Bottom line: This is the time to tighten belts. If you have some open ground, plant a seed. The functionality of a regenerative vegetable garden makes sense for building a kitchen garden.
If you can buy a quarter cow and get it into the freezer, now is the time to pull the trigger, so to speak
Also not considered here is that our supply lines and sources were badly bolloxed by the wuflu fraud and are not back to normal and may never be if the profiteers,can continue,to gouge us as they are still.
"Russia is the world's largest producer of ammonium nitrate. In 2024, the country produced about 12 million tons, roughly 47% of the global output of the plant nutrient. It was also the largest exporter at about 2.7 million tons, around 37% of global export volume and 40% of export value."
With Marines and the 82nd Airborne headed to Iran and automatic draft registration having been slipped into the previous Defense appropriation bill, younger Americans may have a lot more to worry about than the price of veggies.
This situation (apart from the fact that Congress doesn't matter any more) reminds me of one of the Pete Seeger classics:
I (for instance) have operated without a car for my entire life. It reduces my living costs and my reliance on systems that are out of my control. But I do still rely on a lot of systems that are out of my control. The way I see it, I need to be around people who are not in such good shape and do what I can to bring them up a bit. But I live in an apartment without a garden or a freezer, so if food and electricity go out, I am pretty screwed.
"The saliva of the blood-eating vampire bat Desmodus rotundus contains plasminogen activators (PAs) that maintain the fluidity of the prey's blood by activating plasminogen and dissolving developing fibrin clots."
I have not seen Tookishkaminschkatchaya (the Last Medicine Man) lately. He might have moved on. He was thoughtful enough to teach me the sacred name for Mt Hood.
Soften up the Federal Reserve system into plasticity so that it may more easily be reformed after the Culling please. Put this out there:
After only an initial inoculation, do you feel that transfection grows global? There are several transhumans I am going to miss. I would say goodbye but would rather retain how I have last pictured them.
As a former Phosphoric acid -Fertilizer process engineer, I am well-aware of the significance of nitrogen and ammonia in the scenario you suggest. Di ammonium phosphate (DAP) has long been the mainstay of international fertilizer market. It depend on phosphate rock (largely Russian or Moroccan), sulfuric acid (sulfur, byproduct of sour NG purification) and Ammonia. The current Haber-Bosch process for ammonia, utilizing natural gas in a steam-methane reforming operation, is expensive and wasteful.
The available of low-cost, high temperature heat from the current spate of advanced nuclear reactors will change all this. But it will take time and money. The end result will be ammonia-from-hydrogen, but the cost per ton faces a wide range of cost estimates. I, for one, am VERY optimistic, if resources are directed in the needed directions.
A guy by the name of Tyler Folse has a number of things on nuclear energy btw. It dispelled many of my own fears of nuclear in particular. Especially the three mile island accident. Much misinformation persists to this day regarding many events. Good solid information seems harder to come by these days, regardless of the topic.
It will also require honest leadership and public education! Maybe a gag for Greta. 😊 Edit: I saw a thing where she is going to Cuba now. Honestly, in her photo she appears very disturbed. She needs a boyfriend or something in her life that’s real. 😊
New technologies can solve the problem only if we curtail our current consumption enough (i.e. engage in enough thrift) so that entrepreneurs can redirect the freed-up labor and resource inputs into building the advanced nuclear reactors, etc. in sufficient quantities.
Americans like to pretend the government promises of free stuff and credit derived from the creation of fiat money and bank deposits out of thin air are a substitute for thrift, but they aren't. In spite of our tremendous technological advances, the physical productivity and real incomes of American workers have been falling for fifty years because of this delusion.
Engineer, I’m 73. I’ve been following the world for over 50 years . Years ago it was reported in agriculture publications that Israel had a great natural store of ingredients that make fertilizer. Was//is that true??
Time to plant the garden. We have had an unusually warm dry Winter and Spring. The buds on my peach tree are beginning to pop open which worries me as there is a frost coming on Thursday night and I’m sure more to come. Our elevation is 4500 ft. We will get more frost.
I agree with Drs Malone, plant food where you can. Whether it is pots on a deck or balcony or a garden in your back yard. We can grow a lot of food in our little garden. Last year we planted 16 tomato plants , 3 rows of peas , 3 rows of carrots, 9 pepper plants, 2 hills of squash, 2 rows of beans a patch of Strawberries and a patch of raspberries. We get potatoes from a local farmer friend. My family no longer grows potatoes. They grow wheat and hay. We have a couple of fruit trees.
Get out there and grow some food. That will help when the rising food prices start to climb.
Buy a few extra cans of food when you go to the grocery store. Plant a couple of fruit trees.
