Netflix has a movie called “Kiss the Ground” narrated by the actor/environmentalist Woody Harrelson. The star witness is Ray Archuleta, employed by the NRCS (Natural
Resources Conservation), a division of the USDA, an original agency started by President Roosevelt (-originally the Soil Conservation Services).
I mention the association with the USDA because I expect some of the readers will be expecting a film encouraging Organic Farming. The first thought that comes into mind on broaching the organic method of farming is that it will take at least three years to qualify for accreditation, In addition, in those 3 years, the farmer will experience lower yields and an entire education of new farming methods. Many farmers will look at organic farming as more of a gardening experience with higher labor inputs. Beginning with studies from this movie as well as another YouTube movie, I will show how, not only can increased yields occur with lower cost, but can be done with little change of equipment all the while with major climate change results
I am older than Ray (79 years old), but by the time I was 16, I had completed 3 years of agriculture courses. I had competed in district and state contests in field crops, beef judging, poultry judging, dairy products and had even gone to National and International contests for soil judging. Ray Archuleta, makes the statement “...I went to years of college and I took soil science. I didn’t know …, how soil worked.” In 1958 and 1959, I was working for a feed store and grain elevator. One of my summer jobs was applying anhydrous ammonia (-NH3- is the foundation for all nitrogen (N) fertilizers). When we had a grasshopper outbreak, I sprayed poisons to kill the insect. Seed was treated to prevent wireworms from destroying the seed before it sprouted. This period of time was the beginning of spraying crops once they were up to kill competing weeds.
What we didn’t know was “In every handful of healthy soil, there are more organisms than the number of people who have lived” This is from Dr. Kristine Nichols, the chief scientist of Rodale Institute. Somewhere I had heard it put another way. “There are more organisms in a gallon of soil than there are stars in the Universe.” The Dr. goes on to say “All of our soils that are under chemical conventional agriculture are almost completely devoid of microorganisms.”
Considering that each person in the US eats food that has had a total of 4 pounds (per person) applied, one must consider the consequences. Woody Harrelson goes on to say:
“...most of the agriculture industries, pesticides and herbicides,transfer directly through breast milk to babies.” Then he adds, “There are over 200 peer-reviewed studies that correlate the spraying of these toxic chemicals effects like ADD in children, pediatric cancers, and birth defects.”
One of the major ingredients sprayed on crops is glyphosate (Round Up). Woody Harrelson goes on to say, “A big reason these chemicals make us sick is, because just as toxic chemicals kill the microbes in the soil, they also kill the microbes in our body.” The microbes in our body are what breaks down food so we can utilize it for energy and growth.
The Miller & Zois Law Firm ( https://bit.ly/3lp9TFQ) “...why did Bayer agree to a settlement? Bayer sought to settle these cases because juries were loudly telling them that Monsanto Roundup weed killer is a carcinogen that can cause cancer. So much so that these cases put the very existence of Bayer AG, a huge company, at risk. Bayer stuck its chest out too long and probably trusted its outside lawyers too much. But, eventually, reason prevailed.”
“The problem with Roundup is glyphosate, the main ingredient of this pesticide. Many scientists believe glyphosate causes an increased risk for the development of certain forms of cancer, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and hairy cell leukemia.”
“At first, the science on all of this was unclear. Many lawyers thought the Roundup lawsuits might be a coin toss between Monsanto/Bayer and the victims. It has not turned out that way as the $2 billion jury verdict against Monsanto showed. Jurors are screaming that these pesticides cause cancer. Their punitive damage awards show they are mad the weed killer is even on the market.”
The movie, “Kiss the Ground” was produced to demonstrate how by keeping plants growing on the earth year-round, we can make a major difference in controlling climate change by drawing carbon out of the air and storing it in the ground. As I mentioned earlier, if we talk of organic farming or other farming practices that require financial risks and new methods, they will meet with a lot of resistance. When I applied anhydrous ammonia as a fertilizer, the farmers had to be persuaded to increase the amount from 40 lbs per acre to 60 lbs. Now, many farmers apply well over 100 lbs with some approaching 200 lbs. I remember many noon lunches along with free caps, given by seed companies as they introduced new varieties. Farmers change slowly, but are intelligent enough to utilize the latest products. -I was born just before Pearl Harbour was bombed. For a decade or so, the US had been in a depression. Occurring at the same time, the dust bowl devastated Kansas and surrounding states. President FDR toured the areas affected. Where 6 million buffalo had roamed and grass grew tall enough that one had to be on horseback to see over it, what the President saw was blowing dust where nothing would grow. The living soil had become dirt because of tilling, plowing, and allowing the soil to sit fallow for much of the year. So FDR started the Soil Conservation Services to restore the dirt to soil.
