Posted by paul on May 05, 2015 at 04:44:46 from (70.197.232.39):
In Reply to: Re: not fertilised posted by bison on May 04, 2015 at 19:25:35:
I have a swamp of 8 acres, stays too wet too late to crop, but dries off to make grass hay. Because it is basically a peat bog it is naturally high in built up nutrients, and in heavy rains some bit of nutrients filter into it.
So I would have a spot like you say, can make hay for decades and it doesn't wear out.
But that is kind of a special case.
On more typical soils and conditions, if you haul away grain or meat or hay from the land, you are removing protien and p and K that wears down the soil.
The protien (N) can be manufatured by a legume crop, but the P and K and micro nutrients are being exported away. No amount of resting the soil or only harvesting 1/2 crops will bring those nutrients back.
You are losing, long term.
In very rare special cases one starts with soils rich enough that the effects are not seen in several decades, but the net effect is still the soil is being mined of nutrients as long as you are removing some grain, hay, or meat through grazing.
Simple mathamatics, you can't avoid that basic concept.
I'm glad you live in a spot where this removal works for you, but don't think that is a normal thing for everyone everywhere. You are blessed with a special natural resource.
I am troubled with your leaving half of your crop spoil, only harvesting one hay crop. That seems counter productive, and wasteful of land and resources. A person should try to do a good job and be more productive, make something of the resources they are given.
That might surprise you, and you are saying but but but.....
You feel you are taking care of your land by cutting production, holding back on it. I get what you are doing.....
But. You are holding your land back, other people have to raise stuff somewhere else to make up for your lack of production. Somembody else needs to break open more land, or fertilize theirs heavier, to make up for what you aren't producing. In the big picture, your holding back might be harder on the planet that if you just tried harder on the ground you are farming.
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