In early November, I wrote a brief blog about the drastic inflation in the price of farm inputs, the collapse of commodity prices within the global grain market, and the difficulty of farmers to acquire loans for the upcoming 2008-2009 agricultural season.

Soon after, Jason Bradford interviewed Ben Gisin from Touch the Soil magazine on the radio program the Reality Report. Early in the interview Ben and Jason engaged in a clear and fruitful dialog that spoke directly to the positive feedback loop related falling commodity prices, the increasing price of farm inputs, and the reluctance of banks to administer loans.

Further commentaries within the interview included global food security, local agriculture, and current trends in the national dialog about sustainable food production.

This radio show is archived on Global Public Media and can be accessed by the link below.

Reality Report with Bradford and Gisin: http://globalpublicmedia.com/reality_report_ben_gisin_of_touch_the_soil_...

In both 2007 and 2008 the world grappled with global inflation in the price of food. Unfavorable weather, scant international grain reserves, increased consumption of meat by developing nations, increased conversion of food to biofuel, and rising farm input prices were mainly to blame for the sharp price increase (1). During this time, many people living on $2 a day were priced out of food as dramatic rises in basic foodstuffs sparked both international and domestic outrage which in some cases has led to food riots (2). In response to these dramatically inflating prices farmers planted near record amounts of wheat, corn, and soy.

You might expect that the record prices in agricultural commodities would mean a windfall for farm savings accounts. This, however, is not the case. The chance at record profit was being eroded by enormous increases in farm inputs. At planting time, about 8 months ago, the national average price of diesel #2 was 3.55 a gallon (3). Fertilizer prices were also sky high with the price of fertility doubling and tripling within a year (4). According to the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development from January 2007 to January 2008 diammonium phosphate (DAP) prices rose from $252 per ton in January 2007 to $752; prilled urea rose from $272 to $415 per ton; and muriate of potash (MOP) rose from $172 to $352 (5).

However, by the time this season’s agricultural commodities reached the grain elevators and the market, global economic conditions had deteriorated into the current credit crisis and global recession. As a result, commodity prices have plunged and both food producers and consumers are directly in the path of the growing economic storm. As of November 6, 2008 wheat has fallen from a record of $13.495 on Feb. 27, 2008 to $5.225 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Corn has fallen from its peak of $7.9925.5 on June 27, 2008 to $3.38 a bushel. The price of soybeans has also declined from a record $16.3675 on July 3, 2008 to close at $9.06 a bushel (6,7). Farmers have paid large amounts for inputs, but when it comes time to sell they may be out of luck. It is not a slippery slope argument to suggest that if it is significantly unprofitable to grow food due to the contrast between selling price and increasing crop inputs then farms may go out of business and/or plant less acreage. Combine reduced production with thinning global grain reserves and scarcity-based price inflation would be likely.

Now, the icing on the cake for farmers in 2008 and 2009 may be a freeze in the credit market. As many know by now, lenders are very reluctant to give out loans (8). Unfortunately, these yearly loans are something as necessary for modern farms as sun, soil, and water. As the price of inputs keep increasing against the farmer’s collateral (land, equipment, and final crop) it makes the farmer seem like a riskier loan recipient. For those who cannot get loans it will likely mean less land will be planted, and for those farmers and corporations that can secure the loans it means higher interest rates.

As the era and expectation of cheap food and fuel appears over we are facing two competing problems.
(1)How can farmers deal with cheap selling prices while paying increasing inputs? There is so much risk for these operations and their margins are continually tightening.
(2) How can starvation and malnutrition be prevented as the world’s poor are unable to absorb price inflation? Perhaps this is a problem of distribution, poverty, and/ or a fact of limited resources?

1 http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/newsroom/wfp17...
2 http://www.energybulletin.net/node/42563
3 http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_dist_a_epd2d_ptc_cpgal_m.htm
4 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/i-wfp052308.php
5 http://www.roxboro-courier.com/newsnowstories/ts031208-1.htm
6 http://bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/cfutures.html
7 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aox4ZwDlWkvQ&refer=w...
8 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aox4ZwDlWkvQ&refer=w...