Like your attitude. Our parents and grandparents went thru WWII and thrived! Potatoes from costco in a 50 pound bag, buy 1/2 Cow from all the wonderful ranchers that are available. Become a little prepper. We will be fine.
I've been studying edible and medicinal wild plants for many years. I don't use chemicals on my property, so I have plenty of vegetation growing around me to survive on: Chickweed, violets, dandelion greens, lambs foot, wild onion/garlic....the list is long. I have a tee with "Weed-eating herbalist" on it. I'm also stocked up on non-perishables and my freezer will soon be full of meats. I grow some of my own food as well on a small scale. There are many things other than food to consider for survival. It's a good idea to research what they are and have them on hand.
Yes! So many local plants that are way more nutritious than what can be grown in a garden, so many local plants that can be used medicinally. I have a shelf filled with tincture and dried herbs that I've collected in the wild, and some of them were in my back yard, others in the blueberry fields up the road, and some on the roadside in out of the way places.
Great article/background, Jill (I am assuming that is who JGM is). Part & particle of the problem today is trying to weed thru all the narratives & agendas to get to some real information on what/how. At least, I am confident that Trump understands all the irons in the fire, even if he can’t control it. Unfortunately, it seems to me, most people/leaders see thru the Greta Thunberg lens. While no one knows how all this is going to play out, Iran had to happen. The world has spent 47 years dancing around the same issue. Yes, it is like just ripping the bandaid off, but is a cancer that will not go away or get better. But this article gives insight into how I cannot believe the real end game here is China.
We (the US) are responsible for allowing China to replace our production facilities for fertilizers, useful pharmaceuticals, many other essentials. The belief was if we helped them modernize their nation of billions of people they would become our best friends. Well, how did that work out?
While I appreciate the heads up, I have no space for a garden, no freezer for large quantities of meat. We currently spend 50% more at the grocery than we did 5 years ago thanks to Bidenflation. Prices went up but they didn’t come down. Current inflation is much lower, but it’s still going up, not down. Our electric bill was over the top the past 2 months and thanks to many new taxes that will be coming for Virginia residents July 1st I’m holding my breath to see how our budget is affected.
We will need to cut out vacations! That’s ok, I’ve done a lot, seen a lot and we hate all airports!
We have cut back on our eating out at "normal" restaurants - they all seem to rack up a huge bill, just eating out at any ole joint. Even without a single glass of house wine!
We don’t eat fast food. Yuk! When it became obvious after Covid shut down so many restaurants when reopening service and food quality wouldn’t improve so we stopped going out to restaurants. However, we do enjoy live music and splurge on tickets occasionally. Music is good for the soul. Need to feed the soul sometimes.
Dr Malone, this may be a complete over simplification, but every large scale feedlot, milking facility, pig farm, poultry operation,and rendering facilities etc have so much natural fertilizer produced by those animals that mostly gets splashed on fields twice a year in some cases to excesss. Could this be a future source of both fertilizer and revenue for those facilities to process and sell to other farms? I know it woulld take time to ramp up but any domestic source located close to where it is neede d might be a long term answer to part of the fertilizer equation.
You are right. I lived in dairy country for the past 35 years. The dairies would clean their lots of manure and load it on manure trucks with spreaders on the back end and head out to the local farmers fields. The roads were busy with these trucks. (Oh, the delightful smell of fresh manure! Lol!)
In the past 15 years, one of the local dairyman's sons started a processing plant for the manure since it was in such good supply. They ground it up and sold it in bulk and then began bagging it. Since our area also has a lot of fish hatcheries, they were able to add ground fish to the mix to make excellent fertilizer.
And decades ago, our own Idaho millionaire, Jack Simplot, started mining phosphate. Simplot only finished the 8th grade, but he was a brilliant businessman. Worth a read of you can find his book. Here's a link to his mining ventures.
As a further comment I would like to add that as people continue to move to Idaho and fill in the farms with subdivisions and strip malls and bring "progress" to our wonderful state, the farms and the dairies (which smell and have flies!) are threatened and disappearing rapidly.
I'm 83. I grew up on a 4000-acre high country farm where every year was a gamble and everyone learned how to work hard. I'm sorry to say that I really dislike the current form of "progress" in all of its manifestations.
Isn't it amazing that taxing farmland, converting that farmland to subdivisions, and building stripmals is called "progress"?! I'm in rural coastal Maine and the latest "progress" is taking farmland out of production and razing forests to put in solar farms--and all this happens because *government* subsidizes and encourages it!
Technically that is correct,, But if the farmer did not return the Poop to the ground the ground would suffer ( lack nutrients) and the farmer would have to buy more fertilizer.
LOL! My husband started "watering" the yard here in So CA during one of the droughts--if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down! Anyway, we also compose everything we can including our dog's poop sense he eats real food.
