Nutrient Management and Edge Conference Day 1
Agriculture farm politics soil healthI am in Memphis attending the Nutrient Management and Edge of Field Conference. The conference kicked off with a symposium on healthy soils and healthy waters. The morn started with academic research reports. The afternoon moved to much more interesting topics as farmers and other discussed healthy soils from a more practical standpoint. lames Moseley of Agree a food and agriculture policy group summed up the afternoon discussing policy and summing things up. Mosey speculated that 25% of the yield increase needed to feed 9 million people would come from improving soil quality. The farmer presentations were very compelling with the notion that such an increase is possible. He also asked who would lead. He thinks that government leadership is a bad idea. He suggested that individuals will need to step forward. Moseley discussed regulation and the idea that farmers need to avoid regulation by implementing god management on their own. I would add that the reason we need to avoid regulation is that regulations limit our ability to manage a dynamic system. We need the flexibility to address issues as they present themselves. Andrew Sharply of Arkansas pointed out that they are no cookie cutter methods to solve every soil quality and water quality issue.