Last year we developed a toolset that allowed us to clear an
abandoned baseball field of perennial sod and convert it into a vegetable
producing mini-farm. This petrol-free toolset included a low-wheel cultivator made by Glaser
and a two-foot wide broadfork. It is quite likely that we used these tools
in a more rigorous way then they were intended, (opening new land instead of
working pre-established vegetable beds), yet the tools withstood hours of work
with only a handful of needed repairs. After last year’s experience we consider the combination of the broadfork and the low-wheel cultivator to be an appropriate
toolset for small-scale vegetable cultivation because they efficiently use manual
labor in place of fossil fuel powered equipment to prepare vegetable beds.

This blog will revisit our method for preparing vegetable beds
in light of the fact that we are no longer fighting against tough perennial sod,
and instead, we are removing our over-winter cover crops.

Step 1: Removing Cover Crop

We use a sharp scythe to cut the cover crop off as low to
the ground as possible. Once the crop has fallen we rake up the remains and
cart it off as a nitrogen input to our compost piles. In the earliest part of spring,
we are careful to remove only the cover-crop from the vegetable beds that we immediately
plan to prepare for transplant or direct seeding. This allows the other areas
of cover crop to continue growing as much as possible in the increased
temperatures and daylight hours of spring.

Jason Using Sharp Scythe to Clear Cover Crop

Cover Crop Cut Close to the Ground With Scythe

Step 2: Breaking Ground

After the cover crop has been removed we are left with the
gentle stubble of annual cereals and legumes. We have noticed that the loam soil is
quite soft and easy to work with, and we attribute this to the fact the area we are working was established last year. A prime consideration at this stage of bed preparation
is soil moisture. We want to be careful not to work the soil too wet or we will
remove an unnecessary amount of soil as we cut through the stubble of the annual
cover crops.

Low Wheel Cultivator Cutting Into Soil

Step 3: Loosening the Bed

After the stubble of the previous crop has been broken free
from the soil, the next step is to broadfork the soil. The broadfork is two
feet wide and includes five tines that sink into the soil about ten inches. It
is amazing how much easier it is to broadfork the soil this season than it was
last year. We have changed the width of our beds this year from 5-foot wide beds to
4-foot wide beds. This change has put us into some areas of soil that is
similar to last year when we had to combat the sod. Pushing the broadfork into
the previously worked sections versus the reclaimed sod sections really shows
what one-years-worth of work accomplished for reducing compaction and improving
aeration. Again we want to be aware of soil moisture, so that we do not smear
wet soil together in the prying and lifting action of the broadfork.

Chris Sinking Broadfork into and Prying Down

Step 4: Cross-cut the sod and rake

After the bed has been forked, there are entire clumps that
have been lifted and are uneven. We use the low-wheel cultivator with a 3-tine cultivator attachment to
cross cut the bed and thereby remove the clumps. By the time we are finished with
cross cutting we have up to five inches of loose soil on the surface which
makes a good seedbed. It is also easy to transplant into the newly cross
cut bed. If we intend to seed the bed we rake the surface smooth and make sure
there is no trash that could interfere with the drill-seeder.

Jason Cross-Cutting Bed with Three-Tine Cultivator

We like this toolset because it clears an area of grass or
cover crop and produces a vegetable bed that is suitable for
direct seeding or transplant. In this method the soil remains loose and aerated
up to ten inches and it does not entail the soil disruption of double digging
or rototilling. By making sure to compost the soil and debris that is removed from
the area in which you intend to make a bed, you make a good step toward sustainable
soil management in which no soil is lost and on-site nutrients are cycled back
into the beds in the form of compost.

If you are curious you can click here to check out and contrast our
bed preparation method from last year.

Brookside Farm has accomplished an initial goal of getting
our veggies to young children and into a local institution! North Coast
Opportunities pre-school has agreed to purchase two shares from the CSA at
Brookside Farm. The kitchen staff is looking forward to utilizing fresh farm
produce and cooking according to the harvest season. It is exciting to see that there is demand
for our produce and the goods of a Relocalized food system.

