Sound farm practices which have been known for generations can keep land productive. When fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are needed, they can be applied with moderation and at peak season where they will do the most good. They can be rotated, just like crops, so the land or the crop doesn't become addicted to them, and so pests don't develop resistance.

But with the pressure to increase production, and narrower profit margins, we're breeding all the reserve capacity and resilience out of the biological systems we depend on. In the Depression, government farm agents taught farmers about windbreaks, contour plowing, crop rotation and other low-cost, low-tech techniques to fight dustbowl conditions. Now they tear down the windbreaks and plow in straight lines because it uses the machinery more efficiently.

The stumbling block is cost. All the traditional methods cost more per bushel and per head, and the pressure on farmers is to max out yields, or go under. The folks who sell them these products will do whatever it takes to see that any methods which cut into their sales will be fought tooth and nail.

"Control of animal wastes", "monitoring of septic and sewage systems", "careful industrial practices"...well, that means regulation, doesnt it? More government interference into our freedoms, eh?

We are now seeing patented, designer seeds that give phenomenal yields, but it forces you to buy certain fertilizers and other chemicals tailored for them that make up for the natural weaknesses in those extremely hybridized and genetically modified varieties. The same goes for livestock. Did you hear about the salmonella scandal in the turkey industry in today's news? Saturation of the birds with antibiotics is creating resistant strains of common bugs. Consumers who eat turkeyburgers are getting food poisoning. And the pressure is on to reduce the number of Federal food safety inspectors. And guess who holds the patents on all those wonder products?

It's like thoroughbred racehorses. We can breed them to run real fast, but they're stupid, fragile, get sick at the drop of a hat, and are nervous and temperamental. They can't survive without constant attention. This isn't about farming anymore, its about business. We're mining the land and fishing with dynamite.