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[miss_thenorth]

http://www.txfb.org/TxAgTalks/post/...-world-for-everyone-but-farmers-Get-real.aspx

A high-tech world for everyone but farmers? Get real.
Category: Agriculture | Commodities | Food | Health Mike Barnett @ 19:13 By Mike Barnett


Am I going nuts?


Okay, dont answer that.


But the food crazies are driving me insane. Seems that every production practice modern agriculture uses is condemned by some group out there who thinks the world would be rosy if we would only go back to the good old days.

I heard Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples the other night say that modern agriculture is as technically advanced as the Silicon Valley. And hes right.

Yet many food crazies long for the days of 40 acres and a mule and human cotton-picking machines. Whats this world coming to?

Todays farmer has to be part computer geek, half techno freak with a good dash of policy wonk just to make it through the work day. Astounding gains in farm productivity have been made with the advance of machinery and tools. Computers and microchips help farmers get the most out of every input. Satellites soaring 12,000 miles over Mother Earth guide the farmer working the field with precise application of pesticides and fertilizers via Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

A chip in a calfs ear can help a rancher monitor that animals growth and productivity. A chip in a dairy cows ear can help the dairyman monitor feed intake and milk production.

Through biotechnology, crops are becoming more drought resistant. Fruits and veggies are receiving improved tolerance to frost. Insect-resistant crops will reduce the need for pesticides. Genetic research could lead the way to higher growth rates, better milk yield and quality, tenderness, disease resistance, heat and cold tolerance, and hundreds of other traits important to livestock producers.

Yet all of this is bad. Why? Because someone with no connection to the food they eatother than sticking it in their mouthsays so.

They watch their anti-agriculture documentaries on their 50 inch flat screens in their air conditioned homes, hop in their gas-guzzling SUVs to take a trip to Whole Foods where theyre faced with astounding array of food and come home, fire up their Netbook or Notebook or I-Phone and label modern food production practices as evil industrial agriculture. Technology drives their lives yet they attempt to create firewalls between farmers and science.

Do these people really long for a simpler way of life? Theres a way for them to achieve it. A hoe, rake, seeds and some backbreaking work could help them reach their goals.

Its enough to drive me crazy.

Technology is not an option for agriculture or consumers. It is the key for safe, affordable food in this country and to feed an ever-growing world population.





Click to view/add comments (42)

 

[pioneergirl]

The problem with his rant is the people he's talking about. No offense meant toward anyone, but the SUV driving yuppies who shop at Whole Foods (I have shopped there on numerous occasions) have no clue about where their food even comes from, what a hoe is, or that an egg comes from a chicken's backside.

He's right, they should go out and work the garden by hand like many of us on SS do. Yes, they should go a day without A/C, or the Hummer, and the daily trips to Starbuck's. But what about those of us who bust our backsides in our gardens everyday to provide for our families? Those of us who get blindsided and our garden destroyed when the neighbor who has 3,000+ acres of industrial feed corn has a crop duster fly over? Or when their corn polenates our heirloom stuff?

He's painting a pretty broad picture, but in all reality, a majority of people in the US and abroad are exactly who he describes. Yes, they should get out and work the ground by hand, I invite them over any day of the week. I'll scrub my laundry on the washboard while I watch them pull weeds in the garden.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

The problem with his rant is the people he's talking about. No offense meant toward anyone, but the SUV driving yuppies who shop at Whole Foods (I have shopped there on numerous occasions) have no clue about where their food even comes from, what a hoe is, or that an egg comes from a chicken's backside.

He's right, they should go out and work the garden by hand like many of us on SS do. Yes, they should go a day without A/C, or the Hummer, and the daily trips to Starbuck's. But what about those of us who bust our backsides in our gardens everyday to provide for our families? Those of us who get blindsided and our garden destroyed when the neighbor who has 3,000+ acres of industrial feed corn has a crop duster fly over? Or when their corn polenates our heirloom stuff?

He's painting a pretty broad picture, but in all reality, a majority of people in the US and abroad are exactly who he describes. Yes, they should get out and work the ground by hand, I invite them over any day of the week. I'll scrub my laundry on the washboard while I watch them pull weeds in the garden.

