Regenerating Grasslands

As a follow on from the story last week - Ideas to Save the World - this is a video of Tony Lovell presenting the facts behind managed grazing and how it can mop up CO2. A short excerpt, but you can see how powerful and obvious the message really is. And this is a run down of the managed grazing thesis on Farmonline.

Young Farmers Emerging

The wave of young farmers on tiny organic farms is too new and too small to have turned up significantly in USDA statistics, but people in the farming world acknowledge there's something afoot. For these new farmers, going back to the land isn't a rejection of conventional society, but an embrace of growing crops and raising animals for market as an honorable, important career choice.  "There's very little to do for educated college graduates besides sit in a cubical and punch (a) computer all day. Small-scale farming is management-intensive. It's an incredibly intellectual exercise, but you're also getting your hands in the dirt - that's why it's so attractive. There's a hunger for that." What a feel good story.

From Farm to Hospital

A growing alliance of US doctors and food advocates say organic, fresh food is healthier, and local, sustainable food practices reduce pollution and contamination, which will ultimately lead to fewer health problems. The movement aims to put farmers markets outside the hospitals. The Balanced Menus campaign asks hospitals to reduce their overall meat purchases by 20%, then use the cost savings to buy only free-range, hormone-free meat from local ranches. Wow! And check out this idea...

The county's Food System Alliance recently hosted a "speed dating" event recently where farmers and hospital staff had five minutes to talk. Farmers told hospitals what they grew; hospitals told farmers what they wanted to buy. The group will check next month to see if any of the connections grew to full romances.  

Coal to Fertiliser

I was initially thrilled to read that Victorian coal would be converted to fertiliser. I was thinking that someone had finally seen the sense in using coal to put carbon back into soils (as humates), instead of blowing it off to the atmosphere. Alas, the story was in fact about turning coal into gas to produce ammonia - oh dear!! Extraordinary given that nitrogen is naturally so plentiful, but carbon is our real limitation.

Soil Organic Dynamics Symposium Summary

Carbon stocks in peat soils are much larger than previously understood. That makes soil the largest actively cycling pool of carbon - more than quadruple the amount of carbon in vegetation and more triple that in the atmosphere. And in Czechsolvakia they have found that the more biodiversity in a pasture, the more carbon was found in the soil. The most species-rich grasslands had roughly double the carbon of their species-poor counterparts. And numerous researchers are reporting on optical soil-carbon sampling techniques that allow quantification of soil-carbon levels with much greater confidence.

Carbon Trading Criminals

Its already showing up in developing countries - organised crime wrapped around carbon trading. It has been suggested that emissions trading could end up providing a bigger headache for the Australian Federal Police than tax fraud. Criminals could cheat the carbon market by fudging readings from emissions meters, bribing auditors or fiddling with the pollution baselines for projects.

Its Not Just CO2

Using prehistory data researchers have concluded that other feedback or forcing mechanisms must have contributed the greater portion of the warming effect - not just CO2. "...our results imply a fundamental gap in our understanding of the amplitude of global warming associated with large and abrupt climate perturbations."

La Nina Linked to Solar Cycle

New research by US scientists shows that maximum solar activity and its aftermath have impacts on earth that resemble La Niña and El Niño events in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Establishing a key link between the solar cycle and global climate in this research answers some of the longstanding questions about the impact of the solar cycle on global climate. [Reading this you get an incredible sense that so little is actually known]

Climate Change or Pollution

Scientists in California have set up a unique experiment to track the life histories of some of the world's oldest and tallest trees. The project is designed to follow up research, in the Yosemite National Park, which suggests that giant trees are perishing as a result of climate change.

But perhaps the problem is more tangible than that - pollution? National Park Service scientists say increasing levels of nitrogen-rich ammonium might be causing changes in plants and animals. In recent decades polluted air has found its way to many national parks, detected by a network of air and precipitation monitors.

Climate Change and Science

A wonderful essay on climate change and the perplexing messages coming from the scientists - both for and against (and perhaps in between). So what is the 'real' yardstick for 'real' science? Who is right? The comments below this article are worth reading as well.

