The thing is, this isn't even the first time US ag has wrecked itself with foolish trade wars.

In the runup to the Civil War, US cotton plantations decided to stop exporting cotton. Why?

Because the British Empire's textile mills ran on cotton from US plantations.

Without Southern cotton, the British textile industry would be brought to its knees.

And that would force the British Empire- with the world's most powerful navy- to help the US South in its fight for "freedom."

At least, that's what cotton plantation owners THOUGHT would happen.

What actually happened? Egyptian cotton.

With lots of fertile farmland and desperate for something to sell for cash on international markets,

Egypt's leadership dumped resources into building up cotton farming in Egypt.

By the time the US Civil War was over, so was the US cotton industry.

Egypt had ramped up to growing so much cotton, nobody really needed any from the US South anymore.

This is why "Egyptian cotton" is a thing now!

Egypt grew a little cotton before all that, but not a "main export industry & household name" amount.

This is why it's so important that US agriculture quit its "positive vibes only!" strategy and actually learn from its own mistakes.

So we can stop repeating them already.

Anyway, here's the next Egyptian cotton: Argentine & Brazilian soybeans.

https://mishtalk.com/economics/us-soybean-exports-to-china-drop-to-zero-argentina-and-brazil-win/

Ope this is going off

Ok folks! My Congressman is a MAGA clown who's on multiple ag committees.

As a farmer, I need ag policymakers with a spine who tell Trump no.

So for every donation to Kim Hardy, who's running against my
Congressman, I will post one (1) ag fact.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nc07social

Farm fact: the South is famous for clayey red soil, but a lot of it is actually... sand. Like beach sand. See the yellow on the map here.

Why? It IS beach sand. That's where the shoreline was during the Cretaceous.

This has Certain Consequences for agriculture in the South!

Your classic grain belt-type farming- grain, silos, tractors, livestock to eat all the grain- is what the US considers "real farming."

And it likes big flat plains.

So when there's big flat plains in the US, that's kinda what we like to do.

But in the South? Our big flat plains are mostly deep, DEEP coastal sand.

And grain DOESN'T LIKE SAND

We aren't gonna thrive trying to play the Midwest's game on sand y'all. What are we doing

Attempting to farm Midwest-style on sand has led a lot of people to describe Southern soils as "bad."

This is false. Slanderous, even.

Sand is great!

Root crops love it! It's soft! Long skinny roots like carrots can push downward without hitting rocks or clay pans & turning into this

@sarahtaber for industrial farming I can appreciate long, consistent carrots. But we should appreciate carrots with character.

Question: does sandy soil let the fertilizer used in industrial farming drain away faster? Because I am concerned about industrial vegetables having less critical minerals than they had in previous generations.

@servelan @Urban_Hermit @sarahtaber

Pedantry incoming!

My current position:
P and K, major components of many fertilizers, are minerals. Though they're classified as macro-nutrients (along with calcium and magnesium I think) unlike other minerals which are classified as micronutrients.
#Gardening #Fertilizers