[valuearb]

There is no tragedy of the commons here. The person most incented to care for the soil is the farmer, because their future yields depend upon it.

The truth is soil is likely less important than this article would have you believe. Modern farming and fertilizers have rendered it obsolete.

[bluGill]

> The truth is soil is likely less important than this article would have you believe. Modern farming and fertilizers have rendered it obsolete.

This can be true to some farmers, but it is not to the big ones. Sure you can apply fertilizer, but you pay for that. If you build your soil the first 7 years you will spend more money for less yields, but after 7 years your better soil will yield more than someone who tries to just apply fertilizer.

The other problem with the apply fertilizer theory is you can only apply so much. Corn needs nitrogen, but too much will kill (or stunt) the corn. Good soils will produce nitrogen every day in smaller amounts.

Of course with we are talking about potassium, that is a mineral and you need to replace what you take off the land either way. So soil health alone cannot be the answer, soil health with fertilizer is ultimately a much better answer.

[Prefinem]

>The truth is soil is likely less important than this article would have you believe. Modern farming and fertilizers have rendered it obsolete.

Having lived around farming for a few years and known / worked with many farmers, this isn't true at all. Soil and soil health is incredibly important.