View of North Coast Opportunities Preschool

To meet the demands of the CSA, we set to work preparing our
first beds in order to transplant spinach and lettuce and to direct seed
onions, beets, carrots, lettuce, and parsnips. We removed cover crops with a
scythe, broke the soil with the low-wheel cultivator, loosened the soil with
the broadfork, and cross cut a final time with the low-wheel cultivator in
order to ready vegetable beds. The following is the sowing dates and area for
the crops that we direct seeded.

Direct Seeding Beets by Hand

According to our planting schedule, March was slated to be one
of the most active months in the greenhouse. Lettuce, cabbage, chard, spinach,
kale, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and tomatillo were on the list of a
scheduled 1600 starts. Unfortunately, we had poor germination on many of the
starts that were seeded early in the month (kale, spinach, and cabbage). We
monitored the Max-Min thermometer in the greenhouse and were noticing overnight
lows in the 30 and daily highs in the 70’s. After considering what might have
led to the poor germination and we finally concluded that the average soil temperatures
and nighttime temperatures were too cold. We utilized the warming temperatures
toward the middle of March to catch-up on the plants that did not do so well
earlier in the month and continued to sow starts to remain on pace with our
greenhouse schedule. By the second week of the month we had sown our peppers
and tomatoes in David Drell’s greenhouse. David used electric heating mats to
secure sufficiently warm germination temperatures, and by the end of the month
we had excellent stands of little peppers and tomatoes awaiting transplant from
their seed-flats into four-inch pots. It was amazing to see the difference
between plants started with the heated soil mats and those that fended for
themselves in the early part of March.

Tomatoes and Peppers in Four-Inch Pots

This month we also began a relationship with a local welder
to make adjustments to our low-wheel cultivator and the broadfork. Last year we
had a terrible time shearing off
the bolt that connected the stirrup hoe implement to the low-wheel
cultivator. Kevin, at KLR welding, suggested that he weld a small plate near
the back of where the stirrup hoe connects to the frame. By adding the plate
excess and needless motion has been eliminated, the implement base remains
rigid, and we have significantly reduced the threat of shearing the bolt. We
are also asking Kevin to weld reinforced tines onto the broadfork. This should
make the tines sturdier and less apt to bend and break off as they did last
year.

Glaser Hoe with Metal Block to Limit Excess Movement

Broadfork with Reinforced Tines

As
crude oil reaches record
highs of $110 a barrel, the connection between the cost of food and the
rise in energy prices can no longer be ignored. In a recent
statement, Josette Sheeran, executive director of the UN's World Food
Program, said the global economy had created "a perfect storm for the
world's hungry, caused by high oil and food prices and low food stocks."
Sheeran continues, “Higher food prices will increase social unrest in a number
of countries which are sensitive to inflationary pressures and are
import-dependent. We will see a repeat of the riots we have already reported on
the streets such as we have seen in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Senegal."

Sheeran
notes that food prices have been aggressively increasing to historic highs
and cites four major drivers for this:

1.
The rise in oil and energy prices which affect the entire value chain of food
production from fertilizer to harvesting to storage and delivering and access
to water;

2.
The economic boom in nations such as India and China, creating increased demand
for all commodities including food and forcing China, which was a major food
exporter just a little more than one year ago, to now being an importer of
food;

3.
Increasingly harsh and frequent climatic shocks like hurricanes, floods and
drought, have made for some bad harvests in particular regions like Australia
and regions of Africa;

4.
The shift to increased biofuel production that has diverted hundreds of
millions of metric tons of agricultural output out of the food chain, and has
caused food prices to be set at fuel price levels in many places, including,
for example, palm oil in Africa which is now being priced out of household
reach because it is being set at fuel prices as a biofuel addition.

