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Agriculture

Why the News Block on the Plight of Dutch Farmers?

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From the Brownstone Institute

BY Michael AmundsenMICHAEL AMUNDSEN  

God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland. This truism has guided Dutch identity and its republican virtue. When the ingenious Dutch reclaimed land from the sea it was for farms and these farms and farmers have fed the Dutch people, Europe and the world for centuries.

The picture displayed here is Paulus Potter’s famous work The Bull.

Created in 1647, Potter was 22 when he painted it and not quite 30 when he died. Renowned for its massive size, detailed realism including dung and flies and as a novel monumental picture of an animal, The Bull is understood as a symbol of the Dutch nation and its prosperity.

The Dutch Golden Age resulted in part from the creation of the Dutch Republic carved out by overcoming Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The little Dutch Republic became a global naval power and cultural force. The Dutch were classical liberals and believed in individual liberties like freedom of religion, speech and association.

The Dutch Republic was noted for economic vibrancy and innovation including the emergence of commodity and stock markets. The newly minted bourgeoisie spurred the first modern marketplace for artists to sell their work and freed them from the necessity of commissions from the Church and aristocracy. This is reflected in the subject matter of much Dutch Golden Age art with its depiction of everyday life. Potter’s painting is from this era.

But his work reveals another truth. The Dutch Golden age was impossible without its farms. Food is the foundation of any successful civilization, which is why the news that the Dutch government plans to shut as many as 3,000 farms for the sake of a ‘’nitrogen crisis’’ is so puzzling.

As Natasja Oerlemans of the World Wildlife Fund-Netherlands recently stated, ‘’We should use this crisis to transform agriculture.” She went on to state that the process will require several decades and billions of euros to reduce the number of animals.

So, what in fact is the issue with nitrogen and Dutch farming?

The nitrogen crisis is a bureaucratic and muddled affair which is now and will increasingly impact all of Dutch society. In 2017 a small NGO, Mobilisation for the Environment, led by long-time environmentalist Johan Vollenbroek, went to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to challenge the then current Dutch practices that protected natural areas from nitrogen pollution.

In 2018, the ECJ decided in a court ruling that the Dutch legislation, which allowed business to compensate for increases in nitrogen emissions with technical measures and restoration, was too lenient. The Dutch high court agreed with the ruling. In so doing almost 20,000 building projects have been put on hold, stalling the expansion of farms and dairies, new homes, roads, and airport runways. These projects are valued at €14 billion of economic activity.

Farming is intensive in the Netherlands because it is a small country with high population density. According to Science magazine ‘’Dutch farms contain four times more animal biomass per hectare than the EU average.’’ But they also point out that ‘’Practices such as injecting liquid manure in the soil and installing air scrubbers on pig and poultry facilities have reduced ammonia emissions 60% since the 1980s.’’

These mitigating systems are seen as insufficient in light of the court rulings. Ammonia is part of the nitrogen cycle and is a byproduct of waste from farm animals.

The great concern of environmental bureaucrats is the so-called ‘’manure fumes’’ from livestock waste. Like methane from farting cows, manure fumes are the big thing and katzenjammer of the movement on meat and dairy.

Dutch farmer Klass Meekma, who produces milk from the goats he raises said recently, ‘’The nitrogen rules are eagerly being used by the anti-livestock movement to get rid of as many livestock farms as they can, with absolutely no respect for what Dutch livestock farms have achieved in terms of food quality, use of leftovers of the food industry, animal-care, efficiency, exports, know-how, economics and more.’’ Meekma’s goats produced more than 265,000 gallons of milk in 2019.

In many ways, Dutch farmers are the victims of their own success. Because Holland is small, farmers have needed to be innovative in the use of space which accounts for the higher levels of ‘’animal biomass’’ compared with other European countries. Success in agricultural practices and food production has produced profits and a strong economic sector for the Dutch economy. Remarkably, the Netherlands is the second largest food exporter in the world.

The biggest push against Dutch agriculture comes from the climate change community and minister for nature and nitrogen Christianne van der Wal. She said in a letter to politicians in 2021, “There is no future (for agriculture) if production leads to depletion of the soil, groundwater and surface water, or degradation of ecosystems.” She has announced new restrictions to cut nitrogen emissions in half by 2030, to meet international climate action goals.