Jill, I always appreciate your words of wisdom. Folks need to realize the long term ramifications of these moves. I agree that the Iran issue is important and a President finally had the courage to do something about this, but you are right to sound the alarm. Unfortunately, the Liberals will blame Trump and the mid terms will reflect this. I am willing to tighten my belt for the interim but then, we conservatives usually look at issues with common sense. My career was in the medical field and I remember years ago my surgeons were worried about us outsourcing our medicine production to China. There were numerous times we had to scramble for anesthesia drugs to be able to perform surgeries. I’m so glad Trump is trying to bring America’s production industries back to our country.
This is a great article Jill, Thank You for all the information. One of my concerns is how far can this government push the people before it blows up in their face. Sure as Joe Biden said the government has f-16’s and could kill every citizen at will but how much can people take. When all trust is lost, the government stops working for the people, and their only concern is lining their own pockets, the people stop believing everything they say, is the republic not then dead? In today’s world if a large portion of this population becomes hungry this government is going to have serious problems.
I don’t know when that critical point will come but if the government keeps pushing their way to that line eventually it will get there. I guess at that point we’ll all get to see what the result of years of robbing the people will bear.
Just got another vertical hydroponic system today, for herbs and strawberries. Got a hydroponic 5-gallon bucket for tomatoes, on my balcony. I am even thinking about planting potatoes in cages on the balcony. Working with local ranchers for meat. Getting to truly know people is becoming important, as well. It might lead to cooperation and even bartering. What a concept!
Look on Amazon for fabric plant bags. We went that way 6 years ago, compact and can get potatoes without dumping it all. But we have always had very good luck with them. Same for other vegs and the best part is dump at end of year to store. Look for potatoes bags.
Yes, Dee. I have quite a few of those. Growing at my daughter's place, who has a large outdoor garden. I saw something about growing them in straw in cages. That would work on my balcony.
The idea of a vertical hydroponic gardening system is intriguing. Just now, after reading your post, Danielle, I looked at some of those on line. I'm thinking seriously about buying one. I think I would set it up in my greenhouse and grow strawberries in it. Thanks for planting that idea in my head!
There are some fancy (expensive) ones, and some simpler ones, depending on what you are looking for. The Gardyn seems to be top of the line, yet also has problems and expensive replacement parts. I just got a much simpler one, with 70 planters, which seems to do exactly what I wanted.
I've been researching hydroponic growing systems since replying to your post a few hours ago. I think I have settled on the Kratky Method, which requires no electricity. That's because I live off the grid. I produce my own electricity with solar panels. I have enough electricity to live comfortably, but it only makes sense not to get involved with any endeavors that require more than a small amount of electricity.
It was my turn to do research. I checked the Kratky Method. I'll keep it in mind for a "next step" when I returned to a homestead. Keep in touch and let me know how it turns out.
I just put it together this afternoon, so not sure yet how it will perform. I needed something for my herbs and strawberries. Amazon: Hydroponic Growing System Kit - 70 Pods Large Vertical Hydroponics Tower with 8 LED Light Strips, 14-Tiers Smart Indoor Herb Garden for Kitchen Office Winter Balcony Planting (White)
Dr. Malone - your posts are rich in an understanding of economies, agriculture and societal forecasts. Your insights to predictive patterns and trends would be an asset to this Administration. If only there were a position for a Agricultural Economist - you would be that Liason. (Like you need yet another job to do). :)>
Thank you so much for this post! It is a good place to tell you about my "Electric Mason Jar Vacuum Sealer VP05" made in China of course. So far so good. easy to use, fits regular and wide mouth mason jars. I'm using mainly to store leftovers. I am also testing it on things like black berries to see if they will last longer in the fridge. I am sure there are lots of ways to use it if it indeed extends the shelf/refrigerator life of food stuff, and not using plastic containers feels good. It can be found on Amazon.
comment. It seems like I had trouble getting even small bags of fertilizer with cow manure, during covid maybe that was the problem - or maybe its just Austin, and/or I didn't look hard enough. I horded and "prepped" so much during the covid era and pre-Biden inflation, after Mac died over a year and a half ago, I started trying to downsize and have been eating my canned food and giving away too. I have lots of dried beans too i was just thinking this morning I needed to start eating more of this too. I try to fit it in to my meals. It has saved me money since I haven't had to buy as much as I would have. I still haven't had to buy much soap, cleaning products. I think I will always be a prepper though and maintain a good supply that my libs could also benefit from.
A thought, if you have a dog or chickens. Dried beans in the Instant Pot (takes about 30 minutes), mixed with leftover veggies/fruit or cheap kale- make an excellent topper or base for homemade dog food. I also fed this to our chickens when I needed to use up excess stored supplies.