On
the energy front, Sheeran's claim is supported by recent reports coming from farms
across the globe. Although farmers appear to enjoy record commodity prices, the
recent spikes in the cost of fertilizer
and fuel are eroding gains. Not only has the price
of nitrogen fertilizer risen 113% since 2000, but also potash has risen
from $225 a ton to nearly $500 a ton and increasingly scarce phosphate has gone
from $312 to between $800 and $900 a ton this year. The ingredients of these
fertilizers are often imported to the United States from other countries
and these resources are mined and processed using markedly energy-intensive processes
that consume diesel and natural gas.

In
other news, the world’s
largest poultry processor closed a U.S.
processing plant-cutting 1, 100 jobs. The processor blames record feed prices
and U.S.
ethanol policy for the current industry-wide crisis. Even if you are a
vegetarian, the implication of this news is still hard to hear, as it is illustrates
the fact that agribusiness is designed to grow food in a way that creates high
profit. Once the profit margin is challenged the corporate producers of food
may simply quit the job of growing food.

These
trends should be clear indicators to all of us to reduce consumption of
non-renewable resources and begin to support those that are willing and capable
of producing food, fuel, and organic fertilizer close to where we live. Click here to see if there is a CSA or farm in
your area.

Soybeans hit a 34 year high as drought, increased demand
from China, and falling U.S. stockpiles
drive prices.

Check the article: Soybeans
Rise After Government Cuts U.S. Inventory Forecast

Now, take a look at this graph.

Source: www.biodiesel.org

Notice the change in U.S. biodiesel production from 2004
to 2005 and from 2005 to 2006 and you will see drastic increases in production. Between 2004 and 2005 biodiesel production tripled, and the estimate for 2006 is more than double 2005! A majority of biodiesel in the U.S. is derived from soybeans. During this time, U.S.
stockpiles have been diverted to make increasing amounts of domestic biodiesel.

We are facing increasing global demand of soy for livestock rations, food, cooking oil, and now fuel. Check this out:

Source: http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0608-adm.html

Archer
Daniels Midland has a
plan to increase the production of soy-based biodiesel in Brazil. Where
is all the land coming from to make soy-based biodiesel? You guessed it, the
rainforests-or at least what used to be rainforest. The operation was slated to begin August in
the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Sadly, Mato Grosso is the site of
some of the worst deforestation in the world, and while projected crop
production looks rosy, it is far from clean, green fuel.

The
trouble with planting crops in what used to be the Amazon Rainforest is that
the soil is incredibly low in organic matter. Once the soil is stirred up (as a
result of logging and cultivation), the soil biology quickly consumes the
organic matter. This forces farmers to adopt a no-till system of farming that
leaves crop residue on the surface and uses herbicides to kill the weeds as the
next crop is seeded. No-till cropping systems try to preserve the organic
matter in order to prevent the soil from quickly turning to dust. As you might
expect from agribusiness it relies on substantial fertilizer inputs to prop up
weak soils. While production of soy in Brazil may lower global soy prices,
(for at least a short time), it is creating the biofuel nightmare that
we are all afraid of! Think about it for a moment... Imported biofuel from Brazil, grown
in what was once a rain forest, which utilizes huge amounts of artificial
chemicals and genetically modified seeds. ....Terrifying, don't you agree?

Biofuel initially appealed to “greens” because it seemed
to be a cleaner option. In some
cases biodiesel can be made locally to be utilized by local consumers. From an agricultural
standpoint, biodiesel still appears promising as an energy source to support farm s that will grow the world’s food. However, as consumers, we
must be careful and temper our demand for liquid fuels with an understanding of
the current state of the climate and the global food system. In short, we are
faced with a dwindling food surplus and increasing demand by developing nations,
while at the same time the climate is screaming to get our attention.

As always, we need to think about the way we use liquid fuel
and oils and we need to prioritize the ways in which we use these scarce and
vital resources. It is our responsibility to make choices for the future, and that means
considering what is safe for the earth and the climate. Constant Growth is a False Assumption and if we do not choose to take the implications of climate change,
food, and energy security seriously, we will be forced to address these issues when
we have far fewer options to work with.

For those who want to read more you can click here
to read the article: "Switch to Corn Promotes Amazon Deforestation".
It is from the recent December 2007 volume of Science.

