Give the earth a break!

The tide is turning, everywhere you look. Today the deadline passed for the 2006 Carbon Credit Program being promoted by the National Farmers Union, and by the look of the "Due to the high number of inquiries about the program, it has been difficult to answer all questions in a timely manner" message on their site, we could guess they've had a lot of interest. Farmers are being invited to check back soon for next year's intake.

Farmers are, with the above program, getting the opportunity to earn money from being more sustainable by utilising 'no-till crop production systems'. What does this mean, you ask? If you can bear with me for a couple of paragraphs, you'll get a quick overview.

Soil health, or a 'soil in good heart', comes from having a high content of 'humus', the final result of decaying organic matter - the natural fertility that enables soil life (micro-organisms) to feed plant roots a slow-release 'balanced diet', as opposed to rapidly-soluble man-made chemical fertilisers. Since the use of the plough, then the tractor, and especially since WWII military chemical companies found a post-war use for their chemicals (pesticides, then fertilisers), natural soil and plant health has been in serious decline - thereby resulting in even more fertilisers being applied to boost productivity, and the resulting poor health of plants subsequently encouraging the use of more pesticides.

In pre-industrial times humus depletion was often slow, or even static. Agricultural practices in some parts of the world were so balanced that people managed to live from the same plot of land for thousands of years (notably places like Japan and Korea). These were 'closed systems', in that outside inputs (fertilisers, soil additions) were nil or limited. The natural cycling of decay and the accumulated wisdom of sound management practices kept these soils fertile.

Chemicals, and the constant over-aeration of the soil from mechanised ploughing and tilling has 'burnt up' the humus content of the soil, essentially making many farms an almost 'sterile' environment (i.e. devoid of soil life). The rich black soils that were commonplace in America when the Mayflower landed, are now largely a thing of the past. Besides issues of plant and human health, water contamination and loss, soil compaction, erosion and desertification - this has also meant the carbon absorption ability of the soil has decreased significantly. Great quantities of CO2 that should be stored in the humus content of healthy soils have been systematically released into the atmosphere.

With that background, it's encouraging to see farmers being given financial incentives to get (at least a little) closer to more sustainable methods of farming.

In other news - some farmers have taken another tack, that of growing crops for Biodiesel, a plant-based alternative for running trucks, SUV's, etc. Biofuel initiatives have had a lot of propulsion over the last few years as the U.S. tries to reduce it's reliance on oil imports. However, there's also a great concern that, in addition to feeding animals (to feed us), the land is now being pressed into additional service - feeding the nation's vehicles as well!

It's looking unlikely Biodiesel can make that much of a dent in U.S. fuel bill, and, despite being promoted by many apparently 'Green' organisations, there are very real fears the rapid increase in biofuel development is only making our global predicament worse. For the moment, however, biodiesel manufacturing plants are growing like mushrooms, and not just in the U.S.

Further reading on Biofuel: Monbiot.com

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