According to the European Drought Observatory, more than a third of the continent is currently under a drought warning, with 10% experiencing severe drought.
In the Netherlands this is almost completely caused by farmers (that are overrepresented in the water boards) which keep the groundwater level low for better yields. This obviously backfires during the summer when the levels get too low.
Genuine question: Is that good or bad? What kind of farmers? Food or tulips? Humans gotta eat, and I thought Netherlands produces a lot of Europe’s agricultural output
Farmers as being described here are not some podunk hillbillies living off the land. These are massive corporate entities who have cannibalized their competition over the last 60 years. They don’t toil in the fields, their hordes of underpaid Southeast Asian and African immigrants do that for them, while they drive around in Land Rovers.
This is not something done out of necessity, this is done out of keeping their profit margins as high as possible.
Im just going to step up and point out that I am not a podunk hillbilly living off the land. I am a well educated human being that left the city during the pandemic to keep all my food as local as possible (read: from my yard or my neighbors). I also sell at a farmstand on my own property, as well as donate to food pantries in my current area, the pantry for the neighborhood that raised me which is a food desert, and to my religiously affiliated (not a christian by any stretch, by the way) pantry.
That said, I am not a European and maybe you have farmers/homesteaders out there that are like that-- but I kindly request you do not lump all of us into such a shit category.
It’s not nice to make assumptions about a large group of people-- history has taught us that time and time again.
On the massive corporate farms, however… no matter where-- you’re 100% correct.
Yeah, but I specifically mentioned “farmers as being described here.” I’m obviously not referring to small farmers, but corporate entities. I was pretty explicit about that I’d say.
Unless you are “intentionally keeping the land dry for better yields and easier access with heavy machinery” or have “hordes of underpaid immigrants working for you” I don’t think you should feel called our or lumped together with them in this characterization 😋
It’s not even for better yield, it’s for better access with heavy machinery
And the Netherlands exports too much as this water issue is one of a few ways in which our agriculture intensity is harming the long term health of nature and the fertility of the land itself
So the farmers reduce the water table so the country isn’t muddy?
How is that bad for everyone else, for the country to not be all muddy?
I dunno. Where I’ve always lived, ground that’s too muddy to drive on is a rare event, not a continual state that can only be alleviated by lowering the water table. If I lived in a place where you couldn’t drive on the ground because it was too muddy, I’d be all for lowering the water table to get some firm ground.
But I’m much more of a green than a red in that sense.
So the farmers reduce the water table so the country isn’t muddy?
No, it’s so the are they’re farming on isn’t too muddy for the heavy machinery.
They’re not talking about the areas peope are normally driving on.
But the water table being lower than the rainfall means there’s a drought and things are getting too dry. That’s not good for anybody. It harms the very ecosystem they’re trying to farm in.
Like they’re pumping it out to keep it down already, but now there’s a drought and it got too low anyway? Or like the farmers are optimizing the water table for themselves, but that’s lower than optimal for the cities’ water needs? Or do you mean like there’s a drought being manufactured not by low rainfall but by reducing the water table?
Do you mean they get some direct yield benefit from a low water table, or that they water their crops a lot for high yield, and that results in the low water table?
In the Netherlands this is almost completely caused by farmers (that are overrepresented in the water boards) which keep the groundwater level low for better yields. This obviously backfires during the summer when the levels get too low.
Genuine question: Is that good or bad? What kind of farmers? Food or tulips? Humans gotta eat, and I thought Netherlands produces a lot of Europe’s agricultural output
Farmers as being described here are not some podunk hillbillies living off the land. These are massive corporate entities who have cannibalized their competition over the last 60 years. They don’t toil in the fields, their hordes of underpaid Southeast Asian and African immigrants do that for them, while they drive around in Land Rovers.
This is not something done out of necessity, this is done out of keeping their profit margins as high as possible.
Im just going to step up and point out that I am not a podunk hillbilly living off the land. I am a well educated human being that left the city during the pandemic to keep all my food as local as possible (read: from my yard or my neighbors). I also sell at a farmstand on my own property, as well as donate to food pantries in my current area, the pantry for the neighborhood that raised me which is a food desert, and to my religiously affiliated (not a christian by any stretch, by the way) pantry.
That said, I am not a European and maybe you have farmers/homesteaders out there that are like that-- but I kindly request you do not lump all of us into such a shit category.
It’s not nice to make assumptions about a large group of people-- history has taught us that time and time again.
On the massive corporate farms, however… no matter where-- you’re 100% correct.
Yeah, but I specifically mentioned “farmers as being described here.” I’m obviously not referring to small farmers, but corporate entities. I was pretty explicit about that I’d say.
Unless you are “intentionally keeping the land dry for better yields and easier access with heavy machinery” or have “hordes of underpaid immigrants working for you” I don’t think you should feel called our or lumped together with them in this characterization 😋
Hey culture request for the new site: can we stop saying “genuine question” and just make a culture where that’s the assumed intention of questions?
That’s never going to work with my natural inclination for British sarcastic rhetoric is it?
It’s not even for better yield, it’s for better access with heavy machinery And the Netherlands exports too much as this water issue is one of a few ways in which our agriculture intensity is harming the long term health of nature and the fertility of the land itself
What do you mean by better access? Like their roads are too muddy with the water table high?
The fields themselves are too soft/muddy for heavy machinery (and cows!).
So the farmers reduce the water table so the country isn’t muddy?
How is that bad for everyone else, for the country to not be all muddy?
I dunno. Where I’ve always lived, ground that’s too muddy to drive on is a rare event, not a continual state that can only be alleviated by lowering the water table. If I lived in a place where you couldn’t drive on the ground because it was too muddy, I’d be all for lowering the water table to get some firm ground.
But I’m much more of a green than a red in that sense.
No, it’s so the are they’re farming on isn’t too muddy for the heavy machinery. They’re not talking about the areas peope are normally driving on.
But the water table being lower than the rainfall means there’s a drought and things are getting too dry. That’s not good for anybody. It harms the very ecosystem they’re trying to farm in.
Like they’re pumping it out to keep it down already, but now there’s a drought and it got too low anyway? Or like the farmers are optimizing the water table for themselves, but that’s lower than optimal for the cities’ water needs? Or do you mean like there’s a drought being manufactured not by low rainfall but by reducing the water table?
Can you recommend any good articles on this?
Do you mean they get some direct yield benefit from a low water table, or that they water their crops a lot for high yield, and that results in the low water table?