Life and Energy in Agriculture - Introduction

Life & Energy in Agriculture, by Arden B. Anderson

A Summary

This is a book report of sorts. I quote Dr. Anderson frequently but condense and summarize significantly from the original text. This book a gem on the role of energy on soil health and produce quality. The original is a quick read and very engaging if you want to learn about the path less taken in agriculture.

Forward

The food is deficient because the soil is deficient. Agricultural practices in the last 100 years do not work as evidenced by polluted streams, rivers, aquifers, lakes, soils, foods, animals and people. We have lost approximately ½ our top soil in 100 years. Some of the most deadly chemicals are invented to support chemical agriculture. Agriculture is the second largest consumer of energy. Health in America is declining and this directly parallels the decline in agriculture.

Life and Energy

It is difficult to progress mentally, emotionally, and spiritually if a person is not in the best possible health physically. Since we are what we eat we are only as vital as the food we eat. God supplies the life force energy for thought, soil, air, water or some chemical. What makes each thing different is the energy pattern and frequency at which is resonates. Some patterns and frequencies are damaging to biological life and some are beneficial.

Plants, animals, and humans live on energy. The dominant assertion is that life depends upon those things we can or chose to observe via our 5 senses, which we use in a limited way. These conclusions are not incorrect. They are just incomplete, and do not explain what is really happening in nature. Dr. Carey Reams showed that plants accumulate more energy (mass) than can be accounted for from fertilizer and water, thus is conclusion that only 20% of the energy was obtained from the soil and 80% was obtained from the air.

A true farmer and caretaker of the land produces better and better crops, and leaves the soil in better shape each year while needing fewer inputs. The key to the life cycle of nature is the soil.