I want to link to an article written by Ann Keller, director
of new services for the American Farm Bureau. The short article discusses the
upcoming expectations for fertilizer production and demand in the United States
and is titled: Harvest
Season Thoughts Turn to Spring Fertilizer Prices.

In short, global supplies are expected to be tight because developing
countries are competing for fertilizer in order to secure yields. If supplies
remain tight, it is going to cost farmers more money to fertilize their crops. As
this article notes, many countries-including the United States,
cannot produce enough local fertilizer to supply their farms. Again, since fertility has
to be imported, the food system is threatened by rising energy prices
for transport and freight. This highlights an intrinsic vulnerability in the
global food system which does not seem to have much flexibility to absorb
disruptions in necessary imports of fuel, food, and fertilizer.

Here are some noteworthy quotes from the article:

--“The U.S.
imported about 57 percent of its nitrogen last year, compared to 31 percent in
the 1999/2000 growing season. One reason for the import increase is rooted in
the price of natural gas, nitrogen fertilizer’s key ingredient. Trinidad, a
tiny island in the Caribbean, has an abundant supply of natural gas, and it
manufactures anhydrous ammonia more cheaply than the U.S. Trinidad is expected
to be this country’s largest supplier of anhydrous for some time to come, while
other popular nitrogen fertilizers such as urea are imported from Russia and Eastern Europe.”

--“While the U.S.
is a major manufacturer and exporter of phosphates, stocks are relatively low
at this time. If disruptions in the manufacture or distribution of these
fertilizers materialize, then the probability of spot market price spikes
increases. More than 90 percent of the potash fertilizer used in the U.S. is imported, the bulk of it from Canada but also some from Russia and the Congo. Given recent flooding that
affected the production of potash, this also suggests supplies may be tight in
2008.”

Over the weekend a group of thinkers working with Post
Carbon Institute have been discussing the mineral content of rain. Often
when we discuss minerals and rain we are talking about the manner in which
minerals and inorganic nutrients are readily leached from the soil. Leaching is when minerals are not able to hold
in the soil and are thus washed out by the natural flow of groundwater. A soil’s
tendency to leach is influenced by the way that the soil is tilled, cropped,
and fertilized.

For instance, inorganic fertilizers provide crops with plant
available nutrients in the form of chemicals like nitrate (NO₃^-).
The problem is that nitrate readily washes out of the soil if the plants are
unable to utilize it before heavy rains. Many farmers are beginning to realize that
heavy fertilizer application in the fall amounts to a waste of money since a majority
of the nutrients are lost by spring due to sever washout by winter rains or
spring snow melt.

Leaching of minerals also occurs when soil is left bare to
face winter rains. In this case, leaching is accompanied by a loss in top soil
from the process of erosion. Imagine rain drops as tiny explosions on bare
soil, blasting minerals loose, collecting in water particles, and flowing away
as surface runoff.

Fortunately, farmers do not need to resign to the fact that
rains always mean a loss in minerals and nutrients. By cover-cropping and the
addition of compost, a farmer can protect the soil from direct rainfall and increase
the organic matter in the soil in the form of root biomass. Roots and organic matter
create a healthy habitat for soil microbes that play a key role in mineralizing
soil nutrients and forming soil aggregates that resist leaching.

One great benefit to having a diverse soil food web of
fungi, bacteria, and protozoa is because organic minerals are “sequestered” in
the biomass/bodies of microbes and recycled through in their metabolic
processes. Instead of washing out of the soil, the minerals actually become the
body of bacteria and fungi! In a series of food chain and energy exchanges the
minerals in the soil are converted from one form to the next; changing from plant
detritus to the body of a soil organism, then to metabolic wastes of that
organism and into plant available forms of, and then consumed and incorporated into
the body of another soil microbe. All these changes occur in and around in the
rhizosphere (root-zone) of plants, and demonstrate an interconnected web of
energy and nutrient cycling and nutrient retention.

