Agriculture Sustainability & History
Sustainable Agriculture
Agriculture History

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Sustainable Agriculture:

No-till and pasture cropping are replacing the plow. Cover crops are becoming one of the primary sources of fertility and disease suppression. Inter-crop and habitat strips are being used to increase fertility and attract parasitic and predator insects. Forage fed animals are more popular as a means to improve our health and increase stability in the face of climate change. Permaculture techniques are advancing soil preservation, carbon sinking and reliability in spite of widely fluctuating weather patterns. Super-foods are being grown more than ever before. But the key to all of these changes is to make the consumer aware of their importance so they can support and encourage these techniques.

Regeneration International - pasture cropping
Australia - pasture cropping
Savanna Institute - Promotes agroforestry in the midwest
Allan Savory at Tufts University
Quivira Coalition Conference - Dr. Miguel Altieri
Cornell University - excellent series showing integrated farming practices
Joel Salatin - soil biology
eOrganic - agricultural trends
RUAF - urban agriculture
Toby Hemenway - the horticultural society
Homestead and Farm Resiliency
Permaculture in Practice
Resilience.org
Australian Organic Farms Tour
Isreali Agriculture
Land Institute
Perennial grains
Univ Chicago - Climate change yield affect

One of the main factors of sustainability is to reduce input costs to a minimum. Then risk is minimized and profit margins become more consistant. Yield may be reduced, but long term sustainability can be increased.

Future decreases in energy availability will probably require greater use of local agriculture just outside the city for the more highly perishable animal products; dairy, whey, eggs, etc. Urban agriculture will become more important again for vegetables, with a need for more efficient growing methods and maximization of nutrition. All of this may even require that populations change their dietary preferences to include more seasonal, perennial based, fermented, and less domesticated foods.

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Agriculture History:

Michael Pollan - Deep Agriculture at Long Now Foundation
Sumarian description of the origins of agriculture
Evolution of agriculture - grains domesticated us
Mysterious origins of corn
Mysterious origins of spelt

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