How do we go about increasing agricultural crop yields? As long as human populations are increasing, this is the primary challenge we face in agriculture. We must do this without threatening our ability to produce food in the future, and,…
Read More Ecological Theories, Meta-Analysis, and the Benefits of Monocultures
Written by Steve Savage Do GMO crops "foster monoculture?" This is a frequent criticism of modern agriculture. I have three problems with it: "Monoculture" isn't the right term to use to describe the relevant issues - its really about a…
When I was a college student, almost every ag-related class I took mentioned the benefits of the “rotation effect” (better yields, fewer pests, etc.). However, aside from insect pests, how the “rotation effect” actually worked was always taught in only…
The secret to building soils is... wait for it... manure and diverse crop rotation. Underwhelmed? Researchers in Iowa (Delate et al, 2013) came to this result after conducting ten years of field research. Only this wasn’t their conclusion. Instead, the headline…
Read More Study shows soil-building benefits of manure and crop rotation, so why didn’t they say so?
