are stored underneath the hog house in cement pits which are knitted into soil after crops have been harvested. There is no sign of erosion and it is a valuable fertilizer used to full extent. Free-range chickens and organic farming will just increase food cost, and many will go hungry due to this. Nitrogen is produced by legumes or from lighting strikes, the amount of life can support with limited nitrogen needed for crop. Vaclav Smill effect 40% people are alive due to artificial nitrogen. Clover and Alfalfa was used and all methods, but nothing can replace commercial fertilizers. Norman Borlaug states natural nitrogen produced would only support 4 billion and further states we need roughly 5 billion more cows to produce manure to fertilize our crops. Cows cannot produce nitrogen from thin air, they need to eat forages and to grow them we need more manures. Pollan states flying over Midwest in winter and see black fallow soil. In author’s 20 year experience that he had not implemented tillage and has yet not seem to produce black soil. And plants do not grow well in freezing weather which he hopes Pollan realizes. The legumes grown will not allow enough nitrogen before planting time and will cause more erosion. Crop rotations cost twice the amount of water and twice as much land to produce the same amount of bushels. Mandatory house composting will take 7,500 trucks traveling from New York City to Midwest. Five million truckloads to fertilize corn crop. Nitrogen has quadrupled in price

and farmers are still using them, and they are using GPS monitors on all equipment to ensure they do not use too much. The farmers are sensible and have tools and techniques that have been practiced for generations and taking the industrial route while making sensible measure to not cause harm to the environment.

Reading # 4a The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals Blake Hurst 1. Make a case for ‘big’ agriculture/Production Agriculture. In other words, support ‘big’ agriculture even if you personally have a problem with it. The point of this exercise is to make you see the opposing view. a) In one paragraph, support ‘big’ agriculture with all the logical reasons you can come up with. These reasons may or may not have anything to do with ethics. Production agriculture allows farms to make more affordable, because the more farms are efficient that can sell for less. This will allow the less income earning populations to be able to feed themselves. Improvement in technologies and practices lowered energy and water cost and lowering green-house gas. If more land, water, pesticides and labor were used instead, it would not be good for both ends. Also, it creates more job opportunities, it will help the