Baltic Dry Index. 2142 +27 Brent Crude 107.77
Spot Gold 1951
Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 21/04/22 World 507,016,878
Deaths 6,232,185
In very deed, pestilence, and famine, and wars, and earthquakes have to be regarded as a remedy for nations, as the means of pruning the luxuriance of the human race.
Tertullian.
In the stock casinos, war? What war.
Ukraine may be getting destroyed hour by hour, but in the real world of stock casino gambling, nothing comes before the central bankster fiat money fueled, business of pushing stock prices higher. In our financialised world since the stock market bust of October 19, 1987 it’s all that matters to the central banksters.
Somehow, somewhere, our central banksters will figure out a way to replace Ukraine’s missing food exports and production. If not, the hoi poloi will just have to eat less. Besides, losing a little weight is good for them. Have you seen the size of the hoi poloi waddling through US, Canada’s, UK and Europe’s shopping malls and food halls!
European markets head for higher open; Ukraine war remains in focus
LONDON — European stocks are expected to open higher Thursday as investors keep an eye on developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening 16 points higher at 7,636, Germany’s DAX 45 points higher at 14,392, France’s CAC 40 up 14 points at 6,638 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 12 points higher at 24,545, according to data from IG.
The war in Ukraine remains at the forefront of market participants’ minds in Europe, with the second phase of the conflict, focusing on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, fully underway now.
Russia has set a new ultimatum for surrender in the heavily destroyed city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces and reportedly hundreds of civilians are holed up in the Azovstal steel plant. Meanwhile, officials in Ukraine continue to call for more weapons support and faster delivery as Russia intensifies its bombardment of the Donbas.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if they would take meetings with him in their respective capitals.
U.S. stock futures rose in overnight trading as investors digested more quarterly reports from the likes of Tesla and United Airlines. Weekly jobless claims are also slated for release on Thursday.
In Asia-Pacific markets overnight, shares were mixed as investors continue to watch China’s Covid-19 situation along with moves in the Japanese yen.
Investors are watching for signs of policy support from Chinese authorities as the mainland continues to grapple with its most severe Covid wave since the initial outbreak in 2020. Its strict zero-Covid policy has raised questions about China’s economic outlook.
In other less important news.
China tells US Taiwan is part of China in first call with Secretary Austin: Report
Wed, April 20, 2022, 5:17 PM
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that Taiwan is a part of China during the first phone call between the two defense leaders.
Wei told Austin Wednesday that no one could change Taiwan's status as part of China, warning that "If the Taiwan issue were not handled properly, it would have a damaging impact on Sino-U.S. relations," according to Reuters.
A Pentagon spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Austin stressed that the U.S. remains committed to the one China policy but did not confirm or deny Wei's remarks.
The call was a follow-up to a recent call between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Austin and Wei discussing U.S.-Chinese defense relations, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. Austin and Wei also discussed Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
China has vowed to strengthen its ties to Russia despite being pressed by the U.S. and NATO to apply more pressure to Moscow amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
"No matter how global dynamics evolve, China will, as usual, strengthen strategic coordination with Russia," the Chinese foreign ministry assured Russian ambassador to China Andrey Denisov Tuesday.
More
https://news.yahoo.com/china-tells-us-taiwan-part-161701262.html
Russia Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable ICBM in Warning to U.S. Allies
· Putin says weapon will defend Russia against outside threat
· Kremlin has raised specter of nuclear escalation over conflict
It almost certainly ups the ante almost two months since Russia invaded Ukraine and it comes at a delicate moment in the conflict as its forces step up their offensive in the eastern Donbas region.
More
Italy puts 25C limit on air conditioning as Ukraine crisis forces energy rationing
‘Operation thermostat’ initiative aimed at helping country avert shortages and ministers sign gas deal with Angola
Thu 21 Apr 2022 02.10 BST
Schools and other public buildings in Italy will be forbidden from setting their air conditioning to any setting lower than 25C from next month, under a scheme intended to help the country dodge an energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
The energy rationing initiative, called “operation thermostat”, comes as Italy on Wednesday penned a deal with Angola to ramp up gas supplies from the southern African country.
