Reason # 22 to reschedule the end of modern agriculture ...
(Re-post from 5/26/06)

One of the most persistent gripes about industrial farming (I happen to like the term) is it causes much more erosion than the good old days. Few objective numbers back up this claim, but it just seems right to sustainable fans.

By some measures, we are eroding less. I find this survey acceptable, but I will allow that we really don't have good erosion data. My hunch is we are actually improving, since all the predicted cataclysmic consequences (plummeting yields, etc.) have failed to appear.

This topic is like debating what heaven looks like - all conjecture and little empirical data.