This and we need to be growing a more diverse crop in general. This country used to be covered in mature forests with Chestunut trees delivering tons of starchy calories. Now we rely on annual crops of wheat, corn, soy, etc for that. Beyond their need for offsite sources of nutrients, these crops are often farmed with mechanical tillage. This has caused massive amounts of topsoil erosion and led to the encouragement of no-till farming methods.
blovetopia t1_j5zin6n wrote
Reply to comment by jillanco in The world is (on average) 50% reliant on nonrenewable sources of phosphorus fertilizer to grow food. It won't go away this century, but prices will increase and ~3/4ths of reserves are controlled by one country by fartyburly
This and we need to be growing a more diverse crop in general. This country used to be covered in mature forests with Chestunut trees delivering tons of starchy calories. Now we rely on annual crops of wheat, corn, soy, etc for that. Beyond their need for offsite sources of nutrients, these crops are often farmed with mechanical tillage. This has caused massive amounts of topsoil erosion and led to the encouragement of no-till farming methods.