Topsoil loss proceeds apace

January 19, 2022

According to a new study, about 35% of the best topsoil in the U.S. Corn Belt is gone. The mechanization of plowing began in the mid-1900s. While this allowed farmers to work larger areas of land, it has resulted in some negative effects on soil health. Tillage breaks up the soil and unlocks nutrients, but […]

by Dan Burns

Ethanol fuel should just be killed dead

December 16, 2021

This article is a really good look at where this issue is currently at. If you’ve pumped gas at a U.S. service station over the past decade, you’ve put biofuel in your tank. Thanks to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, almost all gasoline sold nationwide is required to contain 10% ethanol – a […]

by Dan Burns

Pesticides are killing the soil, and Big Ag has no problem with that

October 27, 2021

Recent studies indicate that beneficial organisms in soil are being annihilated. “What this study really drives home is that pesticide use is incompatible with healthy ecosystems, across organisms, pesticide classes, and a whole set of different health outcomes, including death,” said Kendra Klein, senior scientist at Friends of the Earth and co-author of the study. […]

by Dan Burns

What kind of year will Minnesota’s farmers have?

May 26, 2021

Heck if I know. For that matter, heck if anyone knows. Some data points (I’m focusing here on Minnesota’s major crops, corn and soybeans, and also meat and dairy): – Corn and soybean prices have spiked. Experts in the soybean market like Davis attribute high corn and soybean prices to poor weather conditions in South […]

by Dan Burns

Is Big Ag really trying to push traditional farmers under?

December 5, 2019

First, let’s assess the situation as it is now. – Most farms in the U.S. are still, technically anyway, traditional, family farms. Though the farmers’ kids, and even grandkids, are very often far from kids, age-wise, any longer. Economically, though, what those farmers do is determined by Big Ag and Big Ag-friendly (to say the […]

by Dan Burns