Extinction, the facts BBC.

[delilah]

Listened to part of Farming Today this morning. Essence of the report was that the world soils have less than 100 harvests left in them, and that I assume will be on a sliding scale. All a bit depressing.

They also said that we can build soil.
Which is easier when a given region of farmland (it doesn't have to be one farm) has a more diverse mix of enterprises.
Which will be encouraged by a return to a more localized supply chain, demanding a wider range of local output.

 

[kiwi pom]

Isnt much of the problem in the manufacturing, simply using it less or not at all and making it last longer is the way.
Didn't pollution go down during lockdown, was this because everyone rushed out of
To buy an EV and all the cows stopped burping or was it because everyone fecking well stayed home,
I won't be lectured to by some fecker that has half a dozen kids and flies off on half a dozen holidays every year as well as god knows how many car miles

There's a woman on a science podcast I listen to who's always banging on about how we're not doing enough to save the planet. She carries a metal drinking straw round with her so she doesn't need a plastic one and has donated her body to science when she dies but is concerned (I'm not making this up) about the carbon issue because they have to cremate the bits when they're done.

She's a "science communicator" as well as constantly doing university courses.
Spends every second week on a plane and has been pretty much everywhere, always bragging about her visits to Africa. She even managed a month long trip from LA to Scotland recently with the virus raging. Even though she criticises governments for their lack of action over Covid.

Call her out on it and she just cant see the hypocrisy

 

[egbert]

Listened to part of Farming Today this morning. Essence of the report was that the world soils have less than 100 harvests left in them, and that I assume will be on a sliding scale. All a bit depressing.

yeah, but they've been saying that for years now.
sometimes it's only 60, or 80, or whatever.

it's certainly true that too many people place little value on soil, and even those of us who do often treat it less well than we should.
but it isn't just going to disappear in 99 years times.

I love to quote, when the subject comes up, the mass of vegetation that sprouts in my roof gutters if I haven't cleaned them, or the handful of delicious raspberries I pick from a plant growing out of the crack in the concrete of an old water tank.

 

[The Agrarian]

I watched it last night. Thought the summary was a disgrace. They decided that we needed to reduce the consumption of dairy, despite it being the first time I heard dairy mentioned in the programme. And no mention of grass fed local dairy and beef. Terribly misleading.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

I watched it last night. Thought the summary was a disgrace. They decided that we needed to reduce the consumption of dairy, despite it being the first time I heard dairy mentioned in the programme. And no mention of grass fed local dairy and beef. Terribly misleading.

We'll dairy is usually associated with cattle...

Really it's our job as individuals, not just farmers to improve what we do and get the message across as to what we are doing right. So that means less of all the bad stuff which probably means less food. Not our problem as we'll be amongst the last to starve probably.

Lumping us in with the rainforest destruction type of farming isn't helpful but also we need to distance ourselves from that big time; and our human, tidy, monoculturistic tendancies. We, us, me, you, all of us, we can all improve something somewhere.

 

[Lowland1]

We just did a carbon audit on our tenderstem broccoli. Our farming methods are very sustainable and we produce our crop with a very low carbon input. But then it gets put on a plane and flown halfway around the world. Now if i stop growing it to help the planet someone else will grow it here instead of me so until my customers say their customers don’t want it i will keep growing it. However when that day comes i will just have to grow something else.

 

[The Agrarian]

We can. I agree. But should have mentioned that the soya fed to cattle is most definitely misleading to the public. Full fat soya is not routinely fed to dairy or beef cattle. The high oil content messes with fibre digestion. The biproduct from the soya oil industry is either fed to livestock, or burnt. I know which one seems best.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

This is a big part of the problem that Delilah is railing against. Human nature. Don't get me wrong, I'd love us to go back to localism and massively reducing the power of the the supermarkets, and also the massive food manufacturers that are gearing up to sell us even more crap that will damage our health rather than improving it. But humans are becoming ever lazier and luuurve going to do their food shopping in one go. How that problem is solved I've no idea.

