Is agriculture wiping out the human race?

Paris dreamed of 1.5°C global warming, 2°C would still be manageable. The report by American authorities assumed 2°C and reading the consequences causes severe depression. But to be honest... the reality is 3°C, 4°C...

Nobody knows the actual, expected consequences.

We are heading towards a completely different life, a completely different way of life, we will have completely different political conditions, different social conditions, different forms of production.

How do we remain capable of acting in the face of the expected catastrophe? How do we remain capable of responding to all the challenges that lie ahead?

At the end of time, when it will be accomplished, when the resources are used up, the environment polluted, the fertile soils degraded, the diversity of fauna and flora extinguished, the water in the lakes, rivers and springs poisoned, when humans and animals, plants and soil have become victims of the earth's heating, interrupted by violent storms, when hurricanes sweep over the land, unbelievable masses of rain pelt down from the sky, when nothing will be as we know it, when the seas will rise incessantly, when people will turn on each other in their despair, when we have reached the point where only a god could save us, as a philosopher once said, then the dawn of hope will rise on the horizon, albeit without any birdsong, but everything will be all right again.

We, the superior human being, the crown of creation, we, with our superior intelligence, we, with our stunned creativity, we will have done it again. We will have ruined everything beyond recognition, we will have driven the desolation to the last spot on this earth, but we will still be able to act.

Robots will cultivate the unrecognizable fields, drones will pollinate what needs to be pollinated, CRISPR cas 9 will be used to prepare and design crops so that they will still yield on the wasteland and, with the help of chlorophyll fluorescence, the digital machinist will recognize in his sleep where help will be needed in the field. It will no longer be possible to judge anything by human standards.

The heralds of digitalization in agriculture have long been working on solutions to the unthinkable. Our lifestyle is just great! Why should we change anything?

Technology, digitalization, artificial intelligence, the new genetic engineering, all together and a fair amount of ruthlessness will be our future, we will fix it for the generations to come.

Each of you is familiar with the publications on the death of insects, the destruction of birds, the breathtaking extent of the eradication of plants, including cultivated plants, the desertification of fields prepared for oversized machines, the extent of soil compaction in agriculture, the destruction of microorganisms in the soil, land degradation and the resulting loss of healthy soils. Conventional agriculture is reaching the limits of nature everywhere.

According to the World Biodiversity Council (IPBES), land degradation and the loss of healthy soils has exceeded a critical level, putting the livelihoods of 3.2 billion people at risk. Rainfall washes away around 970 million tons of loose soil in the EU every year. Slovenia, Italy and Austria in particular are severely affected by soil erosion. 1/3 of our arable land is intensively compacted.

Global warming, which hits agriculture completely unprepared, could result in yield losses of up to 50% in Austria, especially in the Marchfeld region.

2/3 of arable land is needed for livestock feed production. Western and Central Europe needs an additional area the size of Germany for livestock feed outside Europe.

You all certainly know what pesticides and industrial fertilizers do to our soils, soil life, groundwater and surface water.

Nonetheless, this type of agriculture is massively subsidized. But these payments are just window dressing; in reality, it is the industry behind this agriculture that is being subsidized against all reason.

The research efforts in conventional agriculture are enormous. Incredible amounts of money are involved, which naturally have to be capitalized. These investments can never, ever be offset by the proceeds from food sales. The pot of public funds, i.e. our taxes, will have to compensate for this. The public sector is taking a clear stance here. True costs are avoided at all costs.

The path of organic sustainable agriculture is less spectacular. But the results are simply convincing. It is a path that protects forests, rainforests, oceans, wetlands, ecosystems, living creatures, soils, rivers and the air, a path in which resources are handled with care. A path on which people are aware of the deep interconnectedness and interdependence.

And if we are out in nature with open eyes and the necessary curiosity, we can experience the complex system of nature with its non-linear dynamics, just like the farmers.

Organic, sustainable agriculture is trying to find answers to this and work with this challenge. With us, by God, not everything is complete, not everything is perfect. We still have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to sustainability.

We are far, very far behind in seed production.

Improving soil fertility, building up humus, is a huge challenge for us all. We will have to find new methods of cultivation, such as the complete renunciation of plowing - grazing -, agroforestry systems in which rows of trees are combined with arable crops or milpa.

In my youth I had good experiences with this method, the Mayas operated this system in which corn, beans and pumpkins are planted together. Perhaps pharmaceutical crops are a way to survive in the heat of the earth. In order to cope with soil erosion, contour farming would be a tried and tested method on 2-10% slopes or strip cultivation on long and steep slopes.

In organic, sustainable agriculture, the focus is increasingly on biodiversity, habitat management, soil fertility and the build-up of humus.

Of course, we will have to learn to increase both the quantity and the quality of our way of farming, not against but in harmony with the ecosystems. Our intelligence, creativity, imagination and courage will not help us if moderation does not become our guiding principle.

One in three foodstuffs ends up in the bin, harvest losses are still too high and our society's handling of food needs to be questioned as a whole.

If we look at how farm animals are kept and fed, we know - even without a moral appeal - that things cannot go on like this. Ammonia is released when fertilizer and liquid manure is spread and in the atmosphere these gases react with sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides to form salts such as ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate, which contribute to the formation of particulate matter. According to the Max Plank Institute, 45% of particulate matter pollution is caused in this way.

Not only does it require a total change in agriculture, it also requires a change in our meat consumption. The true cost of conventional meat is plus 196%. In our system, the costs are obscured and passed on to the general public without being asked. Just like the 60 billion euros that the BSE scandal cost.

Public funding must flow 100% into services for the population. Such as clean water, soil fertility, biodiversity, careful and conscious use of resources. No more indirect payments to the agro-industry.

The exploitation of our environment, animals and people must come to an end. The respect that farmers quite rightly demand for themselves must be passed on and redeemed in their dealings with nature.

Earth and man, what a team!

There is no other world for us than this one, nor for our descendants. We come from the earth and live from the earth, and are connected to it as brothers and sisters. It opens up infinite possibilities for us and one of them is our responsibility for the world of the earth!

Let's take advantage of them!

Let's end the fight against the earth!

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