Posts by Farmer Green
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Of course, and it is intended that people should continue to focus on the banks of the streams, while remaining unaware of the diffuse pollution entering the stream through groundwater. The problem is NITRATE from urine deposited in excess of the anion exchange capacity of the soil at some distance from the stream.
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to SteveH,
Comments from the British Met office:
Q.2 “Second, tell me what this says about the models used by the IPCC and others which have predicted a rise of 0.2 degrees celsius per decade for the 21st century. I accept that there will always be periods when a rising gradient may be interrupted. But this flat period has now gone on for about the same time as the 1980 – 1996 warming.”
The models exhibit large variations in the rate of warming from year to year and over a decade, owing to climate variations such as ENSO, the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation. So in that sense, such a period is not unexpected. It is not uncommon in the simulations for these periods to last up to 15 years, but longer periods are unlikely.
Q.3 “Finally, do these data suggest that factors other than CO2 – such as multi-decadal oceanic cycles – may exert a greater influence on climate than previously realised?”
We have LIMITED observations on multi-decadal oceanic cycles but we have known for some time that they may act to slow down or accelerate the observed warming trend. In addition, we also know that changes in the surface temperature occur not just due to internal variability, but are also influenced by “external forcings”, such as changes in solar activity, volcanic eruptions or aerosol emissions. Combined, several of these factors could account for some or all of the REDUCED warming trend seen over the last decade – but this is an area of ONGOING research.
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Farmer Green,
Thanks for those links Chris and Ben.
This is the biggest effort that FG has put into a blog on agriculture in this country; FG chose to respond here because he thought there were likely more with a somewhat jaundiced view here. So probably he was just giving the arguments another test -run to see if anyone picks a fatal hole (unlikely), but more importantly to check the palatability to an urban population. -
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to BenWilson,
Yes , there is a website and a facebook page, but FG deliberately left them out of the discussion, mainly for self-protection (not in respect of anyone on here). That is also the reason why FG uses an alias, both here and on several more international blogs.
But what Farmer Green does is considered very radical by modern farmers, radically retrograde in fact ,whereas FG himself regards his operation as typical of the 100 or so years of agriculture before the last 50 years.
Suggesting to dairy farmers that they (in agregate) produce the same amount of milk every day of the year would attract only disbelief that anyone could be so stupid.
Out there in dairyland the opinion is that FG 's 550 acres with an EBIT/Ha to rival anybody's (except the dope-growers) is "not a serious operation". We laugh about that comment a lot.
Here’s something that just caught FG’s eye :
“The Waikato River (one of our dirtier ones) runs at less than 0.1 milligrams of nitrate /litre. The River Thames in England runs at 7mg/litre- 70 times more- but it was O.K. for the Queen.
Our MOST polluted rivers are TWICE as good as the AVERAGE in Europe, North America and Asia”.Just putting things into a scientific perspective.
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to mccx,
Getting better environmental performance out of farming doesn’t just take farmers, it requires change in the sector and government as well.
Individual farmers can change out of enlightened self-interest, even in the face of disparagement , isolation, or any other discouragement, provided that they can summon the personal resources needed to overcome adversity.
Getting change over the whole industry is another problem altogether.
Farmer Green has hosted all manner of industry commentators , punters, operators, educators, regulators, farm advisors, veterinarians, agronomists, economists, students , sharemilkers conferences, farm discussion groups etc. over the years. He did that for his own purpose which was to subject his operation to the most discerning critics in order to expose any weaknesses that might halt his progress.
It is possible that some farmers have been encouraged to make similar changes as a result of encountering FG’s operation ; FG wouldn’t know.Farmer Green has always held that he could have made a bigger impact by engaging in conspicuous consumption, arriving at the local saleyards in the most expensive cars etc. because that sort of behaviour does elicit curiosity; -“where’s he getting all that money from” . “I think I'll drive home past his farm and see what he’s doing”. That is one way that change occurs in rural communities.
But FG rarely goes anywhere, and doesn’t have much inclination to change that.
Another way is to have a big retail presence with one’s products; even farmers have to go to the supermarket sometimes. But when one has a pull -marketing strategy there is no big ticket display/ advertising to draw attention to what is being done.
And a presence on blogs such as this has little impact if any, even if other farmers were to stumble upon it.
As Gary Taylor of EDS somewhat obliquely suggested in media today, stocking rate limits will have to come into force sooner rather than later , because that single factor limitation will also limit nitrogen fertiliser use , bought in feed, and will reduce soil damage from treading.
It's a good start, but there needs to be a carrot too. -
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to mccx,
We may have very different ideas about the nature of education; diametrically opposite perhaps.
FG regards education as a drawing out process, e-ducare,(L) to lead from; to draw out.Whereas you seem to regard it as a process of imparting “knowledge”. I may be reading too much into your comment.
Farmers want to do better ; they have the potential to do better ; they can find the means to do so within themselves. It is there to be drawn out; dangling carrots will help their progress towards a new paradigm. But they have to create that paradigm themselves if they are really going to own it, and tailor it to their individual situations.
As you observe , any other sort of approach would be seen as arrogant.
It is actually impossible for an outsider , even another farmer , to understand the intricacies of an individual farm . Alan Savory’s book ” Wholistic Resource Management” devoted a lot of space to this problem. Even teams of multi-disciplinary analysers could not arrive at the same view as the view held by someone inside the farm “organism”. -
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to mccx,
Have you ever thought that education would be a more useful tool for promoting change than anything that you have suggested above?
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Hard News: Environmental league tables…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Direct population control is not on the table; neither should it be.
The available evidence suggests that lifting women in developing countries out of poverty, and providing them with a good education , are initiatives that will go a long way in the desired direction. -
Hard News: Environmental league tables…, in reply to Euan Mason,
Sorry that was ambiguous ; I meant that discussion of population levels appears to be a taboo subject. It is the very obvious elephant in the room isn’t it?
Or is that too agricultural a perspective?
It is somewhat peculiar that the discussion in dairying rightfully is centred on stocking rate. i.e. stock units/Ha but the discussion in relation to human emissions (“anthropogenic” – ring a bell?) is never about population. We had economists last week proposing 15 million for Godzone. Is that what we want?
We do still have a choice here."The result is that NZ is not changing".
It is obvious to Farmer Green that agriculture is changing, but fails to see the opportunity that this change presents to it.
Farmer Green sees absolutely no evidence of change in urbanity; only finger-pointing and heel-dragging. -
Hard News: Environmental league tables…, in reply to Euan Mason,
and a rapid expansion of our population during the last 15 years has made it difficult to control our GHG emissions,
Taboo!