GREEN EVOLUTION

The Green Revolution started in the 1940’s following the end of World War II and expanded rapidly over the next three decades.  It has been hailed as the savior of agriculture and our ability to feed the world.
The major achievements consisted of the development of high-yielding crop varieties, increased mechanization, synthetic fertilizers, a dizzying array of pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, etc.),
and various technologies.  All in the name of preventing famine and feeding a rapidly growing global population.  

PERTINENT FACTS

Let’s examine some pertinent facts and then determine whether these achievements represent true advancements.  Have we moved forward in a meaningful way, or have we created a series of
unintended consequences that are creating new and prevalent issues?  

Between 1960 and 2000, nitrogen fertilizer use increased more than 800% and has continued to increase since.  From 1950 to 2000, U.S. farm production more than doubled.  Farm size increased from an average of
215 acres in 1950 to 464 acres in 2023.   World agricultural output increased more than 4 x’s between 1961 and 2020.  Between 1961 and 2017, U.S. farm output nearly tripled. Global grain production has more than
quadrupled since 1950 and has doubled since 1975.  The global calorie supply has increased more than 30%. 

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

All this sounds like we have made significant progress, and in some ways maybe we have.  However, let’s look at some other statistics that might shed some light on unintended consequences.

• Soil organic matter has decreased by more than 50% since 1960.
• The U.S. is losing an average of 2 tons of topsoil per acre annually. 
• Pesticide use has increased more than 150%.
• Insect populations have declined by more than 75%. 
• Crop diversity has decreased by 75% since 1950.  
• The protein content in the three major crops (corn, soybeans, wheat) has dropped significantly.  
• The ALA content (an omega 3 fatty acid) in soybean oil has dropped 73%.
• The mineral and phytonutrient content in the majority of the plant and animal foods we consume has declined by between 20% to over 50%.  
• Irrigated acres have more than doubled since 1960.
• Corn is now planted on more than 30% of U.S. cropland.  
• The average person in developed countries now consumes 25% more calories daily.
• 50% of U.S. calories consumed come from ultra-processed foods.
• The per capita consumption of High Fructose corn syrup is over 38 lbs annually. 
• The rate of obesity and severe obesity in the US in 1970 was 15%. Today, it is over 51%.  When you add in those who are overweight, obese or severely obese that level has increased to over 70%. 
• In the US, we spend about $1.7 T on food & beverages, but we spend $4.1T on healthcare.
• 90% of that $4.1T goes towards treating people with chronic and mental health conditions.
• Currently about 6 in every 10 adults in the US have at least one chronic disease, with chronic disease accounting for 92% of all deaths.
• 28% of our teenagers are diabetic.    

SO, WHAT NOW?

There is a lot more, but I don’t think we need to expound on this further.  If you are not connecting the dots by now, you likely never will. 
No doubt our agricultural output has increased. No doubt that global grain production is significantly higher, but at what cost?  

It is clear we are continuing to lose topsoil and soil organic matter at an alarming rate.  Our reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has increased significantly.
We have crashed our beneficial insect populations, both here in the U.S. and many places around the world.  This has resulted in a precipitous decline in the nutritive value, or density,
in most of the foods we routinely consume.  We are eating more calories than ever, consuming more ultra-processed foods than ever, and fatter and sicker than ever.  

So, the question becomes “Can we feed the world AND have healthy environments, healthy ecosystems and healthy people, or are we stuck in this conundrum of sacrificing all of that for
the sake of feeding the world?”  My college education taught me that as an American Farmer it is our responsibility to “Feed the World”.  The truth is it is our responsibility to feed ourselves,
our families and those around us.  We are not responsible for trying to feed the world.  We can use some of our time and talents to teach others how to feed themselves.  That is scriptural.  

The EPA estimates food waste in the US at about 38.5 M tons of food annually.  That equates to about 219 lbs per person per year.  Globally, we waste about 2.5 B tons of food annually. 
Yet we are told repeatedly that we have a food crisis on our hands and must drastically ramp up food production.   Just our food waste alone would come close to feeding our population. 
The truth is we are over-producing food globally. Are there people going hungry?  Yes, but it is not because we are not producing enough food.  It is a food distribution problem.  

REAL HOPE

Real hope resides in regenerative agriculture. Careful and intentional application of the 6-3-4TM not only builds the soil, soil biology, ecosystem health and resilience, but it also allows us to produce
far more actual food per acre than conventional agriculture can.  Our data shows that regenerative farms produce anywhere from 3 times to more than 6 times the food per acre annually than neighboring
conventional farms.  

On a conventional row crop farm, any given acre only produces one “food” annually.  That would typically be only corn, soybeans, or wheat.  No one sits down to a plate of field corn for dinner,
nor do they sit down to a bowl of field soybeans for breakfast.  This production is mostly used for animals’ feeds and biofuels.  A typical ranch only produces cattle, and the calves are usually weaned and sold.   

In comparison, many regenerative farms and ranches have a diverse crop rotation and multiple species of livestock, all produced on the same acres or overlapping acres each year. 
As an example, we may have 4-6 enterprises touching any given acre in a year.  An acre may provide foraging for cattle, sheep, pigs, laying hens, broilers and turkeys.  

SUMMARY

There is hope. We can produce foods without heavy reliance on expensive and damaging inputs. We can produce more than one type of food per acre each year. 
We can produce foods that promote and build soil health and ecosystem health.  We can produce foods that are wholesome and healthy for each of us. 
We are not stuck in a system that produces severe unintended consequences.  We simply have to be intentional about our desire to farm a better way.