Are we over dosing animals?

Long boring contrary post that some might do their blood pressure good by not reading 😁

It's not the hill I'm going to die on today (that one's called Mt. Booster 😂), because I haven't and don't have the intention either of Googling for links, but I don't think I would agree that using "-icides" or other synthetic chemicals has no effect on soil fertility. I'd probably be of the opposite opinion.

Often studies only study target organisms vs synthetic chemical = they died, yay that works.

I'd think there are also studies out there outlining non target organisms vs synthetic chemical = oops, they died too.

The big deal about that is, soil fertility, parasite/pest/disease reduction.

If you take it that aerobic beneficial organisms out compete, inhibit and consume - for want of a better word - bad guys, ie pests, parasites, disease causing organisms.

Your plant produces with the help of photosynthesis and through it's roots excretes exudates. It does this to attract specific fungi & bacteria around it's roots, for a number of benefits to the plant, nutrient supply, protection.

The specific bacteria & fungi species attracted to the root zone then use their enzymes to extract non available nutrients from sand, silt, clay, rocks etc. These nutrients mostly still exist, if we forget about rhizophagy for the minute (plants directly ingesting bacteria), in plant unavailable form.

Predators of bacteria & fungi - I'm tempted to say if present in that soil as often with green revolution practices many important actors are missing , are those knives I hear being sharpened?- come along and eat some bacteria or fungi depending on who the predator is.

There are excessive nutrients for the predators, so they do what we all need to do at some point and excrete the excess. Seeing as the bacteria and fungi attracted by our plant are mostly around the roots, these now plant available excreted nutrients are right beside the plant roots to be taken up.

OR if the plant doesn't for some reason get some of these nutrients, an organism will come along and consume them and so it begins again.

So, does using synthetic chemicals affect soil fertility negatively? Yes, imo, between being salts and interfering with the water film in the soil or being straight out "icides" killing the organisms who's job it is to cycle nutrients for the plants, to be harvested or consumed in one way or another by livestock/people.

Regards from the bunker 😃

I think it's Dan Kitterage that's developing a scanner to assess the nutrient level in some "produce" as they'd call it. No idea how that project is going.

One of the lectures on the course I'm doing had a study in NZ, 2003 I think, where farming biologically cured dairy cow facial eczema that in their opinion the lack of nutrients had either caused or allowed in as a secondary invader. Interesting stuff to me anyway.