Dried beans are super cheap, even cheaper than chicken feed sometimes!
great idea, a good friend has chickens and her son comes over once a week for kitchen scraps and to deliver eggs, this sounds like a less messy way to do that. Wie are looking for a pup, should be soon I hope to focus on a good/the best possible diet for him or her
The best possible diet is one that's species appropriate. Ever see a wolf, coyote, or fox go shopping for kibble? Raw food (there are many websites to help you figure out how best to do that) and minimal vaccines.
Corporate farming will survive and buy up all the small farmer acreage. Sad. President Trump has to stop subsidizing the corporate farmer and redirect all funds to the independent farmers. NOW!
I had put together dried food 20+ years ago and had to start dispersing it (giving it to food shelves) because of shelf life. Looks like I will start stocking up extra again. Cooked beans and vegetables in glass jars (organic) from Jovial/Bionaturae, as well as jellies, (no sugar) tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. They also have Einkorn pasta. For people like me who don't have a garden plot there are ways to stock up. Thanks for the heads up!
I was just about to post his substack article he posted 3_23_26 as well. It is well worth the time to read and he has great graphics at the end of the article. One point is with ever increasing fertilizer inputs the yields are still decreasing.
Yeah I was wondering if people would be able to read it from the link without subscribing, or if his free tier provides it. I use Aurmina to treat my tap water, and have ordered the gardening amendments and am about to start planting. How spectacular would it be to discover that re-mineralizing the soil eliminates the need for fertilizers and herbicides!
I don't know since I am a paid subscriber. I have had no trouble forwarding to my wife. Either way I hope new people subscribe to both Dr. Kory and Tore Says who I mentioned in another comment.
I produce as much food as I can with my greenhouse and three gardens. For years I've been staying 4-5 years ahead in terms of my fertilizer supply, and a week and a half ago I bought six additional 25-pound bags of fertilizer because of the goings on at the Strait of Hormuz. I spent an extra $300 for extra peace of mind.
Bottom line: This is the time to tighten belts. If you have some open ground, plant a seed. The functionality of a regenerative vegetable garden makes sense for building a kitchen garden.
If you can buy a quarter cow and get it into the freezer, now is the time to pull the trigger, so to speak
Also not considered here is that our supply lines and sources were badly bolloxed by the wuflu fraud and are not back to normal and may never be if the profiteers,can continue,to gouge us as they are still.
Correct, you are right on Target..."A supply shock that will show up in food prices 6–9 months from now."
"Russia halts Ammonium Nitrate exports as Global Fertilizer crisis set to worsen"
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/russia-halts-ammonium-nitrate-exports-global-fertilizer-crisis-set-worsen
"Russia is the world's largest producer of ammonium nitrate. In 2024, the country produced about 12 million tons, roughly 47% of the global output of the plant nutrient. It was also the largest exporter at about 2.7 million tons, around 37% of global export volume and 40% of export value."
Yes. Right in time for the midterm elections.
With Marines and the 82nd Airborne headed to Iran and automatic draft registration having been slipped into the previous Defense appropriation bill, younger Americans may have a lot more to worry about than the price of veggies.
This situation (apart from the fact that Congress doesn't matter any more) reminds me of one of the Pete Seeger classics:
Remember when the AAA,
Killed a million hogs a day?
Instead of hogs it's men today,
Plow the fourth one under.
CHORUS:
Plow under, plow under,
Plow under,
Every fourth American boy.
They said our agricultural
system was about to fall,
From Washington they sent a call,
Plow the fourth one under.
(CHORUS)
The price of cotton wouldn't rise,
They said, "We've got to fertilize",
So now on us they turn their eyes,
Plow the fourth one under.
(CHORUS)
They said our system wouldn't work,
Until we killed the surplus off,
So now they look at us and say,
Plow the fourth one under.
(CHORUS)
Any ignorant mule does know,
Better than to step on a cotton row,
But there ain't no mules in Congress, so
Plow the fourth one under.
(CHORUS)
Now the politicians rant,
A boy's no better than a cotton plant,
But we are here to say you can't,
Plow the fourth one under.
FINAL CHORUS:
Plow under,
(Don't you...) Plow under
(Don't you...) Plow under
Every fourth American boy.
(Now, don't you...) Plow under,
(Don't you...) Plow under
(Don't you...) Plow under
Every fourth American boy.
Pete Seeger, I used to have several of his records (shows you how long ago that was!). He had a lot of good things to say.
