In this episode David Bushell explains the waning efficacy of industrial herbicides in monocropping agriculture, parallels of conventional agronomy with with the pharmaceutical-based medical system, regenerative agricultural solutions, and much more.

David Bushell is a consultant Agronomist of more than 30 years experience. After advising farmers for many decades on a lists of chemical herbicides and fungicides to spray on their fields, David now advocates regenerative and rotational practices that improve the quality of the soil and long-term economic viability of farms without the need for chemical inputs. He also runs his own organic, mixed cattle and cropping farm near Temora, Southern NSW, Australia. 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Dr Max’s intro

00:01:40 David’s background, agronomy & the cracks in conventional agronomy

00:07:08 Chemical inputs – analogies with human and soil health

00:11:15 Decreasing effectiveness of herbicides over time

00:16:20 What is glyphosate?

00:22:15 What is crop desiccation?

00:33:35 “Double knocking” with gylphosate then paraquat

00:38:43 What is atrazine?

00:44:05 The history and cultivation of the Canola oilseed crop

00:50:40 Feeding factory farmed animals with contaminated commodity crops

00:58:35 The contrived, fragile, engineered commodity crops

01:14:23 Solutions to the chemical method - multi-species cropping, crop rotations, etc

01:20:56 David’s closing thoughts for farmers

01:23:37 Dr Max's outro

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FURTHER READING

A Soil Owners Manual by John Stika
https://www.amazon.com.au/Soil-Owners-Manual-Restore-Maintain/dp/1530431263

The Farm as an Ecosystem by Jerry Brunetti
https://www.amazon.com/Farm-as-Ecosystem-Jerry-Brunetti/dp/1601730411

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Regenerative Agriculture Podcast by John Kempf
Episode #73: John Fagan
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/regenerative-agriculture-podcast/id1372359995?i=1000528379046

Real Organic Podcast
Bob Quinn Pt 1: Organic Grain Farming Vs. Chemical Grain Farming -https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/real-organic-podcast/id1573111162?i=1000571214834

Farmers Helping Farmers Podcast
FRASER POGUE: The Good Dirt on Good Farming
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/farmers-helping-farmers/id1652195970?i=1000607456710

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CONTACT DAVID

Echidna Ag – echidnaag(at)gmail.com

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