Nobody wants runoff from farms harming streams and wildlife. But the focus on manure fumes; that is, nitrogen and ammonia seeping into the atmosphere and impacting the climate seems far more tenuous. Primeval Europe was like Africa’s Serengeti, teeming with huge herds of ungulates like aurochs. Did their farting and waste ruin the climate?

The climate is changing. The climate has always changed. Bronze Age Europe, a particularly fecund cultural period, was markedly warmer than today.

It is curious that the farming sector is the focus of rollbacks while other polluters are being treated differently. Farmer Meekma states,

“Since then (the court rulings) our country has a so-called nitrogen crisis. It’s ludicrous that the national airport Schiphol Amsterdam and lots of industrial companies have no nature permits, and farmers are now being sacrificed to facilitate these other activities.”

“It’s a real shame how farmers are being treated in the Netherlands. They are being pushed out to make room for industry, aviation, transportation, solar fields and housing of the growing numbers of immigrants.’’

Most of the “saved” nitrogen emissions from government plans will be used to offset the increased emissions from building 75,000 houses. Only 30 percent will lead to real emission reductions.

Dutch Prime Minister and WEF luminary Mark Rutte acknowledged that the move on farming would have “enormous consequences. I understand that, and it is simply terrible.”

There are many historical examples of political pressures on farming as harbingers of disaster, from Ukraine in the Soviet Union to Zimbabwe. Both were breadbaskets and exporters reduced to famine. Controlling food production is something that political ruffians always want to achieve. The nitrogen crisis is a struggle of urban ideologues versus traditional lifeways and rural self-sufficiency. Due to the war in Ukraine and supply-chain disruption from the covid pandemic, many people around the world are facing starvation. This is not the time for Europe to harm its best agricultural producer.

Dutch farmers are hip to when a nudge becomes a shove. The anti-meat ideologues want humans to subsist on grass cuttings and Bill Gates’ lab-made gunk. Dutch farmers feed the world. Their plight is ours as well.

The nitrogen crisis has the waft of so much bullshit.

Author

  • Michael Amundsen

    Michael Amundsen, PhD, is an academic and writer who has taught at universities in Europe and the United States. He has contributed to the Financial Times, the Christian Science Monitor and many other publications.

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Agriculture

How USAID Assisted the Corporate Takeover of Ukrainian Agriculture

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From the Brownstone Institute

By john-klarJohn Klar  

A recent essay titled “The Real Purpose of Net Zero” by Jefferey Jaxon posited that Europe’s current war against farmers in the name of preventing climate change is ultimately designed to inflict famine. Jaxon is not speculating on globalist motives; he is warning humanity of a rapidly unfolding reality that is observable in the perverse lies against cows, denigration of European farmers as enemies of the Earth, and calls by the WHO, WEF, and UN for a plant-based diet dependent entirely on GMOs, synthetic fertilizers, and agrichemicals.

Revelations about the evil doings of the Orwellian-monikered “United States Agency of International Development” (USAID) reveal a roadmap to totalitarian control unwittingly funded by America’s taxpaying proles. USAID’s clandestine machinations have long focused on controlling local and global food supplies as “soft colonization” by multinational chemical, agricultural, and financial corporations. European farmers revolting against climate, wildlife, and animal rights policies are harbingers of this tightening globalist noose.

The roots of the current globalist plan to “save humanity from climate change” link directly to the infamous Kissinger Report, which called to control world food supplies and agriculture as part of a globalist collaboration between nation-states and NGOs to advance US national security interests and “save the world” from human overpopulation using “fertility reduction technologies.” Kissinger’s 1974 Report was created by USAID, the CIA, and various federal agencies, including the USDA.