A declaration of intent was signed to develop “new” natural gas ventures and to increase exports to Italy, a statement from the Italian foreign minister announced.
Ministers also travelled to central Africa on Wednesday in search of alternative gas suppliers to Russia, from where Italy imports about 45% of its natural gas.
A debate over energy squandered through air conditioning arose after the prime minister, Mario Draghi, ironically used air conditioning as an example of something Italians might have to sacrifice in return for peace in Ukraine.
More
Finally, US Russian sanctions are leading into a split global economy.
Continental restarts tyre making at Russian plant to protect workers
Tue, April 19, 2022, 7:20 PM By Jan Schwartz and Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German car parts supplier Continental AG has temporarily resumed tyre production for passenger cars at its Russian plant in Kaluga, it said on Tuesday, to protect local workers who could otherwise face criminal charges.
Continental said the move was aimed at meeting local demand and in line with sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a "special military operation".
"Our employees and managers in Russia face severe criminal consequences should we refrain from serving local demand," said Continental, adding that its products were made for civilian use as a matter of principle.
Continental, which on March 8 said that production at the plant had been suspended, did not elaborate on the potential charges staff might face.
"In order to protect our employees in Russia from prosecution, we are temporarily resuming the production of passenger tyres for the local market at our tyre plant in Kaluga if necessary," it said.
Continental said resumption in production was not a profit-driven decision.
Finland's Nokian Tyres warned this month that EU sanctions will make it hard to sell tyres in Russia, although in March it said its decision to hold onto its factories gave it control over where the tyres are sold.
Around half of the raw material used to produce its tyres in Russia came from outside the country, it said.
Italy's Pirelli has halted investment in Russia and curtailed its plants there. Pirelli makes around 10% of its global tyre output in two Russian factories.
President Vladimir Putin said in March that Russia could seize assets of companies that abandon their operations there.
Russian prosecutors have also warned some Western companies that their employees could face arrest if they shut production of essential goods, a person familiar with the matter said.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/continental-restarts-tyre-making-russian-182001795.html
U.S. sanctions on Russia do not stand in way of humanitarian assistance -Treasury
Tue, April 19, 2022, 7:54 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday took steps to make clear that U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine do not stand in the way of humanitarian assistance and agricultural and medical exports, among other support.
The U.S. Treasury Department in a fact sheet outlined that Americans can engage in transactions related to agricultural and medical exports, the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), COVID-19 relief, humanitarian assistance and telecommunications and internet services to support the free flow of information.
The Treasury on Tuesday also authorized transactions necessary for certain activities, including for humanitarian projects in Russia and Ukraine, by NGOs despite U.S. sanctions on Moscow.
Washington has imposed several rafts of sanctions targeting Moscow since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, including targeting the country's largest lenders and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It has also issued general licenses alongside the sanctions, authorizing certain transactions related to humanitarian assistance, agricultural and medical trade and other support.
More
https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-authorizes-certain-transactions-relating-185426140.html
China's Xi pushes back on sanctions, de-coupling
Thu, April 21, 2022, 3:33 AM
BOAO, China (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated China's opposition to unilateral sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction" in a speech on Thursday, without directly mentioning the West's punitive actions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
China has repeatedly criticised western sanctions, including those against Russia, but it has also been careful not to provide assistance to Moscow that could lead to sanctions being imposed on Beijing.
Delivering a video speech to the annual Boao Forum for Asia gathering on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, Xi warned that economic "de-coupling" and pressure tactics such as severing supply chains would not work.
"China would like to put forward a global security initiative" that upholds "the principle of indivisibility of security," Xi said.
"We should uphold the principle of indivisibility of security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the building of national security on the basis of insecurity in other countries."
Russia has insisted that Western governments respect a 1999 agreement based on the principle of "indivisible security" that no country can strengthen its own security at the expense of others.
China and Russia have grown increasingly close, and China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation". China has blamed the Ukraine crisis on NATO's eastward expansion.
Xi said efforts are needed to stabilise global supply chains, but also said China's economy is resilient and that its long-term trend had not changed.
