Organic farming is perceived as wildlife friendly, but the benefits to birds, bees and butterflies don’t compensate for the lower yields produced, according to a new study from the University of Leeds. In the most detailed comparison of organic and conventional farming to date, researchers from Leeds’ Faculty of Biological Science found that the benefits […]
Long-established plow-based agricultural methods combined with the economic imperative to improve crop yields are rapidly depleting the Earth’s soil supply, says a University of Washington (UW) scientist. According to UW professor David Montgomery, plowing increases soil erosion to the point that it is not offset by soil creation. Rather than plowing, Montgomery suggests “no-till” agriculture […]
Evaluating the impact of livestock antibiotics on the environment, University of Minnesota researchers have found that many vegetables uptake the antibiotics. The study, in the Journal of Environmental Quality, shows that food crops can readily accumulate antibiotics from soils spread with cattle manure. The findings were based on a greenhouse study involving three food crops: […]
Agriculture is rapidly approaching a time of massive change, says an article in Agronomy Journal. Impacted by the end of cheap energy, depleted water resources, impaired ecosystem services and unstable climates, agricultural industries will have to find new ways to feed a world whose appetite for food crops will grow by around 75 percent over […]