Banning Bottled Water

The story of a town banning the sale of bottled water is more interesting than at first suspected. It didn't start as an environmental crusade, but rather it started when a bottling company sought permission to extract millions of liters of water from the local aquifer. "So the idea was floated that if we don't want an extraction plant in our town, maybe we shouldn't be selling the end product at all."

Tracking Rubbish

Thousands of pieces of household rubbish are to be tracked using sophisticated mobile tags. It is hoped that making people confront the final journey of their waste will make them reduce what they throw away.

Swapping One Toxin for Another

A new pesticide called methyl iodide could replace methyl bromide as the primary pest-fighter used by US strawberry farmers. But the would-be replacement is a highly volatile carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent with very little scientific research. Yet some acknowledge that there are safer ways to fight pests and disease. "It's all about managing the soil." And its already working and proving itself.

Chemical Records Withheld

The taskforce established to investigate two-headed fish larvae spawned at a Noosa fish hatchery has been denied access to crucial chemical spray records from three farms at the centre of contamination claims. [Gosh, is there something to hide?]

Sniffing out Bedbugs

Sure, a lot of canines are trained to sniff out bombs, drugs or dead bodies, but Gracie can go to an apartment door and smell if there's a bedbug or live bedbug eggs inside. 

Banning Antibiotics in Livestock

The Obama administration announced that it would seek to ban many routine uses of antibiotics in farm animals in hopes of reducing the spread of dangerous bacteria in humans. The Union of Concerned Scientists has estimated that as much as 70% of antibiotics used in the United States is given to healthy chickens, pigs and cattle to encourage their growth or to prevent illnesses. The use of antibiotics for "purposes other than for the advancement of animal or human health should not be considered judicious use."

Un-Regulating GM Corn

The agricultural giant, Syngenta, has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to grant its new genetically modified corn for ethanol a non-regulated status. This means that the company's new seeds could be grown without management or geographic restrictions across the country. But some say it is inevitable that food corn will be contaminated. Also, the enzymes in Syngenta's genetically engineered corn survive at very high temperatures so they do not breakdown during baking and other food processing.

GM Wheat by Next Year

Australian researchers expect to have genetically modified salt tolerant cereal lines in the paddock for trials next year.

Monsanto Buys Up Wheat Germplasm

Monsanto has decided to expand its biotechnology seeds and traits portfolio to include wheat which it had previously abandoned. To that end it has just purchased a premier private wheat germplasm company in the United States, with germplasm assets in all classes of wheat.

Organic Rice Production More Profitable

An experiment in the Phillippines compared the economic response and yield of three systems of rice production, and concluded that organic methods were not only more profitable, but more fruitful. The results boosts the government's go-organic program to convince farmers to veer away from the excessive use of harmful chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Turning Softwood into Hardwood

Softwood is quicker to grow and arguably more environmental - but is generally not as durable for outdoor uses. Two companies have started marketing a treated softwood that overturns these problems. The products are completely recyclable, environmentally friendly and create woods that are actually harder than most tropical hardwoods.

Greening the Sahara Desert

The evidence is limited and definitive conclusions are impossible to reach but recent satellite pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in retreat. It could be that an increase in rainfall has caused this effect.

Shifting Water to Create a Desert Sea

Turkmenistan has launched the latest stage of a plan to channel water across thousands of kilometres of desert to create a vast inland sea. The lake will be filled with drainage water from the country's cotton fields. But critics say the water will be full of fertiliser and insecticides, and will evaporate quickly.

Changing the Sea

Bill Gates' next technological vision is giant ocean-going tubs that fight hurricanes by draining warm water from the surface to the depths, through a long tube. A second tube could simultaneously suck cool water from the depths to the surface. As many as 200 vessels could be placed strategically in the predicted path of a hurricane, and they could be designed to be reused or to sink in place and decompose underwater. [I wonder if the ocean's plastic soup has been factored in these plans?]

Water Regulation

Proposed US legislation would leave no surface water unregulated, including standing rainwater and the creeks that flow behind some city businesses. If the bill passes, its been said that farmers and ranchers would need permits for ponds and to dig ditches. [Is this a sign of the future for us too?]