More
https://www.yahoo.com/news/chinas-xi-says-unilateral-sanctions-023356534.html
Brazil's Guedes condemns war in Ukraine, but is against economic sanctions on Russia
Marcela Ayres Tue, April 19, 2022, 10:52 PM
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Tuesday the country clearly condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but is against economic sanctions imposed on Moscow, demonstrating it will not take a tough stance against its BRICS partner.
Speaking at an online event hosted by the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, Guedes said Russia should not be kicked out of multilateral bodies, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which would "destroy bridges" and "stimulate the economic war".
"Brazil is against the war and against the sanctions, including constitutionally," he said. "We would vote for a ceasefire immediately and lift sanctions."
Russia has asked Brazil for support in the IMF, the World Bank and the G20 group of top economies to help it counter crippling sanctions imposed by the West since it invaded Ukraine, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Amid disruptions in global energy and food supply chains in the wake of the conflict in Eastern Europe, Guedes stressed that Brazil is a key player in guaranteeing the security of both markets.
According to the minister, the timing is perfect for the country's accession to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and for the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union to be concluded, or else Brazil will keep on increasing exports to Asia and the Middle East.
More
https://news.yahoo.com/brazils-guedes-condemns-war-ukraine-215240733.html
Global Inflation/Stagflation Watch.
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
More on our growing 2022 food crisis. It’s not a certain bet, but being long all grains, in the northern hemisphere weather market of all weather markets, is the way to bet this year.
But first, will a weakening Japanese Yen blow up their stock casino or bond market? Might they just hit the Japanese perfecta and blow up both?
Japan logs trade deficit in March on weak yen, costly oil
Japan’s weakening yen raised further alarm in Tokyo on Wednesday as the government reported a bigger-than-expected trade deficit largely due to soaring costs for imports of oil, food and other necessities.
The deficit of 412 billion yen ($3.2 billion) for March was lower than the previous month’s 670 billion yen but was quadruple analysts’ estimates and a reversal of the 615 billion yen surplus recorded a year earlier for the world’s third-largest economy.
The weaker yen helps make Japanese exports more competitive overseas and fattens profits when they are converted from dollars to yen, but it also raises costs both for consumers and businesses.
Japan’s finance minister, Shunichi Suzuki, and other leaders have expressed concern over the dollar’s precipitous climb, saying abrupt changes in exchange rates add to business risks.
Suzuki was due to meet this week with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and discuss currency issues, though it’s unclear what if anything Washington would be able to do as the Fed struggles to bring inflation under control.
The Japanese yen has weakened against the dollar as the Federal Reserve has begun raising interest rates to tamp down inflation that is at 40-year highs. Higher rates attract investors who buy dollars and sell other currencies, like the yen.
Despite rising prices for imports, Japan’s central bank has kept its key interest rate at minus 0.1% for years, trying to pull the economy out of the doldrums as the country ages and its population shrinks.
---- Japan’s exports climbed 15% in March to 8.46 trillion yen ($65 billion), helped by a recovery in demand as coronavirus outbreaks wane and governments lift pandemic restrictions on travel and other activity. Imports rose 31% to 8.9 trillion yen ($68 billion).
Imports account for under a fifth of Japan’s economic activity but for nearly all of the oil, gas and coal used to power its economy.
Costs for imports of fuels like oil, gas and coal soared just over 80% from a year earlier in March, while imports of food jumped 22% and those of chemicals rose 42%. Meanwhile, Japan’s vehicle exports slipped 1.2%, with the number of vehicles shipped overseas dropping more than 14%
More
https://apnews.com/article/business-global-trade-economy-prices-0e6c8a0bb3f744d76aaf039f58a76a49
Ukraine grain storage shortage adds to farm woes
Tue, 19 April 2022, 2:41 pm
Ukraine faces a serious shortage of capacity to store this year’s grain harvest - which could affect global food prices.
That was the warning from the U.N.’s World Food Programme Tuesday (April 19).
It comes as the country - the world’s fifth largest exporter of wheat - struggles to keep shipping overseas during the conflict with Russia.
Jakob Kern is the WFP’s emergency coordinator in Ukraine.
“An estimated 15 million tons of grains will not have space in the silos around the country. If Ukraine cannot export its current stocks, farmers may not be able to harvest at cost, let alone plant the next year’s crop. And of course, the lack of Ukrainian grains on the world market has an effect on the food prices around the globe."
