408K views · Dec 8, 2014 · 58:53 · 5 HN recommenders · 11 mentions · discussed 2015–2023
Farmer Gabe Brown talks about how he rebuilt the soil on his ranch using no-till farming, cover crops, and grazing animals. The talk was recorded at a sustainable agriculture symposium in Idaho in 2014.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN readers share it as a persuasive, first-hand account of regenerative agriculture, citing its claims about soil organic matter, yields and reduced fertilizer use.
“This talk introduced me to the no-till, soil health farming paradigm”HN comment, 2020
“This talk introduced me to the no-till, soil health farming paradigm”
Intro to no-till, soil health farming with stunning results.
This talk introduced me to the no-till, soil health farming paradigm: this video TL;DR: focus on soil health and diversify your crops. His results are stunning.
“Here's another account a farmer using natural systems to build soil.”
Farmer explains building soil with natural systems.
Thank you for your anecdotal account. Many petroleum farmers suffer from soil runoff. There is also desertification. Also, there is inefficient usage of water draining the acquirers. Note that California monoculture petrol farmers are largely responsible for using nearly 80% of California's water usage. There's also habitat loss for insects & other organisms. There's also pollution of water from the excess nitrogen. There's also the poisoning of the people who eat chemical agriculture foods. Note the obesity epidemic & it's relation to the disruption of gut bacteria. Herbicides & Fungicides disrupt biological processes in humans. You mention "scare tactics". The problem is temporarily mitigated by mining & importing the nutrients. This is inefficient on fossil fuels because we are trucking in nutrients that are available with natural systems. Here's another account a farmer using natural systems to build soil. this video His yields increased & he is the most profitable farmer in his local area.
“Here's a great talk by Gabe Brown from Idaho using natural, regenerative methods to rebuild soil.”
Talk on rebuilding soil with regenerative methods.
I can't criticize your approach, since I'm not a farmer. I respect what you do & the work that it takes to run a farm. I can only point out what I've seen & what inspires me. re: Amonia > A typical modern ammonia-producing plant first converts natural gas (i.e., methane) or LPG (liquefied petroleum gases such as propane and butane) or petroleum naphtha into gaseous hydrogen. link This requires the importation or local extraction of fossil fuels. Given that the United States is now utilizing fracking to extract natural gas, this causes pollution within the aquifers as well as reducing the integrity of the surface strata. A natural approach of fertilization is animal poop from grazing & polycultures (nitrogen fixing perennial plants, like Black Locust), similar to how the ancient prairies were fertilized. Mark Shepard, who's farm is in Wisconsin, has a large scale example of "Restoration Agriculture". He has a silvopasture that feeds his livestock. The livestock fertilize the fields. He also grows nuts. He also saves money by not having to buy fertilizer or pesticides. He also uses keyline design, swales, & ponds to efficiently use water & reduce runoff. link link Here's a great talk by Gabe Brown from Idaho using natural, regenerative methods to rebuild soil. this video My friends at link in New Jersey have a lush polyculture medicinal herb & food farm that started from rocky spent earth. There was no top soil when they started a few years ago. You can see how it looks ri
“I found this presentation[0] by a farmer talking about growing soil to be super interesting.”
Farmer on growing soil and boosting yields per acre.
I found this presentation[0] by a farmer talking about growing soil to be super interesting. He touches on promoting beneficial fungi as one part of it. He claims that with all the relatively easy techniques he, and other like minded farmers do, that they get high calories per acre than some conventional farmers. [0] this video
“I saw an interesting farmer presentation on YouTube[1] the other day”
Farmer shows cover crops improving water absorption.
I saw an interesting farmer presentation on YouTube[1] the other day where he eventually starts talking about how cover crops have improved his land's ability to absorb and retain water. He even includes photos contrasting his neighbor's monoculture fields with his during rain storms. this video
“I found it fascinating”
Fascinating talk covering reduced fertilizer farming practices.
Someone posted this link in some other discussion where he came up. I found it fascinating and what you mention as well as much of what your sibling posters do is in there: this video I don't know what kind of crowd that "Sustainable Agriculture's annual symposium" pulls but I found the number of people in the audience quite small unfortunately.
Supports argument for natural farming methods.
> What was that you were saying about "does not work"? Things that do not work: the overuse of till farming, soil erosion, drought, loss of habitat of wildlife, water pollution, inefficient water usage, desertification, famine, uneven food distribution, the reduction of nutrients in food, the obesity epidemic of the consumers of monoculture petrol agriculture, methane pollution from concentrated livestock, to name a few... Note that the graph you present is a myopic & reductionistic lens on the system's performance. It is also based on the evolution of the tradition of monoculture till farming, which can work (in an unoptimal way) in forgiving (even rainfall through the year) climates, but devastates the ecosystem in brittle (uneven rainfall through the year) climates. > No, there is historical evidence that it does work. China hasn't had a major famine in close to fifty years, and India hasn't had one since the 1940s. Yes, look at the "fertile crecent", that is Iraq, Iran, etc. It was once a lush paradise that has been till farmed to desert. Look at the farmers in India who are going back to natural methods because they are going into debt due to chemical agriculture's exploitative & inefficient practices. In China, look at the Loess Plateau being transformormed from desert into green land with Natural & Permaculture methods. link And famines happen all over the world. Centralized food production results in unequal food distribution. Re: traditional agriculture, we have be
Supports claim that healthy ecosystems need no pesticides.
> If you're referring to that interview then keep in mind that it was just a crappy "journalist" trying to make a show out of what was supposed to be an interview on a topic completely not related to Monsanto. Well, it's supposed to be "safe". Why didn't he drink it? And the interview was originally about Golden Rice. > Also, I'm not particularly convinced that the insane amount of stuff farmers dump on their crops is really better than replacing all of it with just one pesticide. Actually, in a functioning ecosystem, no pesticides are needed. Insects & other microorganisms are natural parts of the food web. link this video
“Gabe Brown claims that they increased the amount of organic matter in their soil nearly 10x in two decades”
Source for large organic matter gains in soil.
Gabe Brown claims that they increased the amount of organic matter in their soil nearly 10x in two decades, and that's while discovering what worked over the years: this video
“Gabe Brown claims he can get more calories per acre than monoculture farms[0].”
Source for claims of higher calories per acre.
Gabe Brown claims he can get more calories per acre than monoculture farms[0]. He also claims that it's more thought, but not much more physical work overall. His profits probably depend somewhat on premium pricing that wouldn't hold up if everyone followed his model, but a shift in subsidies could help that. [0] this video
“Some regenerative agriculture advocates say soil can build up pretty fast with the right techniques that include animals”
Illustrates fast soil building with animals.
Some regenerative agriculture advocates say soil can build up pretty fast with the right techniques that include animals: this video
