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agronomist. says farmers
have been able lo mask the
damage caused lo soils by
using hybrid seeds and
applying more and more
chemical tertilizers to gel
high yields. They fail lo see
the day of reckoning
drawing near, he warns.
idle. Farmers planted fence
to fence. They brought
marginal lands into
production and often raised
two crops instead of one.
Chemical fertilizers made it
possible, sorne farmers
thought , to eliminate legume
rotations and cut the hard
work of spreading manure.
Continuous corn (maize, for
our non-American readers)
was planted in many areas
and chemical insecticides
were poured on to handle
the bugs that thrive under
such conditions.
Young and old-time
farmers feel justified for their
farming practices. Says one
old-time lowa farmer:
lo help a farmer produce
more crops. "
Sorne soil experts
estímate midwestern states
could experience a 30
percent reduction in corn
and soybean yields within 50
years if current erosion
persists. Lester R. Brown,
authority on food and
population, warns, "The
heavy use of fertilizer made
with cheap energy has
masked the basic
deterioration of the soil.
We're only now beginning to
realize that what we're doing
is not sustainable in the long
run." The Bible announced
this same warning for these
latter days more than 3,000
years ago! You can read it
in Leviticus 26:14-46 and
Deuteronomy 28:15-47.
"Today's economy is such
that big machinery, labor
costs and high prices all say
lo the ... farmer, 'You've
got lo go as hard as you
can. over as much land as
you can, just to make ends
meet. · And that doesn 't lead
lo good land management."
" The farmers see they
are getting bigger crops and
wonder what we are making
a fuss about." says Dr.
Ameiya. "lt's hard lo gel
lhem lo look 20 years down
the road and take steps to
make sure they will have
land to farm."
The American agricultura!
export boom has intensified
U.S. soil erosion. As export
prices rose in the 1970s, the
U.S. government stopped
paying farmers to keep land
When everything went to
corn and soybeans in lowa
in 1973, there was an
erosion explosion. Soil
losses increased 22 percent
in the 1970s because of
such intensive farming.
But, worries lowa State
University economist John F.
Timmons,
"lf
we erode our
soil away, what will the next
generation have?"
"Technology is going lo
run out," warns William J.
Brune, who heads the soil
conservation service in lowa.
" When you get down lo
subsoils. fertilizer isn't going
runs off and pollutes land and
water supplies. Sometimes it i s
reconverted, with the addition of
molasses, as cattle feed! In develop–
ing nations, much animal waste i s
burned for fuel instead of fertiliz–
ing soils.
On many lands crop residues are
removed or burned off, instead of
being plowed back in or composted
for return to the soil. Many farmers
are trying to bypass the l iving orga–
nisms that provide nutrients from
humus and mineral s. lnstead, they
believe they can force- feed directly
by chemical fertili zers. These fer–
tilizers supply a few elements agri–
culturaJ scientists think are criticaJ
and necessary. Such practi ces lead
many farmer s lo disregard the
complex chemi stry and life of fer–
tile soil.
When used exclusivel y or exces–
sively, sorne powerful concentrated
chem icaJ fertili zers poison certain
soil organisms. They cause others to
prol i ferate and burn up existing
humus at accelerated rates. The
destruct ion of humus damages the
structure of the soi l : aeration, water
and nutrient- holding capacity of
soi l s drop. Under such assaults, nat–
ura l g r anul at i on , the binding
together of soil particles, breaks
down. Then wind and water erosion
October/ November 1981
strips away soi l ever more rapidly.
Heavier doses of ferti l izers and pes–
ticidesmust t hen
be
added to sustain
crops.
A vicious cycle of destruction i s
now in motion on many soi ls. Bad
farming inc reases soi l hardpan and
encrustation. Soils choke up, they
barden so roots and water can' t go
down deep. Farmers are forced to
use heavier machinery to pull plows
and break up subsoils. But the
heavier equipment o ften causes
even greater land compaction .
C rop rotation, green manuring
(plowing under various crops–
especiaJly grasses and legumes- to
replenish soil nutrients and im–
prove soil structure) and fallow
cycles ar e being reduced or el imi–
nated.
Monoculture--growing one cash
crop instead of rotating different
cash crops-is becoming the rule.
Farmer s must use more and more
poisonous herbicides, fungicides
and pesticides to control the weeds,
pests and crop diseases produced by
such farmipg. These poisons then
pollute the soil and run off with
croded soil t o lakes, rivers and
water rese r voirs. Who i s not
affected by such practices?
Other sound soil conservat ion
practices are being abandoned. In the
1930s, protective shel terbelts of trees
were planted on many United States
soi ls to act as windbreaks. They are
now rapidly being torn down.
Many farms are r un by tenant
farmers or d istant owners. They
have no stake in soil but in getting
what they can from farmland, then
moving on or selling croplands for a
profi t , often for nonfarm use.
A
southwestern Minnesota farm–
er said soil erosion in his arca is so
bad it i s now called "the black des–
ert. " 'Thousands of shelterbel ts
are being ripped out," he said.
"Farmers are so greedy for land
t hat half an acre of protective trees
are not worth anything anymore.
HaJf an acre of dirt is. lt's sad."
Under t he lure o f high food
prices marginal l and i s being
plowed up and fertilizers poured on
to make it produce. New hillside
land often i s not being properly ter–
raced as i t should be. The yields
from such land i s unstable and
plummets with any inclement
weather.
M ankind seems locked into this
tragic pattern of "get " agri culture.
Food authorities say if chemi cal
ferti li zer s and pesticides were
stopped , world food p roduction
would plummet one tbird . What a
dilemma mank ind i s in ! We all are
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