I (for instance) have operated without a car for my entire life. It reduces my living costs and my reliance on systems that are out of my control. But I do still rely on a lot of systems that are out of my control. The way I see it, I need to be around people who are not in such good shape and do what I can to bring them up a bit. But I live in an apartment without a garden or a freezer, so if food and electricity go out, I am pretty screwed.
Community garden. Share a freezer. Do some home canning.
Rice and beans.
"If you can buy a quarter cow and get it into the freezer, now is the time to pull the trigger, so to speak"
I trust in Jill's judgment.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1immEnS9DQ2nj55T_dkrpqwwn2ldfK7U-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PR3VMU8rPFjYyLkMD2bbXEyNkYKcsBIr
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q7_nKzpqBEN2DNS8zb_ufExWqv8QTjAn
https://youtu.be/zFyaK8VVwqs
If I use vampire bat saliva, buy a kilo of nattokinase and start it up beforehand. Is endotheliitis and myocarditis a painful way to go?
https://www.rcsb.org/structure/1A5I
"PubMed Abstract:
"The saliva of the blood-eating vampire bat Desmodus rotundus contains plasminogen activators (PAs) that maintain the fluidity of the prey's blood by activating plasminogen and dissolving developing fibrin clots."
What a magnificent transmitter!
https://www.google.com/search?q=mt+hood&rlz=1C1GYPO_enUS906US906&oq
I have not seen Tookishkaminschkatchaya (the Last Medicine Man) lately. He might have moved on. He was thoughtful enough to teach me the sacred name for Mt Hood.
Soften up the Federal Reserve system into plasticity so that it may more easily be reformed after the Culling please. Put this out there:
"Become a student at Lawful Money School today.
"https://savingtosuitorsclub.net/home/forum/lawful-money-school-aa/coming-soon/61300-lawful-money-school
"This is the legal and correct method to abolish the Fed. Plus you get a 30% pay raise after your first tax year of demanding lawful money.
"https://youtu.be/yLm6leQ_POQ"
PERSONAL QUESTION - no answer expected...
After only an initial inoculation, do you feel that transfection grows global? There are several transhumans I am going to miss. I would say goodbye but would rather retain how I have last pictured them.
This is going to work out fine. Don't worry.
As a former Phosphoric acid -Fertilizer process engineer, I am well-aware of the significance of nitrogen and ammonia in the scenario you suggest. Di ammonium phosphate (DAP) has long been the mainstay of international fertilizer market. It depend on phosphate rock (largely Russian or Moroccan), sulfuric acid (sulfur, byproduct of sour NG purification) and Ammonia. The current Haber-Bosch process for ammonia, utilizing natural gas in a steam-methane reforming operation, is expensive and wasteful.
The available of low-cost, high temperature heat from the current spate of advanced nuclear reactors will change all this. But it will take time and money. The end result will be ammonia-from-hydrogen, but the cost per ton faces a wide range of cost estimates. I, for one, am VERY optimistic, if resources are directed in the needed directions.
That is good news! Micro -nuclear reactors are going to change the world!
A guy by the name of Tyler Folse has a number of things on nuclear energy btw. It dispelled many of my own fears of nuclear in particular. Especially the three mile island accident. Much misinformation persists to this day regarding many events. Good solid information seems harder to come by these days, regardless of the topic.
Info re: safe disposal/use of nuclear waste/spent fuel would certainly help construct an accurate picture of nuclear energy production.
Indeed! The gentleman ( Tyler) makes a very good case for reprocessing and subsequent reburning
It will also require honest leadership and public education! Maybe a gag for Greta. 😊 Edit: I saw a thing where she is going to Cuba now. Honestly, in her photo she appears very disturbed. She needs a boyfriend or something in her life that’s real. 😊
A gag for Greta! I love it.
New technologies can solve the problem only if we curtail our current consumption enough (i.e. engage in enough thrift) so that entrepreneurs can redirect the freed-up labor and resource inputs into building the advanced nuclear reactors, etc. in sufficient quantities.
Americans like to pretend the government promises of free stuff and credit derived from the creation of fiat money and bank deposits out of thin air are a substitute for thrift, but they aren't. In spite of our tremendous technological advances, the physical productivity and real incomes of American workers have been falling for fifty years because of this delusion.
Engineer, I’m 73. I’ve been following the world for over 50 years . Years ago it was reported in agriculture publications that Israel had a great natural store of ingredients that make fertilizer. Was//is that true??
I ran the question through an AI:
Israel is not a major natural “fertilizer superpower.”
like:
Morocco (phosphate)
Russia/Belarus (potash)
U.S./Qatar (natural gas for nitrogen)
But it does have one important natural asset:
The Dead Sea → strong potash production
And it punches above its weight because of:
Advanced chemistry
Irrigation technology
High-value fertilizer products
Our 51st State, Canada, is the world's largest potash producer.