Trading Virtual Water

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange predicts that one day water will trade on commodities exchanges just like crude oil and wheat. The notion of trading water like pork bellies also reflects how rapidly new markets are emerging around water - in its conservation, treatment, pricing and whatever other niches entrepreneurs can tap. [Nature step aside, the entrepreneur is on the march to save us]

White Roofs Save Energy

Special white roof coating deflects nearly 85% of the heat that hits it, reducing the surface temperature by as much as 50 degrees. That means less energy is needed to cool the interior, cutting air-conditioning costs and carbon emissions. The reflective component is most effective in sun-saturated regions like the Southwest. But it could lead to higher heating bills in the winter because the sun's warmth can't permeate the roof. [I note that the new paint uses teflon in it....]

Electric Car Comeback

By some accounts, the next 10 years will see as many as 1.6 million electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles zipping around California, in what is shaping up to be the USA's e-car proving ground. But utilities are working feverishly to put infrastructure standards in place.

World's First Hydrogen Car

Apparently this is the world's first hydrogen powered car from riversimple in the UK.  

Biodynamics in Northern NSW

A few of us in northern NSW are aiming to host a practical 2-day biodynamic workshop with Hamish Mackay of Biodynamics2024 in the Inverell district in February 2010, and would like to convince our CMA of the interest and benefits of hosting such a course....if you would be interested, could you contact me and I will take a list of interested names to the appropriate people within our CMA. 

Caroona Coal Action Group

I missed the 4 Corners story, The Good Earth, Monday which gave a resounding endorsement of CCAG and the community blockade. I leaves you wondering what rights humans really are left with over corporations - especially when a needy government is involved....Check out the Caroona Coal Action Group website - was a great community effort.

The ABC put together a lovely summary of recent events - which highlights the money and politics involved. As stated: The mining companies fear that by excluding the Liverpool Plains, a dangerous precedent could be set that could keep them off other valuable mining land.

Uranium Mining and Farming

Uranium and coal seam gas mining have been flagged as next boom mining industries for Queensland. According to federal Resources and Energy Minister "We also have to think about the fact there are 1.4 billion people in the world who do not have access to electricity." [I would have thought food might be a higher priority!]

Bionutrient Update

Bionutrient Solutions have put together a winter crop update with a focus on using sap analysis (and understanding what it all means). Calcium is showing up as one of the limiting factors this season, though phosphorus and nitrogen are showing up strong.  BNS 17th July 09 22/07/2009,19:15 264.97 Kb

BFA Auditors Training Course

There has been a change in the dates for this course advertised in the newsletter back on 30th June. It is now to be held in Albury 1st - 5th September.   Auditor Course 09 28/07/2009,22:59 257.10 Kb

The Business of Farming Course

PrincipleFocus will be running it's last Business of Farming Course for 2009 at Dubbo, NSW and Ballarat VIC 27-31 July.   This course is approved under the FarmReady Reimbursement Grant program.  Eligible participants are able to claim up to $1500 per financial year to attend, with additional funding available for associated reasonable travel, accommodation and childcare expenses. They guarantee more profit, or your investment will be refunded in full!!! Now you can't do better than that...

Pasture Cropping Field Day

There have been a couple of cancellations  for the Pasture Cropping workshop in Inverell 28th - 29th July, meaning places are still available for the 2-day Pasture Cropping course next week. The course is sponsored by Border Rivers-Gwydir CMA and is free (usually $500+). The 2-day course is presented by Col Seis and Angus Maurice. Phone Drew McCudden on 67288038.

Free Sustainable Farming Workshops

1. Managing Land Holistically, Bunyah Hall 5th August. Presented by Brian Wehlberg and covering: Understanding ecosystem functions that underpin production on the farm; Holistic approach to goal setting & decision making;  Using proactive biological monitoring to support management decisions. Contact Joël Dunn 6591 7317 by 3rd August.

2. On-farm Composting Workshop, Bunyah 13th August. Covering: Making your own compost from local materials; Principles of compost making; Practical demonstration of compost preparation; Using compost for sustainable soil improvement. Contact Joël Dunn 6591 7317 by 11th August.  Sustainable Workshops Aug 09 22/07/2009,23:09 244.79 Kb

Health

Parkinson's and a Pesticide

Researchers found the pesticide beta-HCH in 76% of people with Parkinson's, compared with 40% of healthy controls and 30% of those with Alzheimer's. The chemical is a component of Lindane, a pesticide which has been banned in Britain since 2000, but stays in the body for decades.

