I have noticed something over the last few years. As many of you know, or some might not, the Small-Hold is virtually surrounded by fields of Corn, Wheat and Soybeans rotated yearly of course. On the very backside of our place there is a fairly large cow pasture that never gets planted but the other three sides are just open agricultural fields. This actually causes our place two problems that I have to deal with. One is erosion as there is nothing to stop the constant water running off one of the neighbors fields and the other is pests.
When I walk out and dig up any section of the soil around the Small-Hold I find a small chunk of dirt teeming with life. Grubs, worms and other insects. Almost every part of the 25 acres we own is home to these insects plus moles, voles, rabbits, fox even squirrels are finally moving back into the small wooded area and I jumped up six does the other day working on the new gate opening. I am sure they were just hiding from all the hunters out there, pretty confident they were safe in the back of the pasture. Open areas around the yard are full of mole runs that extend way out into the pasture and hay field.
This Summer I walked out into the neighbor's fields and dug a few scoop fulls of soil up and there was literally nothing living there. Not even my bees seem to like to work the bean blooms out there. No mole runs, no rabbits. The deer do eat his corn though because I have seen em do that.
This is another aspect of sustainable living/homesteading that many don't understand. Going organic right now in most areas is infinitely more work than it was on our ancestors in some ways even while it is much easier in others. Small organic islands of life in vast oceans of insecticides, herbicides and poisonous liquid fertilizers is what many of our small plots look like.
Here in Missouri at least, and most states East of us, these problems are lessened by rough areas of creeks, streams and the like that create large hedgerows or natural areas but still planting a half acre of yummy vegetables and open pollinated corn is more than likely too much of a buffet line for the insects to resist. After the insects of course come the moles etc.
A few decades ago of course the insects and other damaging wild life had more to choose from out there. Last year especially the plague of Japanese beetles attacked everything we grew yet across the road in the corn field there wasn't one to be seen.
I am not blaming the large farmers. Far from it. They do what they have to do to survive in their own way as well. Maybe some need to see the light that their way of life is coming to an end but that doesn't mean they have any real choice right now either. Unless they to embrace the life of near Galtism like I have but then they wouldn't be farming all those acres either.
My point is when it comes to pests and the like today's small farmers/preppers/sustainers/homesteaders need to remember they are facing a much tougher road to hoe against insects and vermin than our ancestors did. Many people think the pests problems they are experiencing are so bad no one ever could have survived 100 or more years ago without insecticides. They just need to keep in mind that the problem is much more concentrated today because the available food for those insects has shrunk.
These days only your property is inviting to them. Keep that in mind.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
I have often thought about what you have just written as even back east, we are still surrounded by GMO corn and until the last couple of years they never rotated the crop and just applied more poison until that stopped working. Now we see some beans and alfalfa. The ground is packed from never tilling and constant heavy traffic from spraying. The farmers have started to die from rare cancer but it is God's will and it isn't connected to the drive by farming practices. Eventually the government who funds the programs will run out of money and the poisons will thin the herd to where most likely a lot of the land will go back to wooded areas.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting comment. So what does a non GMO corn look like??? Also why apply poison to a crop?? Wouldn't that just kill it??? If the ground is packed how do they plant the crops??? I have never heard of farmers getting this rare cancer. I sure wish you can explain how the government funds chemical applications and deaths of farmers. If you haven't guessed yet I am a farmer. My normal reply is a lot to the point, If your going to badmouth my life please don't do it with your mouth full of my food! Yes I know you grow your own, but I provide you with a lot of things you don't know about.
DeleteDamon
Damon - Not to speak for Sf but I can answer a couple of your questions.
DeleteNon-GMO corn does look different from the GMO stuff at least while on the stalk and cob. Non-GMO open pollinated corn will have much more varied sized ears and behave different in later turning and if you are especially lucky will get a larger gap between the kernels for easier drying.
As for poison on the crops. I don't think anyone has ever said it was poison to the crops it is meant to feed just everything else. I don't think that statement is an attack on farmers either because it is what it is and how it has to be. I have witnessed many of my bees dying from being sprayed with fertilizer but maybe it was a mix too for all I know and had pesticide in it.
As for packed earth wouldn't you say no till farming using drills leaves the earth more packed than plowing or tilling does?
The government funds all types of things. It does pay out massive amounts of money for agriculture. Yes it is needed because of the way the government has set it up. If not 90% of us wouldn't be able to afford what food really costs.
Farming is what it is because it has to be and I don't think anyone was attacking the profession or any hard working folks like you who do it. If the entire world wants to eat it has to be the way it is. Is it sustainable? I have my doubts but that certainly isn't any reflection on you or your fellow farmers.
PioneerPreppy
DeleteThank you for the comment.
I used to watch my dad hand pollinate wheat to create a new variety and that is how we used to do it. Corn used to be about 6 inches long and about 2 inches long. But man saw by determining what female and male breed they could increase the yield. I also understand about the chemicals, But Mother Nature never wanted a 125 circle planted in one crop. In the wilds you see plants spaced far apart, they are that way to prevent the insects from killing the whole crop. Hence why in my organic fields I have a lower yield and the crop is full of insects. I believe that I am the biggest enviromentist. I have to keep my ground sustanable for my life and my kids so they can live on this farm. I am sorry about your bees, That is the fault of the applicator who was a idiot, I am betting it was an insecticide though, I know of a few, but the label also states to do not apply when bees are active, Those few make all of look bad. I actually like using No Till, I do not create a hard pan 12 inches down from constant tilling. My dryland crops that I use No Till actually produce more and cost less to produce. I am sorry for typing so much but if you want to hear more I will tell you about my life and farm.
