The Business of Agriculture - No Till Farming Makes a Lot of Sense Most of the Time

The Business of Agriculture - No Till Farming Makes a Lot of Sense Most of the Time

The Business of Agriculture - No Till Farming Makes a Lot of Sense Most of the Time

Water is a necessity when it comes to agriculture. Just ask anyone who is along the Mekong River as it leaves China, the water doesn't flow most of the year any more, not at all, no water. Why? Well, drought issues, plus, China has put in tons of hydro-electric dams on the upper river. It's a major issue, not only for those who live along the river to fish, and need water to irrigate, but to drink also. Now they must dig wells, which is fine for a while.

This just underscores the future of agriculture around the world. And just because we live in abundance in the US doesn't mean we are not without risk. In fact, the Ogallala Aquifer is challenged due to the discharges for farming and city water to the point that eventually it could someday run dry. In some areas it already has, for instance along the WY - Nebraska borders.

What's the solution? Some believe that no-till farming is the solution or at least one of the solutions. Using these methods can more th an half the water usage, sometimes up to 75% or more. No it's not the total answer, but it is definitely part of the solution. Not long ago, I was discussing this with an acquaintance and he asked if I'd heard of "No Till Farming," indeed, I had.

"Yes, I have watched Discovery Channel Specials on No-Till farming in the US, Africa, India, Australia, and South East Asia were ground water scarcity has reached super-drought levels, although it makes sense all the time in many places." One of the Newsletters I take is "TX H20" and involved the Baylor College and other universities working on these studies, really cutting edge stuff for West Texas, KS, Western Nebraska, South Eastern WY, Oklahoma (remember the dust bowl), etc.

They've had great success drastically cutting the water needs, maintaining soil moisture, you are right, it works! If you have a home garden, that is smart thinking to do this in your garden too. My acquaintance also mentioned the issues with soi l compaction, which is another important point.

In the future, we are going to have to do more and maintain increasing crop yields, and we are going to have to attain this lofty goal using less water too. That means planting specially genetically modified crops which use less water and the altering of the way we farm. In fact, I hope you will look into this and get yourself educated on this important issue.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes it's hard to write 20,000 articles; http://www.bloggingcontent.net/

Note: All of Lance Winslow's articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers.

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