Also consider the fact that bacteria and fungi create a natural
glue that sticks to everything. Through the production of “glomulin”, nutrients
are retained and soil aggregates are formed. As organic matter is decomposed, the
biology in the soil help to form stable negatively charged humic (humus)
molecules which bind together with positively charged cat ions, electrically holding
minerals and preventing them from leaching. Important cat ions retained in
colloidal humus particles include: calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium,
and copper.

As you can see, there is a lot happening below the
soil, and farmers and gardeners have an opportunity to utilize cover crops, compost,
soil biology, and appropriate timing of fertilization to prevent soil erosion
and leaching of nutrients.

Broadcasting a Cover Crop of Crimson Clover in October to Protect Bare Soil from Winter Rain

Recently Sown Cover Crop of Legumes mixed with Rye and Barley Provides Root Biomass and Use Boilogy to "Fix" Nitrogen from the air

Unseasonably
dry weather in Kansas, Oklahoma,
and Texas
have farmers concerned about next summer’s yields. Over-winter wheat, sown in
October and November is still awaiting rain before going dormant for the
winter. Common practice is to sow grain and allow autumn rains to germinate the
seed early in hope of establishing a healthy stand before the winter freeze.
However, there are alarming reports that scant November precipitation has seed
lying in the ground un-germinated. With global grain reserves at their lowest
in half a century poor germination is sure to disappoint--likely spelling lower
yields.

A
lower yield from the U.S.
makes many nervous as current demand is outpacing yield and domestic and
international grain reserves continue to decline. When tracking the recent
spike in prices of major agricultural commodities you will find that global
demand for wheat is increasing due to the simple fact that a majority of
nations do not have surplus and must import. Drought, disasters, lack of
domestic production, and the falling value of the U.S. dollar are driving the
demand to import surplus U.S.
grain.

For
instance, Bangladesh
is intent on purchasing 500,000 tons of grain after the recent cyclone
destroyed their stockpiles and crops. Japan,
Taiwan, South Korea, India,
and Pakistan
are also looking to purchase grain this month-and it is no surprise why. These
nations have dense populations that cannot grow enough food within their own
land-base to support the nutritive and energetic demands of their citizens. These
issues are compounded by rising energy prices and shipping cost. Crude oil continues
to flirt with $100 a barrel, and there is little flexibility for importing nations
to avert paying higher prices for ocean freight.

As
this discussion revolves around global food and energy security it appears that
politicians appear focused on their own careers. The tensions between demand
and supply are increasingly influenced by climate uncertainty, advancing
population, and global petroleum dependence.

We
have an opportunity to take these issues seriously by making connections
locally to provide for ourselves in the places we live. This effort is called
Relocalization. Visit the Relocalization
Network to link with groups in your area working to address these issues
and build strong, self-reliant communities.

Also,
check Bloomberg’s report: Wheat
Rises as Drought Hurts Crops in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma

Google has announced a new strategic initiative to develop
electricity from renewable energy sources in order to obtain energy cheaper than that produced from coal. As energy prices and carbon dioxide
emissions continue to rise, Google is setting both an environmental and
economic example by investing their capital to secure their business and their
community. The ambitious program is called “RE<C” or (Renewable Energy Cheaper
than Coal) and aims to demonstrate that large scale renewable energy installations
are cheaper than coal. Larry Page, co-founder of Google says: "With
talented technologists, great partners and significant investments, we hope to
rapidly push forward. Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy
capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in
years, not decades." (One gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco.) Presently, Google is working with two companies
that have promising scalable energy technologies:

eSolar Inc., a Pasadena, CA-based company specializing in
solar thermal power which replaces the fuel in a traditional power plant with
heat produced from solar energy. eSolar's technology has great potential
to produce utility-scale power cheaper than coal. For more information, please
visit http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/esolar.pdf.

Makani Power Inc., an Alameda, CA-based company developing
high-altitude wind energy extraction technologies aimed at harnessing the most
powerful wind resources. High-altitude wind energy has the potential to
satisfy a significant portion of current global electricity needs. For more
information on Makani Power, please visit http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/makani.pdf.

Click here
to read the Google Press Release related to this exciting initiative.