Good read about food production

[hobbyfrmr]

I found this interesting. One problem here would be winter weather, otherwise its is pretty cool.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/09/holland-agriculture-sustainable-farming/

[AlbertaFarmer5]

thanks for the link. Amazing what can be done and how. And how one societies priorities are so far removed from another.

Where have I heard this before?:

The challenge? Put in bluntly apocalyptic terms, he says, the planet must produce “more food in the next four decades than all farmers in history have harvested over the past 8,000 years.”

That’s because by 2050, the Earth will be home to as many as 10 billion people, up from today’s 7.5 billion. If massive increases in agricultural yield are not achieved, matched by massive decreases in the use of water and fossil fuels, a billion or more people may face starvation. Hunger could be the 21st century’s most urgent problem...

The consumers of our products certainly don't seem to think the apocalypse in food production and mass starvation are imminent.

[sumdumguy]

Decrease in water and fossil fuels? Doesn't water cycle, we use it, it evaporates and falls back as rain, snow etc. and as for fossil fuels, That is debateable too. Maybe there will be need for food, but how far from the market-I believe that is the issue. The value decreases the farther we have to ship it so how will we, the Canadian producer, deal with low prices?

[hobbyfrmr]

thanks for the link. Amazing what can be done and how. And how one societies priorities are so far removed from another.

Where have I heard this before?:

The challenge? Put in bluntly apocalyptic terms, he says, the planet must produce “more food in the next four decades than all farmers in history have harvested over the past 8,000 years.”

That’s because by 2050, the Earth will be home to as many as 10 billion people, up from today’s 7.5 billion. If massive increases in agricultural yield are not achieved, matched by massive decreases in the use of water and fossil fuels, a billion or more people may face starvation. Hunger could be the 21st century’s most urgent problem...

The consumers of our products certainly don't seem to think the apocalypse in food production and mass starvation are imminent.

Living on a vast prairie and large scale farming/exporters it is hard to see other options. Being exporters for low prices does not fit your perception of how society will starve. I see it as opposite, we waste tones of food, corrupt governments steal and squander food and in North America we have so much food some people are allergic to it! I was impressed with the research work to maximize productivity using less water , fertilizer and pesticides. I do think eventually society will have to pay more but I don’t know when, if ever, we will experience it.

[Horse]

There is a interesting read in the Oct country guide, on the biggest farm in Europe 145000 acresbut there is less than 1% over 250 acres, many are subsisting farming, but the potential is there to increase production dramatically.

[grassfarmer]

Decrease in water and fossil fuels? Doesn't water cycle, we use it, it evaporates and falls back as rain, snow etc.....

It does, but it doesn't necessarily fall back where it is being most needed. So irrigated crop land in California that is depleting aquifers won't have them replenished if they get an extra foot of rain in monsoon season in south east Asia.