Fast forward to 2003, the Iraq War justified using fear-mongering propaganda about weapons of mass destruction and neo-conservative malarky about rescuing the Iraqi people. The US-led occupation of Iraq became a rapacious profiteering smorgasbord for colonizing corporations husbanded by USAID. Iraq is heir to the birthplace of human civilization, made possible by early Mesopotamian agriculture: many of the grains, fruits, and vegetables that now feed the world were developed there. Iraq’s farmers saved back 97% of their seed stocks from their own harvests before the US invasion. Under Paul Bremer, Rule 81 (never fully implemented) sought to institute GMO cropping and patented seed varieties, as Cargill, Monsanto, and other corporations descended upon the war-ravaged nation using American tax dollars and USAID.

That playbook was more quietly implemented during the Ukraine War, once again orchestrated by USAID. Before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe, prohibiting GMO technologies and restricting land ownership to Ukrainians. Within months of US intervention, USAID assisted in the dismantling of these protections in the name of “land reforms,” free markets, financial support, improved agricultural efficiency, and rescuing the Ukrainian people. In just two years, over half of Ukraine’s farmland became the property of foreign investors. GMO seeds and drone technology were “donated” by Bayer Corporation, and companies such as GMO seed-seller Syngenta and German chemical manufacturer BASF became the dominant agricultural “stakeholders” in war-torn Ukraine. Russia may withdraw, but Ukraine’s foreign debts, soil degradation, and soft colonization will remain.

The UN, WTO, WHO, and WEF all conspire to peddle a false narrative that cows and peasant farmers are destroying the planet, and that chemical-dependent GMO monocropping, synthetic fertilizers, and patented fake meats and bug burgers must be implemented post haste (by force if necessary) to rescue humanity. The argument that pesticides and synthetic fertilizers (manufactured from natural gas, aka methane) are salvific is patently false. They are, however, highly profitable for chemical companies like Bayer, Dow, and BASF.

Jefferey Jaxon is exactly correct. The Netherlands committed to robust agricultural development following a Nazi embargo that deliberately inflicted mass famine following their collaboration with Allied Forces in Operation Market Garden. France boasts the highest cow population in all of Europe. Ireland’s culture is tightly linked to farming as part of its trauma during the (British-assisted) Irish Potato Famine. The corporate/NGO cabal now uprooting and targeting farmers in these nations and across the EU in the name of staving off climate change and preserving wildlife is a direct outcropping of Kissinger’s grand dystopian scheme launched through USAID in 1974.

Americans watch European farmer protests from afar, largely oblivious that most all of US agriculture was absorbed by the Big Ag Borg generations ago. Currency control linked to a (political, environmental, and economic) social credit scorecard promises the fruition of Kissinger’s demonic plan: “Control the food, control the people.”

Modern humans suffer a double hubris that blinds them to the contemplation of the truth of Jaxon’s hypothesis: a cultish trust in technology, coupled with an irrational faith in their self-perceived moral superiority to past civilizations (Wendell Berry calls this “historical pride”). Yet, as long as mankind has had the capacity to harm another for personal gain, humans have devised ways to control food for power or profit. Siege warfare generally depended on starving defenders of castle walls into submission.

Even if globalist food control proposals are well-intentioned, a monolithic, monocultured, industrial-dependent worldwide food system is a lurking humanitarian disaster. Berry observed:

In a highly centralized and industrialized food-supply system there can be no small disaster. Whether it be a production “error” or a corn blight, the disaster is not foreseen until it exists; it is not recognized until it is widespread.

The current push to dominate global food production using industrial systems is the cornerstone of complete globalist dominion over all of humanity. The “Mark of the Beast” without which no American will buy or sell goods – including guns, bullets, or factory-grown hamburgers and cricket patties – is mere steps away. Mr. Jaxon is correct that these leaders “know these basic historical and current facts,” and that “[f]armers are becoming endangered because of government [climate] policy … and it’s being allowed to happen.” USAID has been actively seeding and watering this dystopia for decades.

Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates are as fully cognizant of this fundamental truth as Henry Kissinger was in 1974. USAID has aided all three. Having lost almost all of their small farms over the last century, Americans are well ahead of Europeans in their near-complete dependence on industrial food.

That’s the plan.

Author

  • john-klar

    John Klar is an attorney, farmer, food rights activist, and author from Vermont. John is a staff writer for Liberty Nation News and Door to Freedom. His substack is Small Farm Republic.