Ukraine produced around 40 million tonnes of wheat last year.
It is also one of the world’s top-three growers for maize, barley and sunflower seeds - producing a combined 50 million tonnes in 2021.
“Before the conflict, Ukraine used to feed the world, now they need help to feed themselves. FAO estimates 20 percent of planted areas will not be harvested in July, while grain market analysts estimate that the spring planting area will be about one third smaller than usual.”
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/video/ukraine-grain-storage-shortage-adds-134104361.html
Food price hike warning as fertiliser costs triple
20 April, 2022
Farmers are warning food prices could rise further after seeing the cost of artificial fertiliser more than triple.
Nitrogen fertiliser - used to grow crops such as wheat, vegetables and pulses - has risen from £300 per tonne to £1,000.
It means shoppers could see a spike in the cost of household items like cereal, animal feed, oil and beer.
The warning, from food producers, comes on top of the highest rise in food prices in a decade.
Andrew Williamson, based outside Bridgnorth in Shropshire, grows about 900 acres (364 hectares) of arable crops, such as winter wheat, rapeseed, barley and oats.
In June 2021 he purchased a haul of fertiliser for £300 per tonne in order to harvest crops in November. The cost has now risen by more than 200%.
----Mr Williamson added: "I don't want to be alarmist about food security and food prices, but off the back of what we've seen in Ukraine and energy security, we also need to start thinking about food security."
Rising wholesale gas prices - exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and disruption of energy exports from Russia - have increased the production costs of fertilisers for farmers.
Natural gas is a key component in the production of artificial fertilisers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-61162727
Indonesia president wants thorough probe of palm oil graft allegations
April 20, 2022 8:53 AM GMT+1
JAKARTA, April 20 (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday he wanted a thorough investigation of alleged breaches of rules for issuing palm oil export permits after the government's policy failed to help contain surging cooking oil prices.
Indonesia's Attorney General a day earlier launched a corruption probe, naming four suspects including a senior Trade Ministry official and three palm oil executives. read more
Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin said evidence showed a ministry official had issued export permits to companies that not met rules to sell part of their palm oil output at home.
---- Indonesia is the world's top palm oil producer, but after soaring global prices of the edible oil pushed up local cooking oil prices authorities brought in rules from late January to March requiring companies to sell a portion of their planned exports at home.
Bulk cooking oil is currently being sold above a retail price cap of 14,000 rupiah ($0.98) per litre set by the government.
More
Corn planting increases to 4% and soybeans to 1%, USDA says
By Megan Schilling 4/18/2022
The USDA released its third Crop Progress report Monday afternoon. These reports run weekly through the end of November, and look at the progress and condition of various crops on a national and state-by-state scale.
CORN
As of Sunday, the report pegged corn planted at 4%, compared with 6% for the previous five-year average.
SOYBEANS
As of Sunday, the report pegged soybeans planted at 1%, compared with 2% for the previous five-year average.
WHEAT
Spring wheat planted was reported at 8% compared with 9% for the prior five-year average.
Winter wheat came in at 7% vs. the 12% five-year average. Winter wheat condition was 30% good/excellent and 37% poor/very poor. This compares with the previous year average of 53% good/excellent and 17% poor/very poor.
OATS
Oats planted was reported at 34% vs. the five-year average of 39%, and 24% of oats had emerged as of April 17, which was 4% less than the five-year average.
The report also indicated that nationwide, topsoil moisture is rated as 48% adequate and 16% surplus. The previous year was 61% adequate and 8% surplus.
More
https://www.agriculture.com/crops/progress-maps/planting-slows-as-weather-hampers-progress-usda-says
Rising Fertilizer Costs are Catching up to Rice Farmers, Threatening Supplies
· War has severely disrupted Russian exports of crop nutrients
· Farmers dealing with inflated costs and subdued rice prices
By Pratik Parija, Mai Ngoc Chau, and Ditas B Lopez18 April 2022, 17:01 BST Updated on19 April 2022, 07:53 BST
Soaring fertilizer costs have rice farmers across Asia scaling back their use, a move that threatens harvests of a staple that feeds half of humanity and could lead to a full-blown food crisis if prices aren’t curbed.