Stop giving them the options.

If people quit growing beef by nailing their feet to the floor and pouring protein down their necks, then shoppers won't have the option of buying speedy beef...?

Bang goes the stats on the supposed impact of beef production and then consumers have a clear distinctive reason for buying beef that ate pasture instead of byproducts. They really need that clarity.

Who's to say that beef that soya from there is better or worse than barley from there?
That isn't clear, and the grommets at the BBC have a whack, and take another bite

People take hormones and antibiotics and clean with chorine so they aren't overly worried about it being used in meat production. They travel around so food miles don't really matter either.

Cries of "they're cheating, over there" really translates to "we're losing the game"

What seems to matter more and more is that these "sentient beings" we're eating, just ate what they evolved to eat. That's how to win the games

 

[Cowgirl]

This is a big part of the problem that Delilah is railing against. Human nature. Don't get me wrong, I'd love us to go back to localism and massively reducing the power of the the supermarkets, and also the massive food manufacturers that are gearing up to sell us even more crap that will damage our health rather than improving it. But humans are becoming ever lazier and luuurve going to do their food shopping in one go. How that problem is solved I've no idea.

Actually COVID may do it for us. I haven’t been to a big supermarket since February and have been having fish, veg, fruit, wine, beer and meat delivered from local suppliers. I’ve used the little village shop for flour etc and done my own baking. I know I’m not the only one?

 

[jondear]

It depends on how you farm. If I go out early on a damp morning I will see 100 acres of cobwebs across grass fields.

It's the time of year for spiders on fields !

 

[jondear]

What happens if you impregnate the Mother-in-law but kill the wife?

Probably sick in the head!

 

[DaveGrohl]

Listened to part of Farming Today this morning. Essence of the report was that the world soils have less than 100 harvests left in them, and that I assume will be on a sliding scale. All a bit depressing.

I thought it was 50/60 years? Things are improving then? Or it's just a wild stab in the dark at a number, any number? And then we have the vegan nutters who'd destroy soils faster.....

 

[DaveGrohl]

Stop giving them the options.

If people quit growing beef by nailing their feet to the floor and pouring protein down their necks, then shoppers won't have the option of buying speedy beef...?

Bang goes the stats on the supposed impact of beef production and then consumers have a clear distinctive reason for buying beef that ate pasture instead of byproducts. They really need that clarity.

Who's to say that beef that soya from there is better or worse than barley from there?
That isn't clear, and the grommets at the BBC have a whack, and take another bite

People take hormones and antibiotics and clean with chorine so they aren't overly worried about it being used in meat production. They travel around so food miles don't really matter either.

Cries of "they're cheating, over there" really translates to "we're losing the game"

What seems to matter more and more is that these "sentient beings" we're eating, just ate what they evolved to eat. That's how to win the games

Are you serious about that point? Things must be quite different in NZ. This country's full of people who will do whatever but then are horrified by others doing no different.

 

[Henarar]

There's a common thread here which is that it's all somebody else's fault.

yep spot on, with some its do as I say not as I do

 

[Henarar]

Sadly that comes across with a fair amount of resentment, hostility and jealousy there.

Do you not buy into the equation that we are all guilty then.. Or is it just the rich, as I thought we all actively play a part to the outcome here?

hostility yes I am not about to listen to prats that talk the talk then do whatever they like cos they can bloody well afford to, feck them, if you want to listen to them you carry on
the rich seem to want to carry or as per normal and make the rest pay for it, nart new there then

 

[Ukjay]

hostility yes I am not about to listen to prats that talk the talk then do whatever they like cos they can bloody well afford to, feck them, if you want to listen to them you carry on
the rich seem to want to carry or as per normal and make the rest pay for it, nart new there then

I get what you are saying Henarar, I do; however - we are all guilty indirectly via our own purchasing options, our lifestyles, what we sign up to or ignoring the change, our viewing habits, our internet use, our voting option and our inabilities as humans to stand up for what we feel is right, as a collective force.
You may think you are not impacting things - but if we look close at what we buy for example, we will probaby see we are contributing.
Youth are brainwashed via TV - thinking that life is easy and everything is lined with gold etc, and they can lounge about drinking Champagne all day long without actually having earned anything.