Damon
I will badmouth anyone who is screwing the environment like the farmers around me. Without the government you would be flopping on the ground like a fish.
DeleteI have posted about this many times in blogs, newspapers and even a couple of magazines. I've mentioned before we are organic farmers. Take a sample of your neighbours soil in spring after planting and in early winter and have both tested. You will find that the winter sample is near sterile, the spring one will sjow record levels of nutrients from the fertiliser. Then do the same to yours. Yours will display some 15 to 20 percent difference over the same cycle. Your neighbours soil is utterly depleted and without commercial fertiliser will raise maybe 2 crops, the second will be very low yeild.
ReplyDeleteHence all the pests will head to your land there is food there and it will not kill them, you might but not your crops.
Now the second problem is that the predators of these pests are sorely depleted in some cases just gone altogether. Compounding that is the fact that predator species in everything from ladybirds to wolves reproduce in smaller numbers than their prey.
A return to mass organic farming, particularly in a crisis, will see several years if famine and instability while the predators species repopulate. This is particularly evident in insects as their boom and bust cycle is so rapid.
Anyone interested in organic farming or permaculture needs to establish safe havens for the beneficial insects and animals asap as well as putting as much organic material into the soil as possible. When the SHTF the SH1T will suddenly have value and even the dumbest farmers will work that out in short order.
No dig is the current fad and yes piling the compost up and getting the worms to dig it in for you if great but it does not suit all soils. Nor is it any good in soil that has been compacted by huge agricultural equipment, even Mr Worm struggles to dig through compacted soil.
Ro - All good advice and makes sense and jives with my findings. I have had visitors who have always commented on the numbers of lady bugs and preying mantis I have everywhere here. I never really thought about the fact that they were not everywhere in such numbers.
Delete"Anyone interested in organic farming or permaculture needs to establish safe havens for the beneficial insects and animals asap as well as putting as much organic material into the soil as possible." Exactly! I leave certain weeds in the yard, and in certain areas of the garden. The Japanese beetles eat the leaves of those weeds and leave my comfrey, my peas, peppers, etc. ALONE. I leave the mint to flower, even though it's invasive, to allow the mason and the solitary bees FOOD till early autumn. The carpenter bees are not pests to me to be 'exterminated'. The bees live on my weigela till it finally exhausts itself, along with the lavender, and the milkweed. (Yes. I have milkweed and the butterflies love it!) I provide alternative cover for the turtles, and even the rabbits. Put up a fence and get a dog/cat to police your part of the yard. Let the moles run. My yard is overrun with night crawlers. Let them feast! Lamb's Ear feeds the bees in early spring. I wish that the local farmers would offer composted poop, that's been turned over and over into black gold.
ReplyDeleteAnon - Great advice and info!!!
DeleteAlthough I am curious what do bees forage off lambsquarters? I have never seen my bees on any.
I really got to thinking about your post, and especially the insect side of it. As with any population, and the sudden availability of more food (more land not being sprayed, and gradual range restoration), how long do you think it would take for an insect infestation to demolish a few crops. Maybe the second or third reproductive year? Would the insect problem briefly get better, then decimate a few year's crops worth until the insect population reached a balance (more birds, bats, etc...)
ReplyDeleteK - Well it is my opinion that right now is the worst time pest-wise for organic farmers. As things stand now we are pretty much fighting all the pests ourselves as we have the most appealing food supply. My guess is that when things collapse and everyone must switch to more traditional planting techniques and varieties or the land goes fallow the pest problem will begin to ease because most of the pests are not hitting the big ag stuff anyway.
DeleteIt is my belief that is why so many gardeners and small scale organic farmers have been complaining about increased pest and insect damage the last few years.
Just my theory...
It will be far worse to be honest. The second year in particular will see an absence of pesticides with a huge increase in locally grown veg giving almost every pest a free meal. The predators will laģ by a good two years meaning two extremely poor harvests with a normalish third year. This is why in the event of a collapse of this scale a years stored food is not enough.
DeleteBig ag will no longer figure into it as there will be a dash back to the pre Victorian farming methods.
The author of Earth Abides even wrote about it years ago.
The fluctuations will last for a least a decade. There are decades of damage to undo and the human cost would be very high.
cheerful soul aren't I!
Ro - Well You make sense, although my feeling is that different locations will fare differently. Those areas that retain a lot of land currently that is not useable for farming should fare better than others. Rough country with good soil but a lot of wetlands, stream beds etc. is what I am referring too. Certainly places like the great plains might suffer horribly though.
DeleteI think you've summed up some of my thoughts on this. Things are harder for us now than they were if you're organic gardening. Pests and weeds. Like you've already said we don't have the predator numbers left to take care of the prey.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have to see it from both sides as well, having grown up on a non organic farm. Dad is careful when he sprays though and I think it's right what Damon says about a few bad ones makes all farmers look bad. Unfortunately it's worse than that because a few bad farmers can also do a lot of damage.
Kev - Well it is hard to argue with Ro's logic too though. It may get worse before it get's better depending on the location because that first year or two will see a massive increase in insects with nothing to eat. If they live that long anyway. The first season they may eat everything but be dead by the next?
DeleteI am a bit easier on large scale farmers than some. Of course I live in an area were what I call large scale is at best small scale compared to other parts oft he country so I don't witness a lot of the bad practice some have to contend with.
A lot of times when you "solve" recurring/endemic small scale problems (forest fires, bank collapses, crop pests) you tend to wind up with an overall lower number of problems, but when you do get the problems they wind up enormous and catastrophic.
ReplyDeleteThere is some math (matrix calcs) behind the observation, so it isn't simply an artifact of selective memory bias.