Sudanese 'Super Cows'!

Super Cows? Yes. That’s right. The BBC's James Copnall went on a rare tour of some state-of-the-art agricultural facilities in Sudan that could come to dominate agricultural production. Below is the BBC's account of his trip.

The DAL group is a prominent Sudanese business and is a major player within the agricultural sector. Right from growing alfalfa as feed for the dairy herd to producing and packaging the products, this farming business incorporates technology that is alien to agriculture in Sudan.

The irrigation equipment used for fodder crop growth is much more technical and precise, and with that in mind is also much more expensive. The cows that are fed these crops are imported from the west, all born abroad. But, because of their far superior milk-producing power, these imports are becoming Sudan’s new ‘super cows’. These so-called ‘super cows’ do have a downside though…because of the overwhelming heat, these western breeds have to be kept in air-conditioned barns! The barns are kept 20˚C cooler than the outside air by a system that sprays cold air.

Even in the milking and packaging process technology reigns supreme. The dairy factory alone costs $50 million, presenting itself as a massive investment, especially when you compare this to the majority of Sudanese agriculture which is practiced on a small scale. The latest genetic technology is also being used to ensure that the next generation of ‘super cows’ can produce even more milk.

Indeed, this is a prime example of how technology can help revolutionise agriculture and is very much a display of technology at the service of agriculture. But (and for me this is quite a big but!) for all its productivity benefits, can this really be sustainable? Socially as well as environmentally? With this extensive use of technology within a farming system, not as many jobs are created as in traditional farming, and many of the jobs that are available require more educated and trained people. Here the choice between outright productivity and social commitments has been made.

The real concern with regards to environmental change is what powers these technological advancements. The energy needed to maintain air-conditioned barns, electronically monitor each cow, or to package products all by machines is astronomical. This energy consumption is not sustainable, particularly if these types of technological revolutions become more commonplace across the developing world. The environmental costs and ensuing environmental change as a result of these revolutions is unquantifiable. Worrying times if these ‘super cows’ begin to take over the world!

Back on Hive Watch - We Need to BEE Careful!

In this post I want to return to an environmental issue I explored in a couple of posts back in November, where I focused on the worrying evidence of bee declines and how this decline is commonly attributed to some methods of intensive management (bee-ing all of those naughty pesticides!). Although I did conclude that a range of factors have contributed to recent alarming declines, agricultural evolution and chemical usage are key factors.

A bee covered in pollen (Source: theguardian.com)

A recent article by the BBC sheds some interesting light on the bee decline issue in this respect, not only cementing this ecological change as a real issue but also relates the consequence back to the cause.

I'll explain what I mean. Globally, farmers have increased their use of pesticides...this has largely been done to help in the efforts to increase yields to meet the increasing demands of our growing world population...yet this increase in pesticide use seems to have contributed to the loss of our black and yellow friends...and with this loss, their is a loss of pollination services, which could actually leave us facing a potential food security crisis! So, in our human naivety, we may have actually reduced long-term yields in our attempts to increase them.

As this article highlights, a major reason behind this pollination capacity shortage is the increase in demand for biofuels, with crops such as oilseed rape being grown more widely across Europe for this purpose. These crops require high rates of pollination, and so even a suggested bee population recovery of 7% between 2005 and 2010 is not enough when considering biofuel feed crops increased their area by over 30% during the same period.

Bee hives in a field of oilseed rape - an ever-rarer site (Source: inhabitat.com)

The UK is at the epicentre of this issue, with only Moldova having a bigger honeybee shortage. Our position as a relative economic power within Europe makes this even more shocking. Action really needs to be taken now, as the UK and European agricultural sectors rely on it. Yields are hampered and crops are at risk with the current over-reliance on wild pollinators, which do not have sufficient capacity to provide the pollination services required.

Also highlighted in this article, and in the study by Tom Breeze and colleagues upon which it is fundamentally based, was the divergence between agricultural and environmental policies. If this pressing issue is to be resolved, linkages must be formed and simultaneous changes to both agricultural practices and environmental policies must be made. If business continues as usual, this partly agriculturally-driven environmental change will lead to a socioeconomic crisis...and who knows the environmental changes that may result from that?

October to Now - What's Changed?

With the New Year now well underway, I thought I would pause and reflect a little on what I have uncovered, discussed and learned over the past few months through doing these blog posts. This is, I hasten to add, not by any means a reflective send-off, but rather more an update on my own personal mindset and opinions on the key topics relating to global environmental change and agriculture.

(Source: richesandglory.wordpress.com)

Now, first things first, I need to go back to the very beginning (no, not when time began...let's try October). When I set out to explore the debates, contributions, misconceptions and facts surrounding agriculture and its contribution to the concept of global environmental change I very much saw pollution as the primary factor. My first few posts prove testament to this, where I explored phosphorous leakage and the damage that causes to the environment, particularly in a contemporary context. I decided that from this part of the debate I would explore the chemical usage of modern agriculture further, which led me to a very topical "buzzing" debate about bee populations. This gave me a real case study focus on how the changing practices of agriculture are altering the natural environment. I also touched a little on the impacts farming is and has had on broad ecology and habitat stability, which was a topic I found particularly interesting.

At this stage it seemed clear to me that this excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides is really a driving force behind how agriculture is causing and contributing to global environmental change. Indeed it is avery significant one, but through my reading it became apparent that the concept of water consumption was arguably a far bigger issue. I've become quite passionate about this topic, and it has led to a real change in my mindset. Having initially thought that the modernisation of agriculture through chemical use was the primary cause of agriculturally-induced environmental change, I am now in a position where agricultural water consumption tops the agenda.

What I have found really interesting, and incredibly useful, about this blogging process is the difference in how I have engaged with literature and debates, and then how this has helped me to understand concepts and topics much better. The ways in which I now go about reading and researching topics has changed, and I am much less hesitant to take my own opinion on things.

(Source: goodjoe.com)

All I can say now is that I look forward to more explorations of a broad spectrum of environmental change topics in relation to farming, and I hope you all do too!