Time to plant the garden. We have had an unusually warm dry Winter and Spring. The buds on my peach tree are beginning to pop open which worries me as there is a frost coming on Thursday night and I’m sure more to come. Our elevation is 4500 ft. We will get more frost.
I agree with Drs Malone, plant food where you can. Whether it is pots on a deck or balcony or a garden in your back yard. We can grow a lot of food in our little garden. Last year we planted 16 tomato plants , 3 rows of peas , 3 rows of carrots, 9 pepper plants, 2 hills of squash, 2 rows of beans a patch of Strawberries and a patch of raspberries. We get potatoes from a local farmer friend. My family no longer grows potatoes. They grow wheat and hay. We have a couple of fruit trees.
Get out there and grow some food. That will help when the rising food prices start to climb.
Buy a few extra cans of food when you go to the grocery store. Plant a couple of fruit trees.
Have a great day!
Have a great day!
Like your attitude. Our parents and grandparents went thru WWII and thrived! Potatoes from costco in a 50 pound bag, buy 1/2 Cow from all the wonderful ranchers that are available. Become a little prepper. We will be fine.
To keep that beef frozen, better have a generator—and fuel for it.
Canned meat keeps for a couple of years. Lots more work than freezing though
I've been studying edible and medicinal wild plants for many years. I don't use chemicals on my property, so I have plenty of vegetation growing around me to survive on: Chickweed, violets, dandelion greens, lambs foot, wild onion/garlic....the list is long. I have a tee with "Weed-eating herbalist" on it. I'm also stocked up on non-perishables and my freezer will soon be full of meats. I grow some of my own food as well on a small scale. There are many things other than food to consider for survival. It's a good idea to research what they are and have them on hand.
Yes! So many local plants that are way more nutritious than what can be grown in a garden, so many local plants that can be used medicinally. I have a shelf filled with tincture and dried herbs that I've collected in the wild, and some of them were in my back yard, others in the blueberry fields up the road, and some on the roadside in out of the way places.
YES! Good for you! Love it!
Great article/background, Jill (I am assuming that is who JGM is). Part & particle of the problem today is trying to weed thru all the narratives & agendas to get to some real information on what/how. At least, I am confident that Trump understands all the irons in the fire, even if he can’t control it. Unfortunately, it seems to me, most people/leaders see thru the Greta Thunberg lens. While no one knows how all this is going to play out, Iran had to happen. The world has spent 47 years dancing around the same issue. Yes, it is like just ripping the bandaid off, but is a cancer that will not go away or get better. But this article gives insight into how I cannot believe the real end game here is China.
Yes, Jill - and I completely agree.
We (the US) are responsible for allowing China to replace our production facilities for fertilizers, useful pharmaceuticals, many other essentials. The belief was if we helped them modernize their nation of billions of people they would become our best friends. Well, how did that work out?
The story's not over yet. Xi and Trump are friends.
"The Greta Thunberg Lens" 🤣 True!
I do remember that Greta has not been able to personally live as though she believes her own words.
She strikes me as meme-worthy, crazy, cannon fodder that the extreme left trots out at regular intervals.
And I understand that she was born male.
Dunno.
Doesn’t have a male looking brow ridge.
🤷🏻♀️ I read that years ago, when she first emerged as a public figure—along with a discussion of her autism.
Never saw that. Just thought Greta was nutz, and that the parents were crazy to parade her in public while she was a minor.
I dunno if she's nutz, but I agree that her parents shouldn't have paraded her in public as a child.
While I appreciate the heads up, I have no space for a garden, no freezer for large quantities of meat. We currently spend 50% more at the grocery than we did 5 years ago thanks to Bidenflation. Prices went up but they didn’t come down. Current inflation is much lower, but it’s still going up, not down. Our electric bill was over the top the past 2 months and thanks to many new taxes that will be coming for Virginia residents July 1st I’m holding my breath to see how our budget is affected.
We will need to cut out vacations! That’s ok, I’ve done a lot, seen a lot and we hate all airports!
Vacations, fast food, and eating out!
We have cut back on our eating out at "normal" restaurants - they all seem to rack up a huge bill, just eating out at any ole joint. Even without a single glass of house wine!
JGM
We don’t eat fast food. Yuk! When it became obvious after Covid shut down so many restaurants when reopening service and food quality wouldn’t improve so we stopped going out to restaurants. However, we do enjoy live music and splurge on tickets occasionally. Music is good for the soul. Need to feed the soul sometimes.
