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Sean,the UK controlled agriculture in many countries so ensuring a plentiful supply for export. Now we rely on countries like Brazil for soya etc, and they have populations rising much faster than food production
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Agriculture in north west Europe was far better when it depended on GRASS ( a natural plant that thrives on rain).
Meat production that is not grass-based will not be sustainable. For modern uk farming to be so dependent on oil products is a weakness that lies behind many wars. At present the vast majority of the british rely on supermarkets who, in turn , rely on ripping the farmer from any land. "Cheapness" keeps the populous alive, even if the bulk of what they scoff being junk. A poor and dangerous situation, engineered by the bean-counters and wizzards of modern global capitalism. The poor old Chinese are now getting billed in restaurants for "clean air"! I never thought I'd see the day. |
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You are right about meat. In the medium term, it will not be economic to feed anything that a human can eat to a farm animal. Pigs and poultry will become relatively expensive compared to grazing species. There will still be by products from human food production but feeding good quality grain and soyabeans to pigs will not seem acceptable when they become very expensive relative to todays prices. That is why I quit livestock farming in 2000.
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Thank you, sageform.
I oft times heard old farmers say a sheep will feed itself from what is there by nature, but a pig needs feeding. The old days there seemed to be more space and land; even hens could forage running wild, though foxes were a problem. Nowadays everything seems to live in a big shed, while the foxes live in the city! There are scores of them near Chelsea's soccer ground - all along the railway. I used to think grazing was the most natural thing in the world. Now the experts tell us that Ireland ranks badly in the green eco charts, bc of all the livestock giving out gases! Btw, ye did well to last till the change of the century. Farming is so different now; we used to get plenty of work off the farmers. 'Tis all a thing of the past, but we still need food. |