North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Thomas Olenio <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hi,

If you think that US farmers complain about unfair competition head north
and listen to Canadian farmers.

Tom

--
Thomas Olenio
Ontario, Hardiness Zone 6a

On Fri, 20 Apr 2001 jhecksel@voyager.net wrote:

> Wow!  Treacherous ground.  This could turn into a lively thread.
> 
> I have read commentary about US farmers complaining about "unfair"
> competition from Argentina, etc.  They do not have the same input
> costs.  They accept lower yields by having more acres in rotation.
> They make their money by producing commodities at the lowest possible
> costs.  All those chemical inputs cost cash-money.  In hard currency.
> They avoid buying N by growing alfalfa for a few years.  Grow one or
> two years of maize.  Then a year or two of small grains.  Then
> soybeans.  Then back to alfalfa.  The rotation reduces disease
> problems.
> 
> US farmers cannot afford this approach because he/she has high fixed
> costs (property, equipment) and debt that he/she must service.
> 
> > from todays "Nature"
> >
> <snip>
> >
> >   Although Reganold's study finds that this is certainly not the
> case
> > for growing Golden Delicious  in Washington, it does not necessarily
> > imply that organic farming is more environmentally and  economically
> > sound for other types of agriculture in other regions, he admits.
> >
> >                             Dennis Avery, director of the Center for
> > Global Food Issues in Churchville, Virginia argues that  this is a
> > persistent problem with research hailing the benefits of organic
> > systems.
> >
> >     "The real issue of sustainability doesn't have a lot to do with
> > intensive fruit and vegetable    production," says Avery. He argues
> > that it is the large-scale production of staple crops like  wheat,
> > corn, rice and wood that have the greatest impact on whether or not
> > agriculture is environmentally and economically sustainable and that
> > organic methods cannot produce sufficient  yields in these crop
> > systems to compete with conventional methods. "Organic field crops
> > are 50 to 60 percent less productive per acre," says Avery.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
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> 
> 
> 


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