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Agriculture

The Role of Satellite Imagery in Developing VRA Prescription Maps

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Since its appearance in the 1980s, precision agriculture has revolutionized farming, offering innovative solutions to age-old challenges. One of those is Variable rate technology (VRT), which plays a key role in improving efficiency and sustainability in today’s farming methods.

By applying inputs like fertilizers and water in different quantities across the field, VRT helps optimize crop yields and reduce costs. This technology relies on data collection and analysis to create detailed VRA prescription maps, allowing for customized input applications. 

With the right equipment and technology, VRT can significantly improve agricultural productivity.  Today’s advanced tractors, equipped with built-in terminals and specialized software integrated with a precision agriculture platform, use prescription maps to accurately apply variable rates of water or chemicals based on GPS location and management zones.

Variable Rate Technology In Precision Agriculture

Precision agriculture is a game-changer, moving far beyond traditional farming methods. Often called satellite farming, this approach focuses on crop condition monitoring, measuring, and responding to variability within fields. One of its standout innovations is variable rate application (VRA), which has caught the attention of farmers worldwide for its immense potential.

Why is VRA so important? It goes beyond simply fertilizing, seeding, and applying pesticides. It’s about utilizing technology to apply various expendable materials on and beneath the field automatically. 

Farm management software simplifies contemporary farming by combining data and technology to improve farming efficiency, sustainability, and profitability. Precision agriculture platforms consolidate operations, crop health monitoring through satellite imagery, and offer real-time suggestions, enabling farmers to make informed decisions for the best use of resources (through VRA) and increased productivity.

Variable rate application offers numerous advantages for modern agriculture:

  1. VR fertilizer enhances farming efficiency.

Adjusting rates based on soil health and plant needs helps save resources and increase yields. Research shows this method can lead to higher net income and healthier soil compared to using uniform rates: “The net incomes of VR management zone were 15.5–449.61 USD ha−1 higher than that of traditional spatially uniform rate fertilization.”

  1. VR irrigation saves water, time, and fuel while reducing machinery wear.

Applying the correct amount of water to different parts of the field based on soil moisture levels and crop requirements reduces wear and tear on irrigation equipment compared to uniform irrigation.

Studies claim: “Variable rate irrigation (VRI) can increase water use efficiency and productivity by applying water based on site‐specific needs.”

  1. VR seeding increases crop yield by adjusting seeding rates based on soil fertility.

VR seeding adjusts seeding rates based on soil fertility and other factors to optimize plant populations and yields. It is commonly used alongside variable rate fertilization as part of a comprehensive precision agriculture strategy. 

Findings show that: “The application of VRS to the seeding of various crops shows positive agro-economic trends, additional yields, and higher economic returns.”

  1. VR pesticide reduces environmental pollution and improves pesticide efficiency.

VRT helps farmers target pests more accurately and use less pesticide. 

Studies have found that “VR management zone reduced the use of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizers by 22.90–43.95%, 59.11–100%, and 8.21–100%, respectively, and it also increased the use efficiency of N, P, and K by 12.27–28.71, 89.64–176.85, and 5.48–266.89 kg/kg, respectively, without yield loss.”

This demonstrates the ability of variable rate technologies to improve pesticide effectiveness and reduce environmental pollution in agriculture.

Using Various Technological Means For Informed Decisions

Applying different technological tools is essential for implementing variable rate technology in agriculture. This includes smart machinery, fertilizers, seeders, soil sensors, geographic information system (also called GIS), and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications for field mapping. Additionally, having supporting infrastructure, which helps manage and analyze info from different sources, is crucial for successful implementation.

Understanding the location, timing, and methods for seeding, fertilizing, and harvesting is key in remote crop monitoring and precision agriculture, where data plays a vital role in managing resources effectively.

This information is taken from a wide variety of data sources.

  • Sensors. Moisture, soil nutrients, compaction, weather stations (humidity, temperature, wind speed)
  • Drones and satellite photography. Field hyperspectral imaging.
  • GNSS. Event coordinates, also points and times for obtaining time-series data
  • Spatio-temporal data sources. Spatio-temporal specific data (trajectories of agricultural machinery, spatiotemporal points, event points, time-series information)
  • Maps. Field boundaries, soil type, surface levels)
  • AI solutions. Prediction of weather conditions, detection of plant diseases.

