farmdoc's blog post number 37

Tasmanian Country – the local rag for Tasmanian farmers – arrives gratis in my mailbox each Friday. Weekly I do its crossword and then scan the classified advertisements. Then I read the few articles catching my eye. Last Friday two did: The first announced, ‘About one fifth of the world’s cropland is considered degraded, according to a Word Resources Institute study. Scientists say improving the world’s soils is part of the solution to feeding the poor…the degradation of the world’s soil is a disaster in slow motion…even the quick, short-term fix of fertilisers is unaffordable for many farmers…’. The second article, titled ‘Fertiliser a growing pain’, bemoaned, ‘Prices for some fertilisers have increased by 300 per cent in the past year and soaring prices are expected to continue…strong demand across the globe was putting upward pressure on prices…’ Even I – a novice farmer – know that the effectiveness of chemical fertiliser diminishes year by year, so each year more must be applied for the same result. And even then, chemical fertiliser doesn’t improve the soil holistically. Applying more, and more expensive, fertiliser to produce only a partial fix is madness. But to almost all broad acre farmers, chemical fertiliser use is like an addiction. I agree with those prophets who see the food-growing future as smallholding and backyard organics. But will the penny drop too late?