From India to Vietnam and the Philippines, prices of crop nutrients crucial to boosting food production have doubled or tripled in the past year alone. Lower fertilizer use may mean a smaller crop. The International Rice Research Institute predicts that yields could drop 10% in the next season, translating to a loss of 36 million tons of rice, or the equivalent of feeding 500 million people.
More. Subscription required.
Below, why a “green energy” economy may not be possible, and if it is, it won’t be quick and it will be very inflationary, setting off a new long-term commodity Supercycle. Probably the largest seen so far.
The “New Energy Economy”: An Exercise in Magical Thinking
https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/R-0319-MM.pdf
Mines, Minerals, and "Green" Energy: A Reality Check
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/mines-minerals-and-green-energy-reality-check
"An Environmental Disaster": An EV Battery Metals Crunch Is On The Horizon As The Industry Races To Recycle
by Tyler Durden Monday, Aug 02, 2021 - 08:40 PM
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Shanghai allows 4 million out of homes as virus rules ease
BEIJING (AP) — Shanghai allowed 4 million more people out of their homes Wednesday as anti-virus controls that shut down China’s biggest city eased, while the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast of Chinese economic growth and warned the global flow of industrial goods might be disrupted.
A total of almost 12 million people in the city of 25 million are allowed to go outdoors following the first round of easing last week, health official Wu Ganyu said at a news conference. Wu said the virus was “under effective control” for the first time in some parts of the city.
Under the latest changes, more than 4 million people are included in areas where the status shifted from closed to controlled, said Wu. He said some are not allowed to leave their neighborhoods and large gatherings are prohibited.
Meanwhile, the IMF reduced its forecast of Chinese growth this year to 4.4% from 4.8% due to the shutdowns of Shanghai and other industrial centers. That is down by almost half from last year’s 8.1% growth and below the ruling Communist Party’s 5.5% target.
More
https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-china-shanghai-487d70ccf33117ebba14647d2bf918ea
CDC: Children hospitalized with COVID-19 at higher rate during Omicron surge
April 19, 2022 / 2:16 PM
April 19 (UPI) -- Children ages 5 to 11 years not vaccinated against COVID-19 were hospitalized at twice the rate of those were inoculated during the Omicron surge last winter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
Among nearly 400 children hospitalized with COVID-19 during the wave fueled by the emergence of the Omicron variant of the virus, 87% were unvaccinated, data released Tuesday showed.
Of the children hospitalized with the virus, 30% had no underlying health conditions that increased their risk for serious illness, according to the agency.
About one in five of the hospitalized children was sick enough to need treatment in the intensive care unit, the agency said.
"The overwhelming number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first few months of Omicron were unvaccinated," the CDC said in its statement. "The results of the study underscore the importance of getting children vaccinated and remaining up to date."
The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 first emerged in South Africa in late November.
By December, it was the "predominant" strain in circulation in the United States, leading to a rapid rise in cases across the country, according to the CDC.
Adults were hospitalized at a lower rate following infection with the Omicron variant, compared with earlier strains such as Delta, the agency said.
However, in January, an uptick occurred in children requiring hospital care associated with the emergence of Omicron nationally, it said.
The findings released Tuesday are based on an analysis of data on nearly 1,500 children ages 5 to 11 years hospitalized due to COVID-19 in 14 states since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the CDC said.
More
Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada.
NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker. https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker
Some other useful Covid links.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
Rt Covid-19
Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
The Spectator Covid-19 data tracker (UK)
https://data.spectator.co.uk/city/national
Technology Update.
With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported.
Today, something different. How sustainable is this?
More Than 50 Billion Tons of Top Soil Have Eroded in the Midwest
The estimate of annual loss is nearly double the rate of erosion the USDA considers sustainable
Elizabeth Gamillo Daily Correspondent April 19, 2022 4:17 p.m.
Since farmers began tilling the land in the Midwest 160 years ago, 57.6 billion metric tons of topsoil have eroded, according to a study published recently in Earth's Future. The loss has occurred despite conservation efforts implemented in the 1930s after the Dust Bowl, and the erosion rate is estimated to be double what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says is sustainable. Future crop production could be severely limited if it continues, reports Rachel Crowell for Science News.
