The science and/or practice of soil cultivation and farming
Questions tagged [agriculture]
46 questions
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Do US farmers apply Roundup to non-GMO wheat crops 7-10 days before harvest?
This article makes the claim that:
Standard wheat harvest protocol in the United States is to drench the wheat fields with Roundup several days before the combine harvesters work through the fields as withered, dead wheat plants are less taxing on…
Flimzy
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Are farmers' lunar almanacs effective?
Lunar farmers' almanacs are calendars which give advice on agriculture based on the phase of the moon.
One such example is this site:
The Farmers Almanac Gardening by the Moon Calendar is determined by our age-old formula and applies generally to…
Sklivvz
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8
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Do most people have no idea where their food comes from or how it’s made?
Mercy For Animals article
According to U.K.-based paper The Herald [Plymouth], a new study shows most people have no idea where their food comes from or how it’s made.
Vegan organization Viva! commissioned the study, which surveyed 2,000 people…
adamaero
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Were modern wheat varieties specifically selected because it was less nutritious?
I don't know if posting Twitter threads counts as a source, but this morning I saw this one on modern agriculture:
https://twitter.com/wrathofgnon/status/955647499120726016
During the thread, it makes the following claim about the varieties of wheat…
Bob Tway
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Did increased global methane emissions in 2017 come from cattle farming?
In a 2017 press release, Don’t blame cattle – it’s humans who caused methane levels to skyrocket., Robert Howarth, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University claims that there was a recent surge in global methane emissions,…
Nigel J
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Are hogs scalded alive in slaughterhouses?
I read that hogs are at times scalded alive during butchering in the United States:
The killing line moves so quickly that some of the pigs are still conscious when they are dumped into the scalding tank. According to a USDA swine inspection guide:…
Mr667
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Does commercially-produced cotton cloth contain unhealthy chemicals that cause fertility problems?
The article Czy Twoje ubrania Cię trują? "Wchłaniamy chemię przez skórę. Stąd np. problemy z płodnością" (Do your clothes poison you? "We absorb chemicals through the skin, hence, for example, fertility problems") is in the website of a popular…
gaazkam
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Have greenhouse gas emissions from Australian red meat production fallen nearly 60% since 2005?
The BBC is reporting that Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) is reporting that "greenhouse gas emissions from the industry have fallen by almost 60% since 2005". This seems to be from the MLA State of the Industry Report 2019 which says:
a 57.6%…
Dave
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Is the majority of milk in industrialized countries obtained from pregnant cows?
There is conflicting information out there.
On the one hand we often find simple claims like
The majority of milk in industrialized countries is obtained from pregnant cows, which contains increased levels of estrogen and progesterone compared to…
LangLаngС
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Was beer more important than food in the development of organised civilisation?
The conventional story of the origin of modern civilisation places the discovery of agriculture as a major turning point. And this, it is usually claimed, was because organised cities can't grow before they have a reliable food supply from the…
matt_black
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Does organic cotton use less water than conventional cotton?
In The Guardian's article Cotton production linked to images of the dried up Aral Sea basin, it's claimed that organic cotton uses less water than conventional cotton.
“Conventional cotton (as opposed to organic cotton) has got to be one
of the…
Andrew Grimm
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5
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Was Roscoe Filburn ordered to destroy his crops?
The Wikipedia article on Wickard v. Filburn claims that:
Filburn was ordered to destroy his crops...
Numerous other sources also claim this, including two that I would normally consider reliable.
The Globe and Mail:
The U.S. Department of…
user5582
4
votes
1 answer
Are green potatoes unhealthy to eat?
I have been told that green (unripe) potatoes are poisonous and that this is "common knowledge". I doubt there are any chemical properties in these potatoes that could cause any harm. AFAIK, potatoes are only a tuber that grows over time, gaining…
Trylks
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Is whitewashing trees a good practice?
In some countries it's a common practice to whitewash the trunks of fruit trees in the spring and autumn. They say it protects them from sunburns and that the calx (CaO) acts as a disinfectant. But critics say that the calx in combination with acid…
onetrickpony
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Is animal agriculture the leading cause of species extinction?
The cause of species extinction interests me.
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a documentary that attacks the environmental damage caused by animal agriculture.
Their facts page states (with references):
Animal agriculture is the leading…
Looft
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