by David Riel

Created on: April 11, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

Letting farmlands lie fallow is one of the best ways of allowing the land to replenish its nutrients, and regain its fertility, without having to resort to the application of fertilizers. It is an important component of crop rotation. And leaving the land to lie fallow also prevents erosion, as the roots of the plants left to grow on the land help to hold the soil in place against the ravages of wind and rain.

Why then, don't farmers allow their land to lie fallow instead of keeping it under constant production as they so often seem to do.

Well, here's a secret about farmers and farming. It may surprise people who live in urban areas, but it's always been true, and shows no sign of changing.

Farmers know what's best for their land.

There is no better custodian of the soil than a farmer farming land he owns.

How then can we reconcile the fact that allowing farmland to lie fallow has so many benefits to the land, and yet modern farmers often keep their land in constant production?

Well, it's simply this.

Farmers know full well that allowing land to lie fallow makes good farming, and environmental sense.

They just can't afford to do it.

Modern agriculture is so expensive - the machinery, fuel, pesticides, fertilizer, and even seed -that farmers have to keep their farmland in production just to pay their debts.

They often can't afford to let so much as a portion of their land take a season off.

So what's the solution?

How can the needs of the farmer to keep his land in production be reconciled with the environmental concerns caused by erosion, pesticide use, irrigation, fertilizer run-off,and the burning of fossil fuels?

Well, there is one simple and effective way to drastically reduce the burden our farms place on the environment.

We can stop raising animals for food.

The animals we raise and slaughter for food now outnumber us. The cropland devoted to raising their feed is more than the cropland devoted to raise food for human consumption.

If we stopped using our farmland to grow food for our livestock we'd drastically, and immediately, reduce the burden on our farmlands.

And what about the farmer? Would he be able to afford to let his land lie fallow if we stopped raising food animals?

Well, consider this. If the farmer wants to put his farmland to its highest and best use the first thing he has to do is stop using it to grow food for livestock. He'll make far more money in the long run if his land is used to grow food for humans.

But, as things stand, there's nothing the farmer can do once he's been caught up in the trap that is modern agriculture. He's trapped in a cycle of borrowing to grow his crops, and in squeezing his land as hard as he can to pay back his creditors. The only way this will change, is if it changes at the level of the consumer, who is able to change modern agriculture, and make a start towards getting the modern farmer out of his terrible bind, by the simple expedient of changing his or her food choices.

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