Reached the point every time we ate out I got the trots. We no longer eat out, have not for yrs.O
Dr Malone, this may be a complete over simplification, but every large scale feedlot, milking facility, pig farm, poultry operation,and rendering facilities etc have so much natural fertilizer produced by those animals that mostly gets splashed on fields twice a year in some cases to excesss. Could this be a future source of both fertilizer and revenue for those facilities to process and sell to other farms? I know it woulld take time to ramp up but any domestic source located close to where it is neede d might be a long term answer to part of the fertilizer equation.
You are right. I lived in dairy country for the past 35 years. The dairies would clean their lots of manure and load it on manure trucks with spreaders on the back end and head out to the local farmers fields. The roads were busy with these trucks. (Oh, the delightful smell of fresh manure! Lol!)
In the past 15 years, one of the local dairyman's sons started a processing plant for the manure since it was in such good supply. They ground it up and sold it in bulk and then began bagging it. Since our area also has a lot of fish hatcheries, they were able to add ground fish to the mix to make excellent fertilizer.
And decades ago, our own Idaho millionaire, Jack Simplot, started mining phosphate. Simplot only finished the 8th grade, but he was a brilliant businessman. Worth a read of you can find his book. Here's a link to his mining ventures.
https://www.simplot.com/mining-and-manufacturing
As a further comment I would like to add that as people continue to move to Idaho and fill in the farms with subdivisions and strip malls and bring "progress" to our wonderful state, the farms and the dairies (which smell and have flies!) are threatened and disappearing rapidly.
I'm 83. I grew up on a 4000-acre high country farm where every year was a gamble and everyone learned how to work hard. I'm sorry to say that I really dislike the current form of "progress" in all of its manifestations.
Thanks so much for this astute article.
Isn't it amazing that taxing farmland, converting that farmland to subdivisions, and building stripmals is called "progress"?! I'm in rural coastal Maine and the latest "progress" is taking farmland out of production and razing forests to put in solar farms--and all this happens because *government* subsidizes and encourages it!
Technically that is correct,, But if the farmer did not return the Poop to the ground the ground would suffer ( lack nutrients) and the farmer would have to buy more fertilizer.
Kevin, My thoughts too. Exactly! Good grief - animal fertilizer abounds. And for home gardens, human urine.
LOL! My husband started "watering" the yard here in So CA during one of the droughts--if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down! Anyway, we also compose everything we can including our dog's poop sense he eats real food.
Jill, I always appreciate your words of wisdom. Folks need to realize the long term ramifications of these moves. I agree that the Iran issue is important and a President finally had the courage to do something about this, but you are right to sound the alarm. Unfortunately, the Liberals will blame Trump and the mid terms will reflect this. I am willing to tighten my belt for the interim but then, we conservatives usually look at issues with common sense. My career was in the medical field and I remember years ago my surgeons were worried about us outsourcing our medicine production to China. There were numerous times we had to scramble for anesthesia drugs to be able to perform surgeries. I’m so glad Trump is trying to bring America’s production industries back to our country.
Anyway, thank you for sounding the alarm!
This is a great article Jill, Thank You for all the information. One of my concerns is how far can this government push the people before it blows up in their face. Sure as Joe Biden said the government has f-16’s and could kill every citizen at will but how much can people take. When all trust is lost, the government stops working for the people, and their only concern is lining their own pockets, the people stop believing everything they say, is the republic not then dead? In today’s world if a large portion of this population becomes hungry this government is going to have serious problems.
I don’t know when that critical point will come but if the government keeps pushing their way to that line eventually it will get there. I guess at that point we’ll all get to see what the result of years of robbing the people will bear.
Just got another vertical hydroponic system today, for herbs and strawberries. Got a hydroponic 5-gallon bucket for tomatoes, on my balcony. I am even thinking about planting potatoes in cages on the balcony. Working with local ranchers for meat. Getting to truly know people is becoming important, as well. It might lead to cooperation and even bartering. What a concept!
Look on Amazon for fabric plant bags. We went that way 6 years ago, compact and can get potatoes without dumping it all. But we have always had very good luck with them. Same for other vegs and the best part is dump at end of year to store. Look for potatoes bags.
Yes, Dee. I have quite a few of those. Growing at my daughter's place, who has a large outdoor garden. I saw something about growing them in straw in cages. That would work on my balcony.
The idea of a vertical hydroponic gardening system is intriguing. Just now, after reading your post, Danielle, I looked at some of those on line. I'm thinking seriously about buying one. I think I would set it up in my greenhouse and grow strawberries in it. Thanks for planting that idea in my head!
There are some fancy (expensive) ones, and some simpler ones, depending on what you are looking for. The Gardyn seems to be top of the line, yet also has problems and expensive replacement parts. I just got a much simpler one, with 70 planters, which seems to do exactly what I wanted.
Thanks, Danielle.
