@Bacpacker are you still using your hydroponics gardening?I know you've been real busy but did you ever use the hydro system?
I'm a firm believer in hydro and aquaponic gardening, especially on a commercial scale. Not all crops are able to be grown this way (yet), but I've seen some awesome news from test-scale operations. Being able to build a multi-story warehouse "farm" in the industrial zone of major metro areas would do amazing things. Year-round fresh local produce. Global supply chains become regional. Inhospitable climates can grow whatever they want.
I've heard it's tricky to strike the right balance between fish and crops in a large scale aquaponic system. You'd want to err on the side of being too small so you don't end up throwing away your excess.
Mom-and-pop farming operations, never. For better or worse those have been dying out for a long time though. The future of private farms will be relegated to farmer's markets, again, for better or worse. All the warehouse farming will be done by commercial entities, just as the vast majority of traditional farming (in the US) has been taken over by commercial entities. I have read about a handful around the world that are successfully growing "salad" crops on a small commercial scale. Essentially the type of stuff you'd grow in backyard garden. They can't feed a city, but at this stage they are more of a trial run before the mega operations get put into service. Imagine an Amazon-sized warehouse dedicated to growing all the produce sold in your local grocery store. Fresh tomato's in January.Yeah, that's gardening not farming. A small operation grain farm is now less than 1,000 acres. Shoot, a 1000 acre corn and soybeans farm won't support a family without an outside income.
This hydro kind of farming is good on a small scale, but I doubt anyone can afford the infrastructure to feed many people or livestock with it...
Hydroponics is a very wasteful method and can be toxic to the environment. It takes a lot of electrical power, water and uses chemicals for the food supply for the plants. The power aspect limits this kind of farming because we are nearing the point where we won't be able to supply power for households. The water can only be recirculated for a short time before it has to be replaced because of nutrient toxicity. Most of the fertilizers used come from the petrochemical industry so as fuel prices go up so do the fertilizer prices. It just isn't sustainable in the larger markets.
I need 80 acres to graze and browse cattle for a decent breeding stock and about 40 acres for 20 pigs along with 2 acres for 40 chickens. On top of that I need 20 acres for food crops between a family of four and the animals and another 10 acres for fuel production and 2 to 4 acres for trees. That means that I need about 300 to 350 acres of land for a self sufficient homestead. I will still need to stock salt, sugar and other niceties. With the proper selection of animals I will only need to supply their daily food for 1 or 2 months out of the year but that requires recycling the range areas every 30 to 45 days. Between cattle, pigs and chickens and the composting I will have enough fertilizer to keep a no turn ranch working well. The problem is that it may take 3 years to build the soil back up on a property that used 'modern' farming methods. I would like to have some forested land on the side someplace so I have to find a decent size property in the price range I can afford. It has to have a decent spot for the ranch house and shop too.
Yeah, that's gardening not farming. A small operation grain farm is now less than 1,000 acres. Shoot, a 1000 acre corn and soybeans farm won't support a family without an outside income.
This hydro kind of farming is good on a small scale, but I doubt anyone can afford the infrastructure to feed many people or livestock with it...
But how much grain can you grow with it? That's what I'm getting at. Can you feed 5,000 head of cattle? 500? 50?Our soil is being depleted and eroded all over the world .Our fresh water is also scarce and much of it is polluted.
But how much grain can you grow with it? That's what I'm getting at. Can you feed 5,000 head of cattle? 500? 50?
The Japanese consumed rice as the basis of their diet, Meer. Their road to old age health is paved with grain.Japanese are some [ or were till they got on American diet ] of the longest living people on earth,they did'nt grow or consume many grains. They are also the most healthyin old age. Some say you can say thesame thing for people in Siberia who eat mosly meat too.
Hydroponics would be on small scale not to feed cattle. Sustainable living not steaks for dinner every night,lol.
The Japanese consumed rice as the basis of their diet, Meer. Their road to old age health is paved with grain.
Hydroponics is only useful at the personal level. Farming is about making money, not staying alive. Otherwise it's subsistence farming and that's a whole other ball game. Using hydroponics to supplement subsistence farming is certainly viable, but it requires the infrastructure to make it work - tanks, lights, electricity, controlled temp, and so on and so on. Unless some kind of technology changes, it can never be the real future of anything, because it can't do anything that putting seed in the ground can't do better on an economically feasible scale.
There's also airoponics (or aeroponics? not sure), which I believe was originally developed by NASA for "farming" in space. The root structures are open to the air, and a nutrient mix it sprayed onto them. Almost the same as hydro, but with less water. With a timeline to colonize Mars, I can't help but think there are a lot of very smart people working on this stuff, and crops for human consumption will be mostly factory grown by the end of the century.
Mom-and-pop farming operations, never. For better or worse those have been dying out for a long time though. The future of private farms will be relegated to farmer's markets, again, for better or worse. All the warehouse farming will be done by commercial entities, just as the vast majority of traditional farming (in the US) has been taken over by commercial entities. I have read about a handful around the world that are successfully growing "salad" crops on a small commercial scale. Essentially the type of stuff you'd grow in backyard garden. They can't feed a city, but at this stage they are more of a trial run before the mega operations get put into service. Imagine an Amazon-sized warehouse dedicated to growing all the produce sold in your local grocery store. Fresh tomato's in January.
I am biased against traditional farming though. There's a commonality between farmers and hedge funds. Both are too greedy for their own good. Both manipulate the system into a downward spiral for immediate satisfaction, then cry for a bailout when the house of cards finally falls. And b/c their failure is a net-loss to the general public, they get their bailout and never learn a lesson.
It definitely could be used to grow some small scale things. And if people want to do that, I'm all for it. After all if nobody does it, it won't ever be improved or moved forward. But I still find the most impressive use of it is to grow weed in the basement, and I'm not interested in that...
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