Regenerative Farming: We'll All Die In 50 Years. Did God Warn Us?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/

Theology: What were the tenets of Biblical Farming? Why did God do this? What is the Spiritual Reasoning?

There From Farming God's Way:

'Conservation agriculture is Farming God's Way without God. But it's the God part of this picture that really changes attitudes,' says Craig Sorley. He explains the core principles:

Minimal disturbance of the soil (no tillage) – the practice of plowing destroys soil structure including the micro organisms that live in the soil, leading to erosion and rapid water loss;

Permanent organic cover in the form of mulch. In Farming God's Way, this is called ‘God's blanket', says Craig Sorley. 'In Creation we observe that God does not leave the soil bare.' says Craig Sorley. Covering with protective mulch:

Stops soil erosion

Improves water filtration of the soil

Minimises evaporation of water from the soil

Adds organic matter, improving fertility

No burning of crop residues – these are used to cover the soil instead;

Weed faithfully – labour saved on plowing is transferred to regular weeding;

Practice crop rotation – because God's garden was diverse;

Pay attention to detail. 'Since we serve a God of detail, we should give careful attention to everything on our farms throughout the year, including the proper spacing of plants, how fertiliser or manure is added, how seed is planted, etc,' he says;

Pursue high standards in all things – 'God is glorified when we strive for excellence';

Incorporate trees into your farming system – 'Agroforestry is not something invented by man, it is something God demonstrated in the very first garden. Agroforestry combines both agriculture and forestry with conservation practices for long-term sustainability,' he says.

https://www.faithplans.org/post/farming-god-s-way-a-biblical-approach-to-agriculture

I love this article too: https://disciplenations.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Ten-Biblical-Principles-for-Agricultural-Development-David-Evans-2013-update-1.pdf

Philosophy: If the universe is a painting out of the mind of God and the work of Christ, then what lessons can we glean from the land failing to yield crops after years of overfarming?

Can we not say that God ordained a time for everything:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;”

Leviticus 25:4 “But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.”

What does it say about our belief in God when we fail to listen to His order? See the children of Israel and the manna.

Culture: What initial impacts would the Biblical farmer have on their production? What type of witness would that have when you are working contrary to the flow?

In America, we used to practice Crop Rotation, a form of the Jubilee, but then in WWI, we decided we needed more crops and so the “Green Revolution” started to rear its head. Pesticides, and growth chemicals were introduced to make more crops while “maximizing” the land's potential. This would also lead to killing the crops, potentially also causing the debated increase in diseases like cancer and autism. I don't know if that is what happened, but all of that round-up isn't good for your system.

Politics: How has government subsidization of farming harmed the economy? How has it come to harm small farmers?

How has the government's subsidies of ethanol incentivized the increase in corn growth?

We see massive spending on corn for ethanol as detailed by thoughtco here:

“In the final days of 2020, however, Congress passed another coronavirus relief bill providing approximately $900 billion in spending across a variety of sectors. The package includes $11.2 billion in relief to be distributed by the Office of the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, giving newly appointed Tom Vilsack discretion to provide support to biofuel producers. Specifically, the bill states that the Secretary “may make payments to producers of advanced biofuel, biomass-based diesel, cellulosic biofuel, conventional biofuel, or renewable fuels with market losses due to COVID-19.”

And for what? Comically inefficient gains in energy production:

https://thefern.org/2024/01/ethanol-is-just-comically-inefficient-solar-energy/

But what have we done to the soil? From ACES Illinois:

“Leveraging a 20-year field experiment, Illinois crop scientists demonstrated significant risks associated with continuous corn rotations, both for the soil microbial community and for environmental health on a larger scale.”

https://aces.illinois.edu/news/20-years-making-rotate-corn-better-soil-health

And what has this cost farmers?

From Colorado.edu:

“One-third of the fertilizer applied to grow corn in the U.S. each year simply compensates for the ongoing loss of soil fertility, leading to more than a half-billion dollars in extra costs to U.S. farmers every year, finds new research from CU Boulder published last month in Earth's Future.

Long-term soil fertility is on the decline in agricultural lands around the world due to salinization, acidification, erosion and the loss of important nutrients in the soil such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Corn farmers in the U.S. offset these losses with nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers also intended to boost yields, but scientists have never calculated how much of this fertilizer goes into just regaining baseline soil fertility—or how much that costs.”

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2021/01/12/soil-degradation-costs-us-corn-farmers-half-billion-dollars-every-year

Economics: What is the fundamental biblical principle of letting the land rest? How do we cause more harm when we fail to tithe, abide, and give with our wealth?

When we allow the ground to go fallow and the crops that do not make it into the bin to be taken by the poor, we also nourish the soil. How does this correlate to tithing, offering, giving?

Final Thoughts:

One Last Question: Favorite Farm Product?