One reason I'm skeptical of some positions taken by ag activists against "factory farming".
What we currently have in the country is the result of millions of decisions in the past. Within the memory of people still living most farms were small family operations, "small" at least by current standards. And they were organic, mostly. (I'm thinking of the 1920's.) So a very stark contrast to today's agriculture.
I think many activists would say 1920's agriculture was overall more desirable than 2020's agriculture. Accepting that position just for the sake of argument then raises the question: how do you put the toothpaste back in the tube?
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Monday, January 13, 2020
Once Again the Loudmouth Gets All the Attention
In an age-old pattern (think of the prodigal son in the Bible) the loudest mouth gets the attention.
In this case, he gets an article in the NYTimes announcing his retirement (plus I've seen tweets on the same subject).
Who is he? Diego, a turtle. Not just any turtle. but one of three males in an endangered species who were assigned the duty/given the opportunity to mate often with females in order to drive the numbers of the species above two digits.
He did, he performed admirably, siring about 40 percent of the 2,000 turtles in the species. He's described as having a big personality, charismatic.
It just so happens one of the two other males was firing blanks, leaving the third, the silent stalwart type, the one not seeking headlines, to sire the other 60 percent.
In this case, he gets an article in the NYTimes announcing his retirement (plus I've seen tweets on the same subject).
Who is he? Diego, a turtle. Not just any turtle. but one of three males in an endangered species who were assigned the duty/given the opportunity to mate often with females in order to drive the numbers of the species above two digits.
He did, he performed admirably, siring about 40 percent of the 2,000 turtles in the species. He's described as having a big personality, charismatic.
It just so happens one of the two other males was firing blanks, leaving the third, the silent stalwart type, the one not seeking headlines, to sire the other 60 percent.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Problems with "Model" Farms
This is a good analysis of efforts to model different and better ways of doing farming. I'm a lot older than the author, so we both may be stuck in the past. Underlying a lot of the analysis is a more general law which applies in education and medicine: replication will kill you. That is, a "model" farm that actually works for a number of years, and many such ventures don't, may fail when replicated to other environments.
Gene Drives Reversible?
NYTimes magazine has an article on gene drives, discussing the positives and negatives. Lots of concerns about negatives, particularly outside the scientific community.
In reading it I wondered: if I understand correctly, the gene drive consists of a genetic package which says: "if you find gene A, replace it with gene B and Crispr package X." So a gene drive spreads a gene throughout the population while also spreading the Crispr package needed to replace A by B.
So what did I wonder? Whether a gene drive isn't reversible, just do: "if you find gene B, replace it with gene A and Crispr package X"
Of course, it turns out any layman speculation I might have is out-of-date, witness this 2015 piece.
In reading it I wondered: if I understand correctly, the gene drive consists of a genetic package which says: "if you find gene A, replace it with gene B and Crispr package X." So a gene drive spreads a gene throughout the population while also spreading the Crispr package needed to replace A by B.
So what did I wonder? Whether a gene drive isn't reversible, just do: "if you find gene B, replace it with gene A and Crispr package X"
Of course, it turns out any layman speculation I might have is out-of-date, witness this 2015 piece.
Friday, January 10, 2020
The Growth of "Vertical Farming"
I think the term "vertical farming" has come to mean indoor agriculture under LED lights with lots of technology and automation. I'm still skeptical about current economics, but, if I'm to be consistent with supporting technology in the case of climate change and self-driving cars, I have to agree that vertical farming will become economical for at least some crops.
But...
As is the case with most innovation and technology, there are trade-offs. One trade-off which comes to mind is vulnerability. Transitioning from field agriculture to vertical farming for greens, for example, would increase the demand for electricity. More significantly, if a solar flare of sufficient intensity fried many transformers which would take years to replace, reactivating field agriculture for greens would also take years.
But...
As is the case with most innovation and technology, there are trade-offs. One trade-off which comes to mind is vulnerability. Transitioning from field agriculture to vertical farming for greens, for example, would increase the demand for electricity. More significantly, if a solar flare of sufficient intensity fried many transformers which would take years to replace, reactivating field agriculture for greens would also take years.
Thursday, January 09, 2020
Photo IDs for Voters
I've blogged on this issue before. Today the new KY secretary of state is reviving it.
He and I think that requiring photo ids would be good for public confidence, even though there's no evidence of impersonation voter fraud. For me at least the key is to ease into the requirement--make photo ids easy-peasy. I suspect these days most young people get photo ids for driving or traveling. That leaves one problem area--those on the margins of society--the old, the native Americans, the less fully assimilated (think Amish, Hasidic Jews, or whoever). I think providing photo ids in these cases is worthwhile simply better to integrate people into society.