Degraded soil makes growing food more difficult and expensive. Without healthy soil, farmers won't be able to grow nutrient-dense food to feed our growing population. The calculated loss in the region is part of a critical issue; some experts suspect that Earth will run out of usable topsoil within 60 years.
The team of researchers led by geoscientists at the University Massachusetts Amherst measured the elevation differences between native prairie and farm fields across Midwestern states to see how tilling has changed landscapes. Native prairie remnants are higher than the surrounding land, the study explains.
The majority of the 20 investigated sites were located in central Iowa, but other places were studied in Illinois, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska, reports Katie Pikes for Harvest Public Media. "These rare prairie remnants that are scattered across the Midwest are sort of a preservation of the pre-European-American settlement land surface," says Isaac Larsen, study author from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to Science News.
The research team had help from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation to identify sites for the study. On average, farmed fields were 1.2 feet below the prairie, per Science News. After measuring soil height in each area, the team found that, on average, topsoil is eroding at a rate of 1.9 millimeters per year, Harvest Public Media reports.
When topsoil erodes, the nutrients crops need go with it, making it more difficult for soil to store water and support plant growth. Farmers can lose 50 to 70 percent of their yield potential because of the loss of topsoil, reports Harvest Public Media. Rapid erosion is a problem because recovering topsoil is a slow process that takes years. Generating just over an inch of topsoil takes 1,000 years, said Maria-Helena Semedo of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization in 2014.
Topsoil can erode due to strong winds, hard rains and flowing water. Farming practices like tilling, the process farmers use to overturn the ground to prepare it for crops, leave the soil vulnerable to surface runoff. One way to help mitigate the loss of topsoil is to have farmers use no-till practices to grow crops. "By and large, we have the technology now to make no-till work or something that approximates it, maybe strip till," Richard Cruse, an agronomy expert at Iowa State University not involved with the study, says to Harvest Public Media. "So, it's realistic. It's more challenging with some soils than others."
According to the USDA, no-till practices have already been implemented by 51 percent of soybean, cotton, corn and wheat farmers in the U.S. Cover crops may also be a solution—they are plants grown during the offseason—but are only used in about 5 percent of cases, Bruno Basso, an agricultural researcher at Michigan State University not involved with the study, says to Science News.
"As erosion degrades our soils, it reduces our ability to grow food," Larsen explains in a press release. "Combine this with increasing global population and climate stress, and we have a real problem."
South Dakota fields blowing away
By XtremeAg 4/19/2022
Lee Lubbers of Gregory, South Dakota, grew up in the farming tradition, and remembers well using leftover scholarship money as the down payment for his first tractor and rent for 200 acres. Today, he farms more than 17,000 acres of dryland soybeans, corn, and wheat. Lubbers says one of the most important things to him is to always be learning and challenging himself to build an operation and a legacy that the next generation can be proud of.
If April showers bring May flowers, I don’t expect to see very many flowers in our region because April has been bone-dry. Things are very slow to green up this spring due to the lack of moisture, and we have had multiple days of high winds that continue to suck away what little moisture we have remaining in our soil. Luckily, our no-till practice as well as the fact that we do not bale residue after we harvest has helped keep most of our topsoil in place. The farmers in our area who did early tillage or baled stover postharvest have had to watch their topsoil blow right off the field. When you start seeing drifts of topsoil in the ditches, you know it’s time for some moisture.
Our equipment is mostly ready to go for planting. We ordered row cleaners for our new planter on June 1 last year and they are supposed to be at the dealership this week. Then it will take a couple days to mount them. Most things are a challenge this year it seems.
It’s been cold and windy lately, so fieldwork is still a way off. It needs to warm up before we can start planting.
More
https://www.agriculture.com/news/crops/south-dakota-fields-blowing-away
Famine seems to be the last, the most dreadful resource of nature. The power of population is so superior to the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction; and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague, advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and ten thousands. Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow, levels the population with the food of the world.
Thomas Robert Malthus. An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798).
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