This disruption of the soil also allows carbon to escape contributing to climate change. By keeping plants growing year-round and reducing tillage, the soil draws carbon and holds it in the soil. The movie goes into detail demonstrating how by the use of cover crops, we can inject more carbon into the soil than we inject in the atmosphere from the use of oil, gas and coal.
I can remember my mother saying “It takes a hundred years to make an inch of soil”. I guess that maybe she had read some of the reporting about FDR’s projects. I can remember my dad planting sweet clover in the fall and then in the spring, I would plow under the two or three foot crop for green manure which acted as fertilizer. But as sprays became available for weeds, anhydrous ammonia as a fertilizer, and then no til planters, the microbes and worms were killed and the soil lay fallow in the winter. As I toured Iowa in the 70’s, I remember seeing fence rows with drifts of dirt which had blown from uncovered fields. Of course, the fence rows are gone now as farmers farm mile-long rows with equipment that would have not been able to turn around in the small diverse fields supporting crops and different types of livestock.
My brother still rents out some of our original homestead. He was telling me that he had gone to examine a back forty after a couple of years and was shocked by how many gullies were washing away the soil. He is planning on putting in terraces as he has on part of his other land. I told him how after our parents had passed, I had dug a couple of holes on parts of the farm that had not been tilled. I dug down over 3 feet, still in that good rich black MO loam, before reaching clay. Most of the soil being tilled on that same farm has topsoil that can be measured in inches if at all. Tons of topsoil disappear down the MO River and then into the Mississippi and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico creating a dead zone of excess chemicals.
My farming is restricted to my garden now. I have heard about cover crops growing along with my crops I grow for eating, but was unaware that for some years now, the cover crops have been used by farmers in some areas. If you go to a search on google “soil & diverse cover crops part 1“ you will find a list of 10 cover crop videos with Ray Archuleta.
These videos cover a number of farmers who have been using cover crops, some for years. They show how the cost of inputs has been reduced, the effects of water management has been increased, and most of all, how their yields have increased. Although most still use some herbicides and fertilizer, many have reduced that cost by 80 percent leaving a net increase in profits. Most use some of the same equipment. Some of these farmers are working large farms and have examples of tomatoes (20 lb per plant increase with the use of rye cover crop) and pumpkins as well as corn, soybeans and cotton.
I can’t finish this article without personal experience. One year, it rained and rained and after the first of July (North West MO), the neighbor farming my brother's land gave up and turned in his crop insurance claim. At the time, I was working with the Amish. In the middle of July, it dried up enough that he could use horses and a two row planter and he planted 10 acres of corn for me. Of course, there was plenty of moisture, but I have never seen corn grow so fast.
The ears had all filled out by frost although as one would expect, they had not hardened. He put the corn up for silage to use for his dairy herd.
But, about the last of August, I bought a 50 lb bag of turnip seed,(100 dollars at that time). Two of his boys rode the rows on a workhorse and spread the seed across the 10 acres. After the corn had been harvested, I soon had a crop of turnips with tops 2 foot high and bottoms the size of softballs. I turned my young sheep in and they completely cleaned the ground of turnips leaving nothing but their manure. Turnip bottoms have 14 percent protein and the tops will be about 24 percent.
I know most grain farmers don’t have animals to utilize a process like I used. But I want to point out a couple of things. First of all, the corn was not GMO and many Amish farmers do not use GMO seeds. New hybrids will produce as well as GMOs. If you are farming near a hog factory or chicken factory, some will pay you more, even a dollar or so a bushel for non GMO corn. Non GMO seeds will test out with less starch and many feeders find that not only is growth better, but illness and disease are also reduced.
The NRCS as part of the USDA has offices across the US with help for local conditions. There are some grants available. For the farmer just starting or the farmer looking at the possible demise of GMO crops, I have only touched on available resources. In the process, we help heal our earth.