He and I think that requiring photo ids would be good for public confidence, even though there's no evidence of impersonation voter fraud. For me at least the key is to ease into the requirement--make photo ids easy-peasy. I suspect these days most young people get photo ids for driving or traveling. That leaves one problem area--those on the margins of society--the old, the native Americans, the less fully assimilated (think Amish, Hasidic Jews, or whoever). I think providing photo ids in these cases is worthwhile simply better to integrate people into society.
Wednesday, January 08, 2020
Great Advances in Medicine
Saw the doctor today at Kaiser. (It'd been a couple years so I was overdue.) Many changes since my last visit
- checking in by entering data at a kiosk, rather than a reception clerk at the waiting area.
- changing the format of the printout summarizing the visit.
- eliminating the weigh-in station--they upgraded the examining table/recliner with one which can register your weight. It also raises and lowers, so your feet can be on the floor instead of dangling in the air.
I'm sort of mocking the healthcare industry here, but it's worth noting that there's a record decrease in the death rate from cancer.
Tuesday, January 07, 2020
"Peak Document"
That's a term used in the title of the presidential address at the American Historical Association meeting. What McNeill is talking about is the surge of information coming not from documents but from science--especially genetics.
It's a valid subject, of course, but I admit when I first saw it my thoughts went in another direction; the change in sources in the current and coming eras because of digital media. An example, when I was hired by ASCS people had improved the document management systems involved. The Commodity Credit Corporation board had a permanent secretary and an assistant, the board made decisions based on "dockets" which were systematically filed. Most decisions within ASCS generated paper documents, memos and letters, all routed through clearance channels and eventually filed in the Secretary's Records or administrator's.
As a failed historian I was intrigued by the processes. The paper files didn't capture everything--there was a lot going on in the agency which wasn't fully documented (particularly the political maneuvers) where the documents were like an iceberg, only a small part visible
By the time I left FSA, this picture was changing. Partially it was the result of personnel changeover--the institutional memory of the reasons behind practices had been or was being lost. Partly it was a change of norms--new people and new problems had new ways of doing things, often resulting in faster action but a diminished historical record. Much of it had to do with automation, both the problems and processes of implementing policy with compers in the county offices and the new powers of communication conferred by new technology.
One example was the "wire notice". Urgent messages to field offices would be sent by telegraph, which meant going through the telegraph office, therefore required official authorization, and permitted central filing of the message. Once email arrived, it was possible for anyone to email anything to anyone with no central file. (Of course, this didn't happen immediately.) And for a number of years there was really no system for recording and filing such messages. Supposedly after 30 years NARS has enforced systems in the agencies, but I'm dubious.
The bottom line--in the 1970's a historan could look at the official files in the National Archives and do a reasonable history. I doubt that's feasible for th 2000-2010 perioc
It's a valid subject, of course, but I admit when I first saw it my thoughts went in another direction; the change in sources in the current and coming eras because of digital media. An example, when I was hired by ASCS people had improved the document management systems involved. The Commodity Credit Corporation board had a permanent secretary and an assistant, the board made decisions based on "dockets" which were systematically filed. Most decisions within ASCS generated paper documents, memos and letters, all routed through clearance channels and eventually filed in the Secretary's Records or administrator's.
As a failed historian I was intrigued by the processes. The paper files didn't capture everything--there was a lot going on in the agency which wasn't fully documented (particularly the political maneuvers) where the documents were like an iceberg, only a small part visible
By the time I left FSA, this picture was changing. Partially it was the result of personnel changeover--the institutional memory of the reasons behind practices had been or was being lost. Partly it was a change of norms--new people and new problems had new ways of doing things, often resulting in faster action but a diminished historical record. Much of it had to do with automation, both the problems and processes of implementing policy with compers in the county offices and the new powers of communication conferred by new technology.
One example was the "wire notice". Urgent messages to field offices would be sent by telegraph, which meant going through the telegraph office, therefore required official authorization, and permitted central filing of the message. Once email arrived, it was possible for anyone to email anything to anyone with no central file. (Of course, this didn't happen immediately.) And for a number of years there was really no system for recording and filing such messages. Supposedly after 30 years NARS has enforced systems in the agencies, but I'm dubious.
The bottom line--in the 1970's a historan could look at the official files in the National Archives and do a reasonable history. I doubt that's feasible for th 2000-2010 perioc
Monday, January 06, 2020
Poor Elsie, Borden in Bankruptcy
Borden has filed for bankruptcy protection--the second big dairy company after Dean Foods to go bust.
Why "Elsie"--see this .
Why "Elsie"--see this .
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