Regenerative Farming: We Might All Die In 50 Years. Did God Warn Us?

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Regenerative Farming We ll All Die In 50 Years Did God Warn Us https www scientificamerican com article soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss Theology What were the tenets of Biblical Farming Why did God do this What is the Spiritual Reasoning There From Farming God s Way Conservation agriculture is Farming God s Way without God But it s the God part of this picture that really changes attitudes says Craig Sorley He explains the core principles Minimal disturbance of the soil no tillage ndash the practice of plowing destroys soil structure including the micro organisms that live in the soil leading to erosion and rapid water loss Permanent organic cover in the form of mulch In Farming God s Way this is called lsquo God s blanket says Craig Sorley In Creation we observe that God does not leave the soil bare says Craig Sorley Covering with protective mulch Stops soil erosion Improves water filtration of the soil Minimises evaporation of water from the soil Adds organic matter improving fertility No burning of crop residues ndash these are used to cover the soil instead Weed faithfully ndash labour saved on plowing is transferred to regular weeding Practice crop rotation ndash because God s garden was diverse Pay attention to detail Since we serve a God of detail we should give careful attention to everything on our farms throughout the year including the proper spacing of plants how fertiliser or manure is added how seed is planted etc he says Pursue high standards in all things ndash God is glorified when we strive for excellence Incorporate trees into your farming system ndash Agroforestry is not something invented by man it is something God demonstrated in the very first garden Agroforestry combines both agriculture and forestry with conservation practices for long-term sustainability he says https www faithplans org post farming-god-s-way-a-biblical-approach-to-agriculture I love this article too https disciplenations org wp-content uploads 2020 04 Ten-Biblical-Principles-for-Agricultural-Development-David-Evans-2013-update-1 pdf Philosophy If the universe is a painting out of the mind of God and the work of Christ then what lessons can we glean from the land failing to yield crops after years of overfarming Can we not say that God ordained a time for everything Ecclesiastes 3 1-2 ldquo To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven A time to be born and a time to die a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted rdquo Leviticus 25 4 ldquo But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land a sabbath for the Lord thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard rdquo What does it say about our belief in God when we fail to listen to His order See the children of Israel and the manna Culture What initial impacts would the Biblical farmer have on their production What type of witness would that have when you are working contrary to the flow In America we used to practice Crop Rotation a form of the Jubilee but then in WWI we decided we needed more crops and so the ldquo Green Revolution rdquo started to rear its head Pesticides and growth chemicals were introduced to make more crops while ldquo maximizing rdquo the land s potential This would also lead to killing the crops potentially also causing the debated increase in diseases like cancer and autism I don t know if that is what happened but all of that round-up isn t good for your system Politics How has government subsidization of farming harmed the economy How has it come to harm small farmers How has the government s subsidies of ethanol incentivized the increase in corn growth We see massive spending on corn for ethanol as detailed by thoughtco here ldquo In the final days of 2020 however Congress passed another coronavirus relief bill providing approximately 900 billion in spending across a variety of sectors The package includes 11 2 billion in relief to be distributed by the Office of the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture giving newly appointed Tom Vilsack discretion to provide support to biofuel producers Specifically the bill states that the Secretary ldquo may make payments to producers of advanced biofuel biomass-based diesel cellulosic biofuel conventional biofuel or renewable fuels with market losses due to COVID-19 rdquo And for what Comically inefficient gains in energy production https thefern org 2024 01 ethanol-is-just-comically-inefficient-solar-energy But what have we done to the soil From ACES Illinois ldquo Leveraging a 20-year field experiment Illinois crop scientists demonstrated significant risks associated with continuous corn rotations both for the soil microbial community and for environmental health on a larger scale rdquo https aces illinois edu news 20-years-making-rotate-corn-better-soil-health And what has this cost farmers From Colorado edu ldquo One-third of the fertilizer applied to grow corn in the U S each year simply compensates for the ongoing loss of soil fertility leading to more than a half-billion dollars in extra costs to U S farmers every year finds new research from CU Boulder published last month in Earth s Future Long-term soil fertility is on the decline in agricultural lands around the world due to salinization acidification erosion and the loss of important nutrients in the soil such as nitrogen and phosphorus Corn farmers in the U S offset these losses with nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers also intended to boost yields but scientists have never calculated how much of this fertilizer goes into just regaining baseline soil fertility mdash or how much that costs rdquo https www colorado edu today 2021 01 12 soil-degradation-costs-us-corn-farmers-half-billion-dollars-every-year Economics What is the fundamental biblical principle of letting the land rest How do we cause more harm when we fail to tithe abide and give with our wealth When we allow the ground to go fallow and the crops that do not make it into the bin to be taken by the poor we also nourish the soil How does this correlate to tithing offering giving Final Thoughts One Last Question Favorite Farm Product Click here to visit this podcast episode