<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for How commodity grain farmers have sown the seeds of their demise]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Ken Johnson http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-my-ride-in-a-combine/ Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:58:08 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-my-ride-in-a-combine/1 Do the math ...

"... 300 times more corn on the same amount of land ..." (??)

]]> Do the math ...

"... 300 times more corn on the same amount of land ..." (??)

]]> Comment #2 by Pangolin http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-my-ride-in-a-combine/ Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:22:02 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/dispatches-from-the-fields-my-ride-in-a-combine/2 Futile cycling again

For a human system to continue it must be sustainable in both the local ecology and the overall ecology. A system that pulls 300 times the product off the land also pulls 300 times the minerals and organic matter off. Simply in terms of lost mineral ash this is a dead end road.

Once you add to this the energy cost of building, fueling and maintaining the combines and other farm machinery as well as tractors, plows, drills, harrows, sprayers and pumps and the system is dead.

Like a guy who's had a dose of polonium stirred into his tea with his sugar is dead. The corpse may walk around for a while but it must fall.

Put the Carbon Back

]]> Futile cycling again

For a human system to continue it must be sustainable in both the local ecology and the overall ecology. A system that pulls 300 times the product off the land also pulls 300 times the minerals and organic matter off. Simply in terms of lost mineral ash this is a dead end road.

Once you add to this the energy cost of building, fueling and maintaining the combines and other farm machinery as well as tractors, plows, drills, harrows, sprayers and pumps and the system is dead.

Like a guy who's had a dose of polonium stirred into his tea with his sugar is dead. The corpse may walk around for a while but it must fall.

Put the Carbon Back

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