However, simply collecting raw data is not sufficient. It is necessary to process this information to extract valuable insights, make informed decisions, and enable automatic alerts and control signals for agricultural equipment. Thus, you must have the capability to:

  • Gather data;
  • Transform the data to extract valuable insights for precision farming gear;
  • Upload the data into agricultural equipment;
  • Retrieve real-time data from tractors, seeders, fertilizers, and other machinery.

By following these steps, farmers can make the most of modern technology, optimizing their farming practices and boosting efficiency.

Use Of Satellite Images In Building VRT Maps

Satellite crop monitoring imagery can be used to generate different kinds of VRA maps for various purposes. As nitrogen is one of the most critical elements plants need, building map for its proper application is a major task. 

Nitrogen fertilization maps play a crucial role in optimizing the application of water, nitrogen, and crop protection products. 

When creating a VRA map for nitrogen fertilizer, you can choose from various indices that provide valuable insights:

  • MSAVI is sensitive to uncovered soil and, therefore, is ideal for planning VR fertilizer application in the early stages of growth.

Example:  Early in the growing season, a corn farmer uses MSAVI to detect patches of uncovered soil in their field. This helps them apply fertilizer more accurately, ensuring that nutrient-rich areas receive the right amount of input and promoting uniform growth.

  • ReCI measures chlorophyll content in leaves, helping to identify field areas with faded and yellowed vegetation that may need additional fertilizer.

Example: A soybean grower notices using ReCI that certain sections of their field have yellowed leaves, indicating possible nutrient deficiencies. They apply additional fertilizer to these areas, restoring plant health and boosting overall yield.

  • NDVI indicates biomass accumulation zones and areas with low vegetation that might demand larger amounts of fertilizer.

Example:  A cotton producer uses NDVI to map out zones with varying levels of biomass across their field. They adjust their fertilizer application rates, applying more in areas with lower vegetation to support growth and maximize their harvest.

  • NDMI is well-suited for VR irrigation by identifying areas that are under water stress.

Example: During a hot summer, a vineyard uses NDMI to pinpoint areas suffering from water stress. They adjust their irrigation system to provide extra water where it’s needed, ensuring the vines remain healthy and productive.

    • NDRE helps identify stressed or dying vegetation in the middle to late stages of a season, aiding in effective fertilization strategies.
  • Example: During the season, a wheat farmer uses NDRE to identify patches of the field where the wheat plants are showing signs of nutrient stress or poor growth. By applying a mid-season nutrient boost specifically to these stressed areas, the farmer improves the overall health and yield potential of the wheat crop.

Field Productivity Maps

Field productivity maps can be created by analyzing satellite images to pinpoint areas with high or low crop yields. By using the NDVI index and advanced machine learning algorithms, different productivity zones can be identified.

Key applications of productivity maps include:

  • Potassium and phosphorus fertilization

Historical productivity zones data can help avoid excessive application in areas where these nutrients may have accumulated with time.

  • Variable rate planting

Farmers can apply different seed amounts in various productivity zones to either maximize yield or achieve uniform distribution across the field.

  • Land evaluation

Field productivity can be assessed before purchasing or renting land; it helps reduce risk and enhance profitability.

  • Targeted soil sampling

Soil sampling efforts can be focused on key areas indicated by productivity data, rather than relying on generic grid sampling.

As you see, variable rate application (VRA) is a cost-effective method that can save you 10% on planting and cultivation costs based on the characteristics of the soil. To fully benefit from VRA, it’s important to understand the technologies involved, such as sensors, GNSS, earth observation pictures from drones and satellites, and digital maps, which provide crucial data for analysis and implementation. We sincerely hope that you succeed in your farming endeavors with modern technology!

______________

Author Vasyl Cherlinka

Vasyl Cherlinka is a Doctor of Biosciences specializing in pedology (soil science), with 30 years of experience in the field. With a degree in agrochemistry, agronomy and soil science, Dr. Cherlinka has been advising on these issues private sector for many years.

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