[ghthor]

I love this idea, its something I've thought a lot about. Our large scale farming strategies seem fundamentally ignorant. Nature it full of complex systems of independence that we should be using directly in our farming strategies. I'm particularly interested in fungi to support the nutrient and immune systems of my farms.

See the work of Paul Staments using fungi to treat bee colony collapse.

[jlawson]

Big farm machines are dumb.

If we could instead build swarms of self-maintaining intelligent human-scale robots, perhaps working with genetically engineered work animals (monkeys?), they could hand-plant, hand-till, and hand-harvest crops at a far greater efficiency with far less disruption to the ecosystem.

Picture ten thousand dog-sized robots going individually planting and caring for and harvesting millions of plants in a big forest, or a field (with different plants shading each other). An individual dollop of manure on each plant. Weeds removed by "hand" without chemicals.

Basically an automated version of the extremely-efficient overlapping-crop style of farming that was often used in medieval Japan and other places with a lot of labor and know-how but without much flat land and without modern mechanization.

[TaylorAlexander]

Well I’m developing a dog sized robot platform that’s totally open source! It’s CC0.

https://youtu.be/cU_0M1_TvD0

[analog31]

I've read that in colonial times, people simply let pigs loose in the woods, then hunted them down later on when they were fattened up.

[geekagirl]

People still do that but it’s generally not a good idea for many reasons. Feral hogs destroy crops, are dangerous to people, and eat foods that native species rely on to survive. In colonial times, it made a lot of sense to do that, but not so much now.

https://mdc.mo.gov/wildlife/nuisance-problem-species/invasiv...

[lyime]

This won’t give you predictable yields. Though a combination of that idea and automation could work.

[misterprime]

Or just pay humans?

[fyfy18]

After Brexit I can only see practices like this increasing in the UK. A lot of the farm work is done by immigrants, because natives don't want to do the work. People aren't going to pay more for food, so the wages can't go up, meaning more 'efficient' farming practices will be used.

[ben_w]

While your examples and reasoning seems good, I don’t think it’s enough to support the conclusion.

From what I have seen, everyone who thinks there are any significant difficulties that need to be overcome is a Remainer and everyone who is a Leaver is absolutely certain that any claim of difficulty is “just project fear” — this, combined with the inherent time lag between planting and harvesting, means that what crops are around next year is entirely down to what UK farmers already believe will happen next year.

Four outcomes, for any given farm:

1. Current crops, easy access to labour: fine

2. Efficient crops, easy access to labour: fine

3. Efficient crops, no access to labour: fine

4. Current crops, no access to labour: bankruptcy

You may consider 4. to be an obvious safe bet, but when I say I think Leavers regard any talk of difficulty as total nonsense, I mean I get the impression they place it in the same mental bucket as “Satan is real and knows your online banking password”.

In outcome 4., the farms won’t be around afterwards to try it again the right way.

Given the UK is a net food importer, this is mostly separate to any question of food security, but ironically the lack of access to labour could increase unemployment.

[flavor8]

> Our large scale farming strategies seem fundamentally ignorant.

For a great example of this, check out:

http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockwork/herbicide-is-whats-for-d...

[ghthor]

Wow, that is such an anti earth practice. How can we change this type of insanity? How can we protect our own guts?

[fyfy18]

Voting with your wallet is a good start. In the EU there are strict requirements on what can be labeled ecological, including the use of the EU ecolabel. I believe the US has similar labelling.

If you local supermarket doesn't have a suitable stock of ecological supplies, write to them and ask for some, or start shopping at an organic shop.

[jsilence]

At least in Germany since 2015 desiccation with Glyphosat is strictly regulated and only allowed in rare circumstances. Not sure about EU global situation, tho.

[black-tea]

Oh yeah? And what about restaurants takeaways, canteens etc. which people consume about as much as they do home cooked food? Those places will always be buying the cheapest, most unethical food possible.

[seszett]

Here (Lille, France and Antwerp, Belgium) it is quite easy to find restaurants, takeaways, food trucks, etc, that offer food made from either locally sourced, organic or ethical ingredients, or all of those at the same time.

[steve_adams_86]

Likewise in Victoria, BC, Canada. I have no excuse not to eat ethically and sustainably because the options are never more than a short walk or drive away.

Not all people have this luxury though. On one hand, I have to make the choice to eat ethically but also spend more money. When I lived up north, options were a lot more scarce, and the average income was a lot lower. The community I lived in heavily relied on the cheapest options available.

[fyfy18]

Not sure why you were down voted as you make a very good point, at least in the UK that is very much the case. You can find organic food restaurants if you look hard, but almost all high street brands have very limited or no organic food - even brands that advertise themselves as healthy such as Pret or EAT.

[stareatgoats]

Tangential: what corresponding labels or certifications are there in the US and are they in any way government backed like the EU Ecolabel?

[gnopgnip]

The cost of land(and really property tax+financing costs or opportunity cost, because land can be resold) is only a small part of the overall cost of producing food. Even if you reduce the land cost by a third, if you increase the other costs it can outweigh any gains from the new system.