Rich Man, Poor Man, are we not all guilty of ruining things... Personally I feel we are.. albeit there are some are able to afford additional luxuries on the other side we simply couldnt even rationalise. We fear the unknown or having to stand against Goliath as individuals - and that is how they win every single time.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

We just did a carbon audit on our tenderstem broccoli. Our farming methods are very sustainable and we produce our crop with a very low carbon input. But then it gets put on a plane and flown halfway around the world. Now if i stop growing it to help the planet someone else will grow it here instead of me so until my customers say their customers don’t want it i will keep growing it. However when that day comes i will just have to grow something else.

The question is do you accept that flying out of season veg thousands of miles, is bad for the environment? If it is and you are doing it, then surely you are contributing to the problem?

Don't get me wrong, I buy and use N fert and agrochemical inputs, also bad. As I say, we are all doing it and our customers and suppliers are just as guilty.

 

[Lowland1]

The question is do you accept that flying out of season veg thousands of miles, is bad for the environment? If it is and you are doing it, then surely you are contributing to the problem?

Don't get me wrong, I buy and use N fert and agrochemical inputs, also bad. As I say, we are all doing it and our customers and suppliers are just as guilty.

Our produce takes a ride on tourist planes. So if people come here on holiday our produce subsidises holidays and vice versa. Obviously it’s not environmentally friendly but it creates jobs and brings money into a very poor country so there is a trade off. As i stated when the market says no we will have to change but growing broccoli means 500 families get an income growing maize means probably 5 families get an income and 495 families start thinking about crossing the channel for a better life.

 

[Henarar]

I get what you are saying Henarar, I do; however - we are all guilty indirectly via our own purchasing options, our lifestyles, what we sign up to or ignoring the change, our viewing habits, our internet use, our voting option and our inabilities as humans to stand up for what we feel is right, as a collective force.
You may think you are not impacting things - but if we look close at what we buy for example, we will probaby see we are contributing.
Youth are brainwashed via TV - thinking that life is easy and everything is lined with gold etc, and they can lounge about drinking Champagne all day long without actually having earned anything.

Rich Man, Poor Man, are we not all guilty of ruining things... Personally I feel we are.. albeit there are some are able to afford additional luxuries on the other side we simply couldnt even rationalise. We fear the unknown or having to stand against Goliath as individuals - and that is how they win every single time.

Oh I know that what I do makes an impact and I don't think I have said any different

 

[Clive]

perhaps there is no bitterness, perhaps he just thinks you should stay home more, wouldn't that be better still for the environment
see what WD has to say
seems to be the rich that can afford that sort of thing and the virtue signalling that goes with it looking down on the poor that can't
Do you think you will be flying off on a ski trip or two next year or are you going to give it a miss again this time for the sake of the planet ?

I've been nowhere for a while, like most of us a forced situation. I'm not going to stop travelling when I can again, there is a lot of this planet I want to see still and take my children to whilst still able. As a farmer Im in a great position to try and offset that however and there is a business opportunity here surely to offer that to others ? Rather than denying there is an issue we should all be busy planning how we are going to make money solving that problem ................ this is the BIGGEST opportunity framers have ever been handed on a plate yet we all sit here saying its a load of rubbish and exaggeration by the BBC

I get you point that the solutions (like fancy EV's etc) are more accessible if you can afford them but why does that make it a problem when people that can afford do make the changes ? all technology starts somewhere and prices fall with adoption ....... once upon a time the fossil fuel cars we all drive were only available to the wealthy, within a decade I bet we are all driving them !