Fresh manure

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Now we've got a bit better at industrial agriculture, but we still haven't done enough work to understand how what we are doing in the fields is impacting human health. We see an epidemic of obesity in the West, a rise in all kinds of allergies, food intolerances and some cancers and we're still debating what the root of these might be. Perhaps we should start with the soil?

Of all the posts I've ever read on here,that's the one I wish I'd made.

The arguement agribusiness always trot out re:''it's the only way we can feed the world'' is nauseating in it's duplicity.

Thanks, OJ. Coming from someone with your knowledge and experience that's high praise.

[dustydave]

Too much nitrate is really not good for us:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1824156.stm

[donegalwildman]

There is no value in manure other than it is a soil improver.

A couple of years ago I decided to check out the comparative benefits of farmyard manure, garden compost and plain soil with regard to courgettes. I dug 6 stations for my 6 plants, filling 2 with compost, 2 with manure and leaving the other two alone, just turning them over to aerate the soil. The yields for the compost and manure were very similar, each with around double the yield of the plants in plain soil. I was a bit surprised that the compost fared so favourably, but I'm a firm believer that farmyard manure provides nutritional benefits in addition to the soil structure improvements. Another feature of soil that has been manured over a number of years is the evident darkening of the soil when compared with unmanured areas. This will help with heat retention as well as moisture retention.