Exactly! There are all too often folks like this, who speak out against GMOs and pesticide use. They, unfortunately, are vocal and loud. But they still have a disconnect, they don't realize that having their gardener spray their yard is affecting the neighbor's health because of drift.

I also resent being called a food "crazy".

 

[Mackay]

The fact of the matter is that most of the challenges high tech ag. deals with in their high tech chemical way can be dealt with quite well organically.

In our high tech age Organics has developed by leaps and bounds for those so inclined to use it.

Unfortunately high tech farmers have been brainwashed by the chemical industires..

If farms were smaller they would be easier to manage organically and produce more per acre, that has been well proven.

www.angelicorganics.com

this less than 40 acre organic farm supplies 850 families with organic produce.

 

[Wifezilla]

Apparently he missed the article where the nutrition level in our food is plummeting. Or the study about sterility caused by GMO soy.

Yeah, you can grow more. Goody for you. Too bad it doesn't do what food is designed to do in the first place....nourish the human body.

So he can bite me.

 

[~gd]

Exactly! There are all too often folks like this, who speak out against GMOs and pesticide use. They, unfortunately, are vocal and loud. But they still have a disconnect, they don't realize that having their gardener spray their yard is affecting the neighbor's health because of drift.

I also resent being called a food "crazy".

What term do you suggest? I lived on a subsistance farm and it was a looong way from being self sufficient. After being chewed out and warned, I try to keep my true opinions to myself and confine myself to giving help when asked. This may cost me but I really think the difference beetween the Whole Food crowd and the people here is that they have more money.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I would prefer the term "food purist."

I think, unfortunately, that concern over where your food comes from is a bit of a fad right now. I think it is a good thing that there is a heightened awareness, but once this issue becomes passe, I suspect there will be a lot less controversy.

I think the folks here are more hardcore about their food because they prioritize their health and they understand the connection. I'm not so sure that the average suburban type considers their health more important than their image and/or status. So, if money were tighter for them, they may start buying cheaper food rather than forgo the new car.

 

[Icu4dzs]

It appears that there are some very strong opinions about the concept of farming that come from folks with differing levels of farm involvement.
What is true is: a) there is less farm land available in the US because it is being consumed by housing development and city dwellers and McMansions that folks with champagne taste and water pocketbooks have been buying.
b) farming is more difficult than in the past because of the costs of everything. A Farmer has to raise more crops just to be able to make ends meet financially.
c) technology is with us. It won't go away now. The US feeds most of the world. Less land and more costs mean something has to prevent crop losses and more food.
d) Not everything you read or hear from the MSM is even remotely true. Yes, pesticides are dangerous and herbicides are dangerous. I live in an area with an abnormally high cancer rate. Yes, they still have one guy who does aerial spraying. Yes, it is bad for the organic farm next door who may not want that to happen but how do we resolve that conflict?
e) For every argument there are more than one side and more than one solution. Yes, we are killing ourselves with chemicals and there isn't much we can do about it because other folks have "rights" Try legislation to solve it. Politicians take money from folks who want things their way. You have to vote the dishonest folks out of office and then figure out how to stop the farmer from attempting to maximize his production.
f) There are no easy solutions. There are only more problems
g)When someone writes their opinion, it is not necessarily a "rant" simply because it does NOT coincide with your own personal opinion. We are here to share opinion and advice such that it is.
Lets help each other...Time is running out for "life as we know it"
YMMV

 

[pioneergirl]

b) farming is more difficult than in the past because of the costs of everything. A Farmer has to raise more crops just to be able to make ends meet financially.

Really? My FIL has been farming the same ground, 3k + acres for 3 generations. He has a new round of high tech equipment every year. I'm not saying this is every farmer, not by a long shot. But it bothers me when people lump the general 'farmer' populace as being a struggling entity. What you see on TV, or better yet, WHO you see on TV is what they want you to see.

g)When someone writes their opinion, it is not necessarily a "rant" simply because it does NOT coincide with your own personal opinion. We are here to share opinion and advice such that it is.

Well pardon me for saying so, but in my little world, a "rant" is a strong expression of opinion, and to me, this guy is RANTING.

 

[Wifezilla]

Most of the struggles I have seen put farmers out of business had to do more with taxes and farm subsidy issues than it had to do with weather and crop yields. Inheritance taxes have destroyed more farms than drought in my estimation.