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Oct. 27, 2016
2016 Logan County Fall Farm Outlook Magazine
Lincoln Daily News
W
hen we look at grain production
in central Illinois and the
methods by which we produce larger
yields, is it time to ask the question
have we taken science too far? Is
technology too advanced?
There is definitely a separation of
opinion on this topic. Some will
say emphatically “Yes.” We need to
return to some of the ways of our
past generations, in order to preserve
Mother Earth. Others will say “no,”
we have to continue research and
advancement if we are going to
preserve the human race by continuing
to feed the world population.
In the last decade or so, “organic” has
become a consumer buzz word at the
supermarket, but in early September
when PrairiErth Farm owner David
Bishop hosted a University of Illinois
crop research field day, the talk was
more than a little reminiscent of
days-gone-by. Guest speakers talked
about returning to crop rotations that
included a third cash crop and or a
cover crop to protect soil from winter
erosion.
Instead of using synthetic chemicals
to control weeds, one guest mentioned
the return of the field cultivator as well
as “walking fields’ for weed control.
For those in attendance who grew up
on the farm in the 1950s, 60s and even
70s, those were all too familiar words
Have we gone too far?
Agricultural science and technology:
By
Nila Smith
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