Nutrasweet is Poisonous

In 2005, a rigorous three year study on 1,800 rats concluded that aspartame causes significant increases in lymphoma and leukemia and is a multi-potential carcinogen. A second study entirely verified the first one, yet the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced in April that, "there is no indication of any genotoxic or carcinogenic potential of aspartame."

Microwave Concerns

The prevailing consensus among scientists, public health experts, government agencies and the general public is that microwave ovens are overwhelmingly safe when used as directed. However, it's also true that there may be some legitimate questions about the safety of certain aspects of the technology, beyond the paranoia of the tin-foil hat crowd.

Seeking Parasitic Worms for Asthma

Jasper Lawrence so desperately wanted to be infected with a hookworm that he traveled to Africa and walked barefoot alongside open latrines in Cameroon to get one. Within a few months, his asthma and allergy symptoms dissipated. He is now going into business selling parasitic worms to people hoping to temper autoimmune conditions such as asthma, allergies, Crohn's disease, colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Swine Flu Vaccine

Can history repeat itself? Remember back in the 1970s where vaccines were pushed onto the market with little research, and lots of fear based advertising, which all ended up with more deaths from the vaccine than the flu? Isn't that exactly what is happening again? A fast-tracked swine flu vaccine was promptly ordered this June, and will be available as early as this month...all coming from the same company that patented this particular flu virus nearly a year before it had even been heard of (and first discovered near their Mexican experimental flu vaccine lab site) - the same company that contaminated recent flu vaccinations with live Avian flu...

Thimerosal Connections

A secret meeting among federal officials and pharmaceutical industry representatives was held in June 2000 to discuss a new study that found thimerosal in vaccines appeared to be responsible for a dramatic increase in autism and other neurological disorders in children. The next two days were spent discussing how to cover up the damaging data and "According to transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many at the meeting were concerned about how the damaging revelations about thimerosal would affect the vaccine industry's bottom line." 

Milk is Not Calcium

The words "milk" and "calcium" are often used interchangeably in the popular press. But while milk is a calcium source, it is one of the lower sources. Yogurt has more calcium than milk and is easier to digest. Collards and other greens also have about as much or more calcium than milk by the cup. Greens, unlike milk, have the added benefit of vitamin K, also necessary for strong bones. Sesame is also very high in calcium.

The Drug Approval Process

So how are pharmaceutical drugs tested before going to market? Is the FDA's role to protect people from unsafe medications? Remember, the FDA does no tests of its own - it relies on industry claims and their science. And then there are laws now set up to block any means of consumer protection. And beware synthetic antibiotics, often it takes years to connect the symptoms to the drug, but the damage is for life!

Cartoon

Miscellaneous

Ever had that sinking feeling that the dice are loaded - and not in your favour? If you have, you certainly would not be alone. For while most of the world grapples with unemployment, sluggish demand and the best way to scrape through the Global Financial Crisis, an elite group of individuals has never had it better.  The US investment bank Goldman Sachs this week produced a record $US3.4 billion ($4.25 billion) in the 12 weeks to the end of June based, not on cost cutting, but a surge in revenue.

Events

The calendar is playing up, so most of the links below are directed back to other websites where possible or to a contact email address. If there are no links, look to the related article above. 

* Pasture Cropping Field Day - Inverell NSW 28th - 29th July 2009.

* The Business of Farming Course - Dubbo NSW 27th - 31st July 2009.

* The Business of Farming Course - Ballarat Vic 27th - 31st July 2009.

* Managing Land Holistically - Bunyah NSW 5th August 2009.

* On-Farm Composting Workshop - Bunyah NSW 13th August 2009.

* BFA Auditor's Course - Albury NSW 1st - 5th September 2009.

Postscript

Su Wong marries Lee Wong. The next year, the Wongs have a new baby.

The nurse brings over a lovely, healthy, bouncy, but definitely a Caucasian, WHITE baby boy.  

'Congratulations,' says the nurse to the new parents. 'Well Mr. Wong, what will you and Mrs. Wong name the baby?'

The puzzled father looks at his new baby boy and says, 'Well, two Wong's don't make a white, so I think we will name him...

Are you ready for this?

Sum Ting Wong