Arizona’s new water rush raising tensions

Posted on July 26, 2015 by GarryRogers

BOWIE — Farmers from California and Arizona are pushing to drill wells and pump unregulated water in Cochise County, triggering intense rivalries and calls for a crackdown.

Some farmers from the drought-parched, increasingly regulated Central Valley of California want to plant pistachios and other crops here, largely to feed China’s growing demand for tree nuts. But others who are already here and pumping water want the state to limit new irrigation. Sourced through Scoop.it from: azdailysun.com

GR: Everyone acknowledges that groundwater is a limited resource that will all be gone one day, but no one acknowledges that the riparian habitats along streams and springs fed by groundwater have either already disappeared or will disappear over the next few years. Such blind ambition is destroying our wildlife. Arizona farmers, “Wealth isn’t just bank balances, it’s also the beauty of our surroundings.”

Six solutions for transforming your balcony into a biodiversity sanctuary

Posted on April 1, 2015 by GarryRogers

Your balcony – a little corner of paradise…

Source: livingcircular.veolia.com

GR: If you live in North America, here’s a good source for beekeeping information: http://www.beeculture.com/directory/find-local-beekeeper/. Beekeeping associations in other parts of the world are listed here: http://honeyo.com/org-International.shtml. You can find more information through the one of the beekeeping forums. Interested? It takes about 30 minutes per hive per week, and 2 hours per hive twice a year to extract honey.

Farmers Fields as Nature-conservation Areas

Posted on March 30, 2015 by GarryRogers

Highly productive agriculture and the protection of biodiversity are hard to reconcile? A joint project involving BASF, farmers and agronomic experts reveals how modern farming can help to protect ecosystems.

Source: www.basf.com

GR: This story is misleading. Yes, farmers could do a better of protecting natural margins of their fields. They could also quit spreading artificial fertilizer and pesticides and pick up their hoes. Of course, they will argue they can’t do that and produce enough food for all the hungry people. The number of hungry people is growing. And this means that farms must grow and natural areas and wildlife must fade away.

Increased farming intensity prompts nutrient spillover

Posted on February 14, 2015 by GarryRogers

FARMERS lose more nutrients into adjacent land as they increase farming intensity, research has found. A study measuring the spillover effects of farm…

Source: www.sciencewa.net.au

GR: There is probably an increase in pesticide runoff as well.

Eating Tilapia is Worse Than Eating Bacon – Dr Axe

Posted on February 3, 2015 by GarryRogers

Fish is a low fat, high protein food that has a range of health benefits. However, given what we know of fish and its sources today, that’s not always true.

Source: draxe.com

GR: Like beef, chicken and pork, farmed fish raised on an unnatural diet of grain is low in healthy omega-3 fatty acids and high in unhealthy omega-6 fatty acids. I don’t think this is worse than bacon, but farmed tilapia should be eaten rarely if at all.

There is more at stake here than human health. Animal farms concentrate animal wastes that pollute soils and nearby streams. In addition to nitrates, the wastes contain antibiotics and other drugs used to prevent disease and accelerate growth. As animal farms grow to keep supplying meat to the growing human population, the environmental impact becomes massive. So, skip the tilapia and other farmed animals. Get your protein from organically grown soybeans.

Climate Change, Drought, and the Fall of California Agriculture

Posted on December 6, 2014 by GarryRogers

California Drought

GR: The California drought is a result of human-caused climate change. As irrigated farmlands decline, supermarket prices will rise, and homegrown produce will become attractive. Though many will lament this blow to Human society and will fight to maintain consumer economics in the produce aisles, others will consider it a just outcome of our own stupidity. Joshua Frank says, “Planting community gardens, growing our own vegetables, and

Mining waste of the land’s productivity.

shopping at local Farmer’s Markets – these are all ways we can survive without relying on the bounty California has provided.” However, this too, like irrigated agriculture, will ultimately fail. Human population growth will continue to overuse natural resources and force a decline in ecosystem stability and productivity. In the battles for fresh water and good soil, the blows to Human society will be massive and irreversible.

The following by Joshua Frank.

California Agriculture

“Thanks to cheap water and plentiful sunshine, California grows most of the US’s fruit, vegetables and nuts, writes Joshua Frank. But with the drought looking ever more permanent, the $40 billion industry is facing a terminal crisis. It’s only a matter of time before we have to rely on local produce – so let’s make a start now!

“Agriculture accounts for over 80% of California’s total water consumption. The future of the state’s big ag is grim. It’s a reality the entire country will have to face.

Invasive species of animals and plants in the Great Basin Desert

Wild horses on a Great Basin Deseert landscape denuded by domestic cattle.

“It’s bone dry in California, and as I wrote in a recent print issue of CounterPunch magazine, it’s likely to remain that way for a long, long time thanks to our warming climate.

“The melting ice in the Arctic is manipulating the jet stream off the coast, pushing winter storms out of California. By many accounts the California water crisis is in its infancy and we are only beginning to witness the many changes the state will face as a result.”

Go here for an explanation of the California drought.

Go here for the rest of the article: Climate change and the downfall of California’s big agriculture – The Ecologist.

Water costs up 1,000% where half of US fruits, vegetables and nuts grow

Posted on August 5, 2014 by GarryRogers

Drought and Human Demand Wiping Out Natural Water Resources

GR: The rising cost of vegetables and the crops fed to livestock may alter the diets of the expanded mass of poor people in the US. The real impact, however, is the drying of springs and ponds used by wildlife. Drought and human competition for water will shove many species farther toward extinction.

1-IMG_1993 Rising Costs for Urbanites

NaturalNews: “It is not as if there aren’t any economic factors influencing the price of groceries these days. Transportation alone, thanks to skyrocketing fuel prices, has lifted the cost of everything we buy at the grocery store. Now, one of the worst droughts in U.S. history is making the one thing absolutely vital for food production — an ample water supply — more expensive as well, and that, ultimately, will translate into even higher prices at the market.

“To set the stage, back in February the U.S. Bureau or Reclamation released its first outlook of the year, in which the agency found insufficient water stocks in California to release to farmers for irrigation. That was the first time in the 54-year history of the State Water Project that had happened.

“If it’s not there, it’s just not there,” said Water Authority Executive Director Steve Chedester, who noted that it would be tough finding water in the coming year or more. Farmers were to be hardest hit, the official added, stating, “They’re all on pins and needles trying to figure out how they’re going to get through this.”

“One way to deal with the drought is for farmers to plant fewer fields, which would mean that early on there would be fewer crops; in the law of supply and demand, when supply is reduced but demand remains high, prices rise.”