Look, I’m Gonna Say It
We’re screwing up sustainable farming. Yeah, I said it. And I’m not talking about the big corps, though they’re part of it. I’m talking about us. The little guys. The ones who should know better.
I’ve been editing ag articles for 22 years. I’ve seen trends come and go. But this? This isn’t a trend. It’s a train wreck. And I’m tired of pretending it’s not.
Back in ’98, Things Were Different
Let me take you back to a conference in Austin, 1998. I was a wet-behind-the-ears editor, fresh out of journalism school. There was this guy, let’s call him Marcus, who stood up and said, “We gotta change how we farm. The soil’s tired. The water’s dirty. And we’re all gonna pay for it.”
And you know what? People listened. For a while, anyway. Then the bottom line reared its ugly head, and we all went back to business as usual. Or worse.
The Problem With ‘Sustainable’
Here’s the thing. “Sustainable” has become a buzzword. A marketing tool. It’s lost its meaning. You’ve got farms out there dousing crops in chemicals, calling it “sustainable” because they’re rotating crops. Bullshit.
I was talking to a farmer last Tuesday—let’s call him Dave—over coffee at the place on 5th. He told me, “We’re told to reduce water use, but the yields drop, and then the market penalizes us.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
So what’s the answer? I don’t know. But I know it’s not what we’re doing now.
Tech Isn’t the Silver Bullet
And don’t get me started on tech. Oh, sure, we’ve got drones and sensors and data science tools comparison galore. But tech isn’t the answer. It’s a tool. A really expensive, overhyped tool.
I remember this one time, about three months ago, I was at a seminar. Some hotshot from Silicon Valley was going on about how AI was gonna save farming. I raised my hand and said, “What about the farmers who can’t afford a smartphone?” Crickets. Total silence.
Tech has its place. But it’s not the be-all, end-all. And frankly, we’re gonna need a lot more than tech to fix this mess.
A Tangent: Why We Love Monocultures
You know what’s crazy? We keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Monocultures, for instance. We’ve known for decades that they’re bad news. But do we stop? Nope. Because it’s easier. Because the market demands it. Because we’re lazy.
I had this argument with a colleague named Sarah last week. She said, “But we need monocultures for efficiency.” I said, “Efficiency? Really? Because the soil degradation, water pollution, and loss of biodiversity seem pretty inefficient to me.” She didn’t have a good comeback. (Which honestly nobody asked for but here we are.)
The Role of Policy (Or Lack Thereof)
And let’s talk about policy. Or the lack thereof. Governments are dropping the ball. Big time. They’re so focused on short-term gains, they can’t see the forest for the trees. (See what I did there?)
I was at a policy summit in Des Moines last year. Some senator—let’s call him Greg—stood up and said, “We need to support our farmers.” And I thought, “Yeah, but how? By giving them subsidies to keep doing the same damn thing?”
Look, I’m not saying it’s easy. But we need policy that rewards good behavior, not just good yields. And we need it now.
So What Do We Do?
I don’t have all the answers. But I know a few things. We need to stop pretending that business as usual is gonna cut it. We need to stop chasing the almighty dollar at the expense of everything else. And we need to start listening to the people who’ve been screaming about this for decades.
I’m gonna leave you with this. I was talking to an old farmer—let’s call him Hank—last summer. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Kid, we’ve been doing this wrong for a long time. And it’s gonna take a long time to fix it. But we gotta start somewhere.” And he’s right. We gotta start somewhere.
About the Author: Jane Doe has been a senior magazine editor for over 20 years, specializing in agriculture and rural topics. She’s written for major publications and has a deep love for the land and its people. She’s also a bit of a curmudgeon, but in the best possible way.
