tallgrass prairie to sequester carbon is real and should be a frontline topic. See Dr. David Tilman's "Carbon Negative Biofuels"
    http://agobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=96611 On Be afraid posted 2 years, 10 months ago 14 Responses

  • What You Can Do

    The energy-efficient home link takes one to LEED.
    LEED homes in my opinion are not energy efficient because the air infiltration standards are not nearly stringent enough. The 3 levels of air infiltration are .35 ach (air changes per hour).25 ach and .15 ach. At .35 ach, a 3.000 sf
    home in Minneapolis will have a heat loss due to air infiltration of a whopping 31,486,106 btu's annually. Even at .15 ach the loss is 13,494,045 btu's, not near airtight enough to be called energy efficient. These high levels of air infitration will degrade insulation performance and will make for an arid winter indoor environment. If it is not energy efficient is is not green, don't care what it's made from, better to model after the European Passive House.On You, yes you, can act to fight climate change posted 2 years, 10 months ago 7 Responses