Switch to organic farming causes chaos in Sri Lanka

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Because many organic farmers try to farm using 'conventional' practices (monocultures, stale seedbeds, no livestock etc) and so use fossil fuels and steel to achieve what 'conventional farmers' achieve through the spray can
farming organically does not necessarily mean regeneratively and being regenerative is the important thing I think
 

Warnesworth

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Chipping Norton
If you're a traditional mixed farmer you can do both - milk cows & grow arable crops.

The new trendy word for it is regenerative, but if you've always been a good mixed farmer you don't need to "re-gen"
That is almost right except most people seem to ignore the first principle of Conservation (or regen) Ag which is minimal soil disturbance and continue to plough. You will never reap the benefits of the system if you do not following the core principles. The number of social media posts I see with cultivations happening followed by '#regenag' is laughable. The real shame is that the message is now being well and truly diluted and will become another 'min-till' ,meaningless.
 

Warnesworth

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Chipping Norton
It's morally unacceptable to produce more food than the world needs, yet have folk starving on one continent while those in another die from disease caused principally by gluttony and sloth, despite throwing a lot away.
I think we also need to recognise that the human species is not designed to consume so much carbohydrate in our diet. We are principally meat eaters and it is the consumption of too much carbohydrate in one form or another; cereals; rice; potatoes; that we farmers produce, that cause many of the chronic diseases of the western world. Those that want to blame the ruminant for climate change fail to recognise the problems caused by over-production and consumption of excess carbohydrate.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
I think we also need to recognise that the human species is not designed to consume so much carbohydrate in our diet. We are principally meat eaters and it is the consumption of too much carbohydrate in one form or another; cereals; rice; potatoes; that we farmers produce, that cause many of the chronic diseases of the western world. Those that want to blame the ruminant for climate change fail to recognise the problems caused by over-production and consumption of excess carbohydrate.
I was telling my daughter today, that the world needs more cattle and sheep, and why, we ended the conversation with her not being convinced.
 

Bruce Almighty

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Warwickshire
That is almost right except most people seem to ignore the first principle of Conservation (or regen) Ag which is minimal soil disturbance and continue to plough. You will never reap the benefits of the system if you do not following the core principles. The number of social media posts I see with cultivations happening followed by '#regenag' is laughable. The real shame is that the message is now being well and truly diluted and will become another 'min-till' ,meaningless.
Ploughs have been around in some form for more than a thousand years, they still have a use - perhaps not year in, year out.
It also depends on your soil type and the conditions - direct drilling is great in some soils and not in others.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
That is almost right except most people seem to ignore the first principle of Conservation (or regen) Ag which is minimal soil disturbance and continue to plough. You will never reap the benefits of the system if you do not following the core principles. The number of social media posts I see with cultivations happening followed by '#regenag' is laughable. The real shame is that the message is now being well and truly diluted and will become another 'min-till' ,meaningless.
Yes, somehow destruction is nearly always passed off as "the lesser of two evils", whether it's chemical or physical.

The obvious, to redesign or at least shift away from growing crops that require such frequent stressors, is seen as unnecessary to so many.

I think our apple tree gave us close to 200kg last year and the closest it got to "management" was hauling away the cases of fruit, which were mostly given to the local school.

Nobody made a penny from the crop of apples, which is why you should grow milling wheats
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
is more better ?
Ever since the first farmer dropped a seed or tamed a dinosaur to milk more has been better. If you farm you should understand that. Only by striving to attain more from our chosen farming venture will the worlds population continue to be fed. Enough kids go to bed hungry every night now without a tree hugging butterfly chasing twits telling the farmers of the world to cut production so they can sleep better. Seems only yesterday farmers were praised for working all hours to put food on the tables of the furloughed millions ignoring their own possible exposure to COVID.
I wonder if the general public would pay double for food so we could cut production and still feed our families???
 

Lowland1

Member
Mixed Farmer
I think we also need to recognise that the human species is not designed to consume so much carbohydrate in our diet. We are principally meat eaters and it is the consumption of too much carbohydrate in one form or another; cereals; rice; potatoes; that we farmers produce, that cause many of the chronic diseases of the western world. Those that want to blame the ruminant for climate change fail to recognise the problems caused by over-production and consumption of excess carbohydrate.
To accept that is to deny evolution maybe it was true of stone age man but even they weren't just hunters they were hunter-gatherers. We've been cultivating grains etc for over 10,000 years and people were eating wild grains before then. People eat too much and are too sedentary. Only the rich are fat in Africa and they are the ones who can eat meat regularly.
 

Henarar

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
Ever since the first farmer dropped a seed or tamed a dinosaur to milk more has been better. If you farm you should understand that. Only by striving to attain more from our chosen farming venture will the worlds population continue to be fed. Enough kids go to bed hungry every night now without a tree hugging butterfly chasing twits telling the farmers of the world to cut production so they can sleep better. Seems only yesterday farmers were praised for working all hours to put food on the tables of the furloughed millions ignoring their own possible exposure to COVID.
I wonder if the general public would pay double for food so we could cut production and still feed our families???
I do farm and I don't understand that.
Other folks kids are not my responsibility.
I don't remember any praise but nor did I want any.
I suspect that they would rather than starve.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Ploughs have been around in some form for more than a thousand years, they still have a use - perhaps not year in, year out.
It also depends on your soil type and the conditions - direct drilling is great in some soils and not in others.
and we have been abusing our soils for more than a thousand years too, but until John Deere created the deeper steel plough we were limited in our ability to destroy soil structure (but like most things, with perseverance we still managed)
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
I would agree, but people recognise it and choose to buy because of that recognition. It is probably only organic farmers who really understand the myriad of rules.
Could say that about conventional farming.
It has hidden itself away from the public and now they are asking difficult questions and we blame them for not understanding.
They are the ones that have driven agriculture to be the way it is!
 

Briar

Member
So referring to the OP, is "organic" farming bad or is it the way it has been imposed on the population by the politicians?

If organic is so bad is "conventional" farming practises, with its reliance on synthetic fert, sprays, irrigation from aquifers in some parts of the world, feedlots, shipping food from halfway around the world that can be grown locally etc the answer? Why purposely produce a commodity requiring increasingly higher inputs with greater environmental risk and a high proportion of waste? In whose interest/advice is this? Does the niche organic market not enjoy a premium?

Not all of us agree with the "conventional" model, our politicians, big business, or zealots (green, vegan, religious etc), but fortunately we still have a choice as UK farmers in the way we farm in a predominantly benign climate.

The worlds population is only increasing and with it the drain on finite resources, probably leading to more conflict. Do we continue to exploit these resources to the max or is it time we try a more sustainable approach? But without (before) the interference from politicians?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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