A public program needs to be developed. This could conceivably
be done cooperatively by local private interests, by public supports
for this should co-exist. Public policy changes are called for.
No more follows.
DH
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 21/05/99 at 8:21 AM Wilson, Dale wrote:
>Andrew,
>
>> Why should their goal be "not to have to import N onto their
>> farm?" If they have a reasonably productive system that
>> results in ample N and P exported off their farm as part of
>> food or feed, then they must either import N onto the
>> farm--or include an N-fixing crop in their rotations--or
>> suffer the problem of N and P deficiency in their soils.
>
>That's a good point. Exportation of nutrients off the farm seems to be a
>given.
>
>> Why does sustainability have to be defined in terms of the
>> individual farm? Why can't it be defined in terms of
>> the watershed or other geographic unit
>
>IMO, a failure to appreciate spatial and temporal scale is one factor that
>has resulted in some unproductive effort in the environmentalist community.
>The watershed would seem to a more natural unit for nutrient management than
>the farm.
>
>> ...provided that inputs and outputs equilibrate?
>
>Ideally the nitrogen and phosphorus consumed by humans and animals would be
>returned to the farm. In current reality, most of it ends up in surface
>water because the cost of transporting it to the farm is too high. If the
>externalities associated with casual disposal of these wastes could be
>captured and priced, transporting sludge and slurry to the farm (not just
>nearby farms) would become economically feasible. I think public policy will
>gradually come around to accomplish this.
>
>> From an economic perspective, it may make perfect sense to
>> be somewhere in the middle of the continuum between total
>> specialization and total independence of the need
>> for imported inputs--and still be sustainable.
>
>Again, this is an issue of scaling. It may be okay for a farmer in Iowa to
>grow mainly soybeans and corn, because that works well here, while someone
>in Oregon produces grass seed, because they can do a better job of it there.
>I think part of what is driving the farm unitization and independence sought
>by some, is a romantic vision of farming that may not have ever really
>existed.
>
>Dale
>
>
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Douglas M. Hinds
Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, A.C. (CeDeCoR)
(Center for Community and Rural Development)
Petronilo Lopez No. 73
Cd. Guzman, Jalisco 49000 MEXICO
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