Author: Dennis
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Loss of Soil Organic Matter and Its Restoration By William A. Albrecht
Article that summarises research studies in the 1920-30s. Organic matter may well be considered as fuel for bacterial fires in the soil, which operates as a factory producing plant nutrients. The organic matter is burned to carbon dioxide, ash, and other residues. This provides carbonic acid in the soil water, and the solvent effect of…
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Diversifying distribution
One of big differences with conventional farming is mono cropping. Instead of one crop, a farmer crops are combined. This diversifications helps with soil health, but also offers diversification of income. This also means that distribution gets more complex for a farmer. While the supply chain for organic products has been built up, none of…
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Barriers to the adoption of regenerative agriculture
If my goal is to drive adoption of regenerative agriculture, an important part to pay attention to is why not everyone is doing it? Barriers: Financial Knowledge Changes in operations Changes in distribution The biggest part of all the above is that it is unknown. Many farmers have built up experience over the years, getting…
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Price agricultural land in Belgium
A study done by Belgian bank KBC in 2017 calculated that over 35-40 years, farmers only have the capacity to pay back 25.000 – 30.000 euro per hectare. But if we look at the average price in 2019, we’re already at 46.778 euro! Prices also range per province, from 42.382 euro in Limburg to 64.561…
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Agroforestry Pepper Production
Bangka, an island located in Sumatra, Indonesia, was one of world’s biggest producer of white pepper. But today it’s mostly known for its tin mines. These mines have polluted the water supply leading to serious health issues for the people and to agricultural land to be unusable. Because of the declining fertility, many of the…
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Lessons from “The Third Plate”
Wanted to share my thoughts after reading The Third Plate by Dan Barber. First a quick summary to frame the book. The first plate: what chefs are currently serving The second plate: the sustainable version of the first plate (think grass fed beef, organic vegetables. The second corrects a lot of the problems that the…
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Create products people want/crave
The plan doesn’t happen if there we don’t have amazing products. Amazing products that people seek out because: they want them they support the mission and share the same values In that order. A great example that comes to mind is Tony Chocolonely. Whenever I see someone eating their chocolate, I always ask why they’re…
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The Plan
During the last week, I’ve gotten a bit more clarity over the path ahead. The unifying mission is simple: Accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture by creating awesome food products. It’s still a little rough around the edges, but here is the plan: Phase 1: Develop awesome food products powered by regenerative agriculture Build an…
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Last week’s ideas #1
Going to try something else. The idea is very simple. Every Monday I share what I’ve learned last week. At the intersection of agriculture, sustainability and consumerism. Values drive action People that are motivated by extrinsic rewards tend to seek wealth, possessions and status. They are also less likely to care about the living world, to make…
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How Fast You Can Go?
I came across this interesting article describing how SpaceX is ramping up its production facilities. It’s headquartered in California, but for its new rocket ship, Starship, SpaceX is building out it’s based on the coast of Texas. And the speed at which they are moving is mind-blowing. SpaceX CEO and lead engineer Elon Musk got…