I've been researching hydroponic growing systems since replying to your post a few hours ago. I think I have settled on the Kratky Method, which requires no electricity. That's because I live off the grid. I produce my own electricity with solar panels. I have enough electricity to live comfortably, but it only makes sense not to get involved with any endeavors that require more than a small amount of electricity.
It was my turn to do research. I checked the Kratky Method. I'll keep it in mind for a "next step" when I returned to a homestead. Keep in touch and let me know how it turns out.
Danielle, what is the name of the 70 planter that you like?
I just put it together this afternoon, so not sure yet how it will perform. I needed something for my herbs and strawberries. Amazon: Hydroponic Growing System Kit - 70 Pods Large Vertical Hydroponics Tower with 8 LED Light Strips, 14-Tiers Smart Indoor Herb Garden for Kitchen Office Winter Balcony Planting (White)
Dr. Malone - your posts are rich in an understanding of economies, agriculture and societal forecasts. Your insights to predictive patterns and trends would be an asset to this Administration. If only there were a position for a Agricultural Economist - you would be that Liason. (Like you need yet another job to do). :)>
Thank you so much for this post! It is a good place to tell you about my "Electric Mason Jar Vacuum Sealer VP05" made in China of course. So far so good. easy to use, fits regular and wide mouth mason jars. I'm using mainly to store leftovers. I am also testing it on things like black berries to see if they will last longer in the fridge. I am sure there are lots of ways to use it if it indeed extends the shelf/refrigerator life of food stuff, and not using plastic containers feels good. It can be found on Amazon.
comment. It seems like I had trouble getting even small bags of fertilizer with cow manure, during covid maybe that was the problem - or maybe its just Austin, and/or I didn't look hard enough. I horded and "prepped" so much during the covid era and pre-Biden inflation, after Mac died over a year and a half ago, I started trying to downsize and have been eating my canned food and giving away too. I have lots of dried beans too i was just thinking this morning I needed to start eating more of this too. I try to fit it in to my meals. It has saved me money since I haven't had to buy as much as I would have. I still haven't had to buy much soap, cleaning products. I think I will always be a prepper though and maintain a good supply that my libs could also benefit from.
A thought, if you have a dog or chickens. Dried beans in the Instant Pot (takes about 30 minutes), mixed with leftover veggies/fruit or cheap kale- make an excellent topper or base for homemade dog food. I also fed this to our chickens when I needed to use up excess stored supplies.
Dried beans are super cheap, even cheaper than chicken feed sometimes!
JGM
great idea, a good friend has chickens and her son comes over once a week for kitchen scraps and to deliver eggs, this sounds like a less messy way to do that. Wie are looking for a pup, should be soon I hope to focus on a good/the best possible diet for him or her
The best possible diet is one that's species appropriate. Ever see a wolf, coyote, or fox go shopping for kibble? Raw food (there are many websites to help you figure out how best to do that) and minimal vaccines.
Corporate farming will survive and buy up all the small farmer acreage. Sad. President Trump has to stop subsidizing the corporate farmer and redirect all funds to the independent farmers. NOW!
Stop funding ethanol from corn!
I find that time has continued to prove exceedingly kind to Michael Yon's predictions re: natural gas, routes, resources, fertilizer, and food.
I had put together dried food 20+ years ago and had to start dispersing it (giving it to food shelves) because of shelf life. Looks like I will start stocking up extra again. Cooked beans and vegetables in glass jars (organic) from Jovial/Bionaturae, as well as jellies, (no sugar) tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. They also have Einkorn pasta. For people like me who don't have a garden plot there are ways to stock up. Thanks for the heads up!
Do we really need to depend so heavily on nitrogen fertilizer?
https://pierrekorymedicalmusings.com/p/an-intensive-spring-resuscitation
I was just about to post his substack article he posted 3_23_26 as well. It is well worth the time to read and he has great graphics at the end of the article. One point is with ever increasing fertilizer inputs the yields are still decreasing.
Yeah I was wondering if people would be able to read it from the link without subscribing, or if his free tier provides it. I use Aurmina to treat my tap water, and have ordered the gardening amendments and am about to start planting. How spectacular would it be to discover that re-mineralizing the soil eliminates the need for fertilizers and herbicides!
I'm a free subscriber and I got his email--and ordered the gardening amendments. Great article!
I don't know since I am a paid subscriber. I have had no trouble forwarding to my wife. Either way I hope new people subscribe to both Dr. Kory and Tore Says who I mentioned in another comment.
I produce as much food as I can with my greenhouse and three gardens. For years I've been staying 4-5 years ahead in terms of my fertilizer supply, and a week and a half ago I bought six additional 25-pound bags of fertilizer because of the goings on at the Strait of Hormuz. I spent an extra $300 for extra peace of mind.