Wow!!

John Phipps.. who farms in Illinois.. not Summer Fallow country no doubt.. just took Summer Fallow to the woodshed this weekend.

Which is EARNING my reply..

John states that "summer Fallow was mostly dictated by outdated farm policy.. the practice is economically impractical.. Agrarian tradition talks about "resting the land".. I do not buy that.. Land is not a "Living" thing.. ?!?"

Wow!!

Where to start.. John threw up a chart of Summer Fallow acreage which appears to peak in the Late 1960's and Early 1970's..

Contrary to the implied end of so called "bad farm policy" i would point to the increased used of Chemicals.. With Roundup.. (when it used to work..) we could/can spray weeds down without having to use a plow.. or a disk.. and conserve moisture.. as well as not expose BARE SOIL to the WIND.. depleting it of moisture.. nutrients and top soil.

However, Roundup does not work as well as it used to.. and Bayer is now facing upwards of 10,000 cases where Roundup is alleged to cause cancer.. including a case where the plaintiff won.

( https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-glyphosate-lawsuits-factbox/factbox-bayers-monsanto-faces-broad-u-s-glyphosate-litigation-idUSKCN1LZ1EL )

Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit has urged a California judge to toss the $289-million verdict a jury awarded to a man who said the company’s glyphosate-based weed-killers, including the widely-used Roundup brand, caused his cancer.

Furthermore, as Roundup (which was cheap) no longer is as effective as it once was.. and the bio engineered crops no longer work as well.. Roundup Ready Soybeans.. so we are moving on to Dicamba Soybeans with all new restrictions.. and we ALREADY have Dicamba resistant weeds.. and this program IS NOT CHEAP!!

Which begs the question.. How much longer can we AFFORD to use EXPENSIVE CHEMICALS in Lieu of Summer Fallow?

My Grandfather farmed this Farm setting aside as much as 25% to a third of the LAND EVERY YEAR!!

ALOT of my neighbors.. STILL rely on summer fallow.. they do not spend as much on Chemicals.. or Biotech crops.

I THINK that JOHN Phipps is Missing the boat entirely on the Future of Summer Fallow.. between policy and GOOD Agronomics.. I believe we will have to encourage more Summer Fallow in the future.

I must go but I'll return to this thread later.. argh the wife wants to go shopping.. so much for holding that family living expense down..   lol.

Later.

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