Tag Archives: farms

ADD HERBICIDES TO AFRICA’S RESCUE PLAN, BY DENNIS T. AVERY

Africa is the only continent where food production per capita is falling as its population continues to expand. Three-fourths of Africa’s food is produced on small farms that get radically lower crop yields than its experimental farms. Even if these … Continue reading

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KRUGMAN FLUNKS FOOD—AND HISTORY, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

Paul Krugman is a big deal: Princeton professor, New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate (2008). Krugman wrote last week about the “food crisis, the second one to hit the world in the last three years.” His key statement: “what really stands out is the extent to which severe weather events have disrupted agricultural production. And these severe weather events are exactly the kind of thing we’d expect to see as rising concentrations of greenhouse gases change our climate—which means that the current food prices surge may be just beginning.” Continue reading

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WHEN SHEEP DIDN’T HAVE WOOL, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

Today, farmers are accused of “tampering with Nature.” But farmers have been doing such tampering for thousands of years. We had to, for survival. As one dramatic example, wild sheep didn’t have wool. Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep still don’t! Nature gave sheep a long, coarse hair coat instead. In the beginning, the wool was just a short insulating undercoat with fuzzy fibers too short to make thread. For the first 4,000 years we herded sheep, it was only for their meat. Continue reading

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CITY FARMING—PIGS IN THE SKY?, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

Green visionary, Dixon Despommier, of Columbia University has proposed growing our food in city high-rises, to cut food transport energy use. The bad news is that city farming would be impossibly expensive—as it always has been. The good news: the high-rise farms will never be built. Continue reading

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BIOTECH: TO SURVIVE THE MEGA-DROUGHTS, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

When, O Lord, will the public turn its back on the ill-founded “concerns” of the Green movement that misinformed us about DDT, salmon extinction, deformed frogs, man-made global warming, and a host of other fake “calamities”? When will we support more high-yield farming research to meet redoubled world food needs in 2050? Especially since the alternative would be to plow down more wild species’ habitat to plant additional low-yield crops. Continue reading

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HIGHER YIELDS: THE ONLY FARMING ANSWER, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

Is the Green Movement finally ready to face the global need to triple crop yields over the next 40 years—and drop its dedication to land-selfish organic farming? Maybe yes, and none too soon. The planet’s wild biodiversity is at stake. Continue reading

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MAKING GOOD SCIENCE DECISIONS, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

I can’t help but praise Michael Specter’s new book: Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. Specter warns that we live in a world where the leaders of African nations prefer to let their citizens starve to death rather than import genetically-modified food grains. Childhood vaccines have proven to be the most effective public health measure in history, yet people march on Washington to protest their use. Fifty years ago pharmaceutical companies were regarded as vital supports for our good health and lengthening life spans; now they are seen as callous corporate enemies of health and the environment. Continue reading

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ANOTHER FAILING BIOFUEL “MIRACLE”, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

CHURCHVILLE, VA—My wife is complaining about our increased costs at the supermarket. I remind her that every pound of meat, milk, and butter we buy requires several pounds of corn to produce—and biofuel mandates have shoved the corn price up … Continue reading

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DO “FACTORY FARMS” TRIGGER SWINE FLU?, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

CHURCHVILLE, VA—Did “factory hog farms” trigger Mexico’s recent outbreak of “swine flu”?  Not likely. In fact, today’s specialized hog and poultry farms actually minimize the potential for virus epidemics—and limit the public’s exposure to flu risks.   However, the Humane … Continue reading

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