No-till planting of corn into a cover crop of barley. Photo credit: USDA NRCS. Even as farm commodity prices have been strong, the input costs for industrial farming methods have been increasing. Given a fall in commodity prices, these inputs might not be recovered and these days we’re talking real money to plant a crop. [...]
Tennessee Valley Authority: “Results of Fertilizer — This is a test field of a practical operating farm on which TVA-produced phosphate has demonstrated its ability to encourage the growth of a protective vegetable cover and hence build up soil fertility. The thick growth was treated with a mixture of phosphate and lime; the almost bare [...]
Since fracking technology in this nation advanced beginning in about 2006, the U.S. energy situation has changed so rapidly that markets have yet to adapt. So far, the larger supply of natural gas is increasingly being used to replace coal for electricity generation and it has reduced energy costs for industrial and residential consumers. Current [...]
