Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

CLA - I have no clue. ACT is aerated compost tea, but his sweeping claim
that "Without ACT it takes a lot of water just to keep the grass growing"
is false advertising. It's a claim that compost tea is essential,
necessary, to grassland. Coming from someone selling the tea machines, I
consider it a deceptive trade practice. 

And that claim that "Test were made where ACT and water was applied equally
to side by side areas.  The ACT area thrived green  while the water only
area suffered damage from drought" is not based on any independent,
controlled studies where the same amount of water was applied to both plots
and both plots were identical in organic matter, cover crop history, and
rainfall. Where's the independent verification? Suspiciously missing.  

Personally, I don't ridicule claims that the bacteria in compost tea may
add something to soil nutrients in some way, but these exaggerated or false
claims (including disease resistance) to sell the machines are a disservice
to all of us trying to learn better ways of growing. In fact, foliar
feeding with compost tea has been found in some cases to cause plant
disease. And again, I can't claim to be an expert at all, but I simply
don't have the time or money to waste on things that can't be supported by
reliable evidence or long-proven, widespread practice. And of course no one
can accuse us of keeping anyone else from trying it. 

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only
those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about
it. 
   - Aldo Leopold in  Round River, 1933
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 6/21/2006 at 10:23 AM Greg and April wrote:

>Ok, I have been looking at this message for a week now and still can't
>figure out what CLA and ACT is.    Can someone give me a clue?
>
>Greg H.
> 
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: Robert Norsen 
>  To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing 
>  Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 0:16
>  Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] the myth of America feeding the world/
>wasCompost tea and bugs in a jug
>
>
>  I have to agree with some of your message, Paul.   Feeding cattle grain
>and hay is a severe waste. Meat in general is not efficient calories for
>people.  
>
>  Some problems with solving the entire problem by eliminating beef.
>  Beef or other meat is essential in human diet.  We need less than we eat
>of course.
>  The market is not going to give  up beef easily
>  Normal pasture grass produces on typical beef cattle, 1 pound of added
>weight per day.  
>  It takes a long season, lots of water, huge area to produce an animal
>ready to send to the feed lot.  Yes the feed lot is an atrocity both for
>humane animal treatment, degrading to look at or breath down wind and can
>creat some of the most dread diseases, fails to incorporate CLA in the
>"finished" beef.   So the product is sadly not good food.   
>
>   Without ACT it takes a lot of water just to keep the grass growing.
>  One advantage of ACT in addition to deep roots and slime that saves
>water, when plants are short of nutrients they pump more water in an
>effort to sustain nutrients for plant growth.  Bacteria at the roots, by
>being eaten by protozoa, feed the plant roots efficiently.  The plants
>there by need and  use less water.  Proof?  Test were made where ACT and
>water was applied equally to side by side areas.  The ACT area thrived
>green  while the water only area suffered damage from drought.  
>
>  Act provides more efficient food production.
>  Betsy Ross reported 2 to 4 times the weight gain per day.
>  The grass, with ACT is building the soil, building deep roots etc,  not
>detroying the soil.
>  The ACT enriched grass is good enough to market directly from the
>pasture.  Much more efficient.
>  Much more economically useful to the rancher.  
>  Eliminates need for expensive, vile feed lots.    
>  Elliminates the hazard of some dread disease.
>  Would squash, tomatoes, corn, beets potatoes etc...  produce more food
>calories per acre?.
>  With more water, more labor,  heavy loads of fertilizer -  Would we be
>more than self sufficient for food if we grew, marketed and ate more
>garden stuff, less meat?  Of course.  Can ACT help make meat more
>efficient, better food, less imposition on the land?   Looks that way.    
>  Saves one helluva lot of oil and CO2 by elimination of hay, grain,
>growing, harvesting, transport.
>
>  There will be ridicule that ACT can't do all of this and it ain't 
>proven.  Well  like Tom, one very capable contributor, adds at the end of
>his message -
>
>  " Those who say it can't be  done, please step out of the way of those
>who are doing it!!"
>
>  Science long ago proved that a bumble bee can't fly.  But not being
>aware of that the Bumble Bee  does fly and makes a little honey every day
>too.  That is more than you or I can do!!
>
>
>
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