Civil Eats

MAY 1, 2024

Tesdell explained that when his European ancestors settled in the Midwest, they plowed the prairie and switched from deeply rooted perennial plants to shallow-rooted annual crops like wheat, oats, and corn instead. This “leaky system” refers to what is not absorbed by the crops on the field, most dangerously, in this case, fertilizer. “It’s

Fertilizer 145

Fertilizer Farming Farming Acre 145

The Equation

MAY 11, 2023

Because like the Dust Bowl of so many decades ago, this tragedy stemmed from a collision of multiple systemic problems—in this case, unchecked climate change layered atop the excesses of industrial agriculture. Fertilizer runoff can also affect urban communities downstream.

Agriculture 131

Agriculture Agriculture Fertilizer Plowing 131

The Equation

MAY 15, 2023

Industrial agricultural practices such as tillage (plowing) and leaving fields bare between growing seasons degrade soil structure, reduce water infiltration, lower water storage capacity, and increase runoff (the flow of water across the soil’s surface).

Industrial Agriculture 96

Industrial Agriculture Crop Agriculture Agriculture 96

Agritecture Blog

MAY 19, 2023

However, industrial agriculture — characterized by the use of heavy tillage, intensive monocropping, and excessive grazing — has resulted in the degradation of the very soils that sustain our food supply. ‘No-till’ The land is a constant, withstanding generational change in personnel, methodology, and even land use.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Livestock Crop 52

Food Environment and Reporting Network

JULY 13, 2023

These practices include reducing or eliminating tilling of soil, planting “cover crops” that grow during the off-season and are not harvested, improving how farmers use fertilizer and manure, and planting trees. The main greenhouse gases emitted by U.S. Both warm the atmosphere far more, per molecule, than carbon dioxide.

Agriculture 82

Agriculture Agriculture Greenhouse Manure 82