• opus86@lemmy.today
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    1 day ago

    Trump did that the first time. How could you not think, after him campaigning on tariffs, that he wouldn’t do it again? This is just your own fault for voting for him…again.

    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      You know how they overproduced purple hearts in anticipation of an invasion of mainland Japan that never happened? Imagine if that happened and yet they still fell short on numbers, except instead of casualties of war it’s idiots getting fucked by Trump and instead of purple hearts it’s “fell for it again” awards. That’s where we’re at.

    • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      They should concede to use less oxygen from now on, at least 99% less.

      Truly Make America Great Again.

  • Jaysyn@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    That’s the point. Trump wants you hopeless so you’ll sell your land to his billionaire buddies.

  • Libra00@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Ehh… I have little sympathy for these farmers who switched from growing food crops (thus contributing to the rise in food prices) to generally very water-intensive cash crops for export and kept getting subsidies meant to ensure a ready supply of food for the populace. This situation was plenty fucked long before Trump put his dick in it, it should not be surprising that he’d make it worse.

  • NutWrench@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    Schulz says he voted for President Donald Trump and believes in the goals of his tariff plan, to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and expand exporter access to foreign markets.

    That’s a shame. ANYWAY . . .

  • BigMikeInAustin@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Wouldn’t this be a good thing for the fresh water supply in the US if the US stopped exporting alfalfa.

    Sure, I didn’t read this article, so I’m just going off all the previous years of articles about how much fresh water this is using. And I’ve never researched the downstream effects of cattle in the middle east becoming more expensive.

    • TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldM
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      2 days ago

      Answer:

      • The water-intensive farming is absolutely fucking the ecology of the American southwest in a way that’s effectively irreversible on human timescales.
      • The money being generated by this farming is going to a select few completely undeserving, morally bankrupt people who know the damage they’re doing and are hoarding swathes of land and water rights they were given for effectively nothing generations ago.
      • This alfalfa is then shipped internationally to Saudi Arabia literally halfway across the world, generating greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution.
      • This alfalfa is then used to grow cattle, meaning that value is being extracted from the US – at a meager cost compared to the externalities we bear – and given to the theocratic shithole whose entire economy is based on destroying the planet that is Saudi Arabia.
      • Edit: the cows produce a bunch of methane over their lifetime.
      • The cows are then brutally murdered for food despite extensive evidence that cows can feel pain and do feel emotions like fear.
      • This cow meat is then fed to people despite the fact that 1) red meat is a class 2a carcinogen (and frankly in light of evidence that vegetarian and vegan diets reduce risks of certain cancers by double-digit percentages, we’re all just waiting until it’s confirmed rather than heavily suspected as a carcinogen), 2) it substantially increases the risk of heart disease, and 3) it elevates the risk for diabetes when compared to plant-based foods which are cheaper and less resource-intensive to create.

      It’s a benefit to essentially everyone if alfalfa farming becomes less profitable. The entire chain from water to cow meat is unjust, cruel, and otherwise fucking terrible.

      • deeferg@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Just wanted to say I’ve had you marked with notes before as someone really good with your research, but each time I see your longer answers I make sure to take the time to read it. Really appreciate the knowledge transfer on a lot of your posts, please don’t stop!

        • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          So, caring about the environment = cool

          But caring about animals, which are inextricably a part of the environment (a link which can be demonstrated by the pollution produced by industrial farming) = not cool?

          Seems an odd place to draw the line, but ok.

          • Shiggles@sh.itjust.works
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            2 days ago

            Insects feel pain, yet I hear no complaints over how many trillions are blended factory farming crops 🤷🏻‍♂️ you clearly gotta draw the line somewhere and y’all chose the far less tasty option.

            • TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldM
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              2 days ago

              Actually, vegans care about those insects too! The logic goes as follows:

              • Plant-based diets not only don’t kill and torture animals who have a higher capacity to suffer than insects, but just as importantly
              • Plant-based diets use substantially fewer crops than animal-based ones. This is just a consequence of thermodynamics that every step of the chain loses more and more energy, and thus more crops are needed at each stage. This is a major reason (other than prions) why you won’t usually see carnivores raised for food: it’d be wildly inefficient because you’d need way more crops and way more resource usage. The land usage for animal products is massive, and even the most “efficient” animals like chickens take 1.5 to 2 kg of crops for 1 kg of growth (we’re talking about cows here, though, where the ratio is fucking enormous: around 4.5:1 to 7.5:1), and even then a lot of this growth goes toward things like bones which are used for byproducts rather than food.

              Vegans don’t eat insects because we care about insects. Vegans don’t eat honey because we care about insects. And logically, we don’t eat meat, milk, eggs, etc. because we care about insects. Veganism is about excluding animal exploitation “as far as is possible and practicable”, not about being literally perfect. And the difference in scale here is enormous. This argument is made all the time without realizing that if you care about insects, the first and most effective thing you can do is not to use animal products.

      • Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de
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        3 days ago

        I’m sure his fix is either “a bit of saltwater is okay” or “we need electrolytes, it’s what plants crave” with a smattering of “water? Like from the toilet?”

  • Angry_Autist (he/him)@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Yeah everyone in the thread is ‘fuck them drumpf voters’ but your food prices are going to be ridiculous next month so keep memeing

      • Angry_Autist (he/him)@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        That’s a ridiculously naive take, do you think that because this article focuses on one specific crop that this is the only one the tariffs will affect?

        Are you 5?

          • Angry_Autist (he/him)@lemmy.world
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            7 hours ago

            No, the topic is ‘MAGA farmer vafo’s’, just this particular facet is an alfalfa famrer

            there is literally no requirement for the crop to be specific for this exact refrain to play ten thousand times

            It’s the sign of a small mind to be unable to address the bigger picture

  • TRock@feddit.dk
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    3 days ago

    How nice, alfalfa should not be farmed especially at this scale

    • Barley_Man@sopuli.xyz
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      3 days ago

      Alfalfa is a great crop. It has deep roots which store carbon in the soil, it is drought tolerant, it’s high yielding and it’s nitrogen fixating meaning it improves the soil quality and does not require nitrogen fertilizer which normally is a huge carbon footprint. Overall fantastic crop if you need fodder for ruminant animals. The big problem is farming it on an absurd scale in the middle of the damn desert. Alfalfa does not require irrigation in regions with ample rainfall.

        • Saleh@feddit.org
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          3 days ago

          Drought resistance refers to whether the plant can survive droughts. it does not necessarily refer to the plants yielding well under drought. However if the plant is still yielding, it could even become more profitable as other plants stop yielding. The deep roots of the plant help it under drought, as the Soil drys top to bottom. Plants that have deeper roots maintain access to water, while the top is already dried out.

          To try a poor metaphor: Someone who is 2m tall but short-sighted will still see better in a crowd than someone who is 1.60m but has the best eyes in the world.

          https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/managing_alfalfa_during_drought

          • Libra00@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            Ah, so even if it needs a lot of water to produce maximum yield it can still survive in diminished form with less water than most plants? Interesting. TIL.

        • Barley_Man@sopuli.xyz
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          2 days ago

          Alfalfa is drought tolerant compared to other forage legumes like clover. This means that during drought the alfalfa will fare better and also yield better than clover or a grass like Timothy or blue grass. However as you can see pasture is also on that list you linked. Fodder crops are harvested for their entire biomass above ground and the amount of biomass is very large. It’s a very productive crop and makes a lot of fodder and this fodder is mostly water. Therefore it takes a lot of water to grow. The water required is not extreme in any way however and where I live alfalfa is a rainfed crop that only very rarely has any water deficiency symptoms. The extreme amounts of water applied to alfalfa in the south east of the USA is only because of the desert climate there. Growing beans, corn or potatoes there also requires insane amounts of water. If potatoes were chiefly grown in the desert southeast you bet you would see news articles going around about how terrible potatoes are. In the end it’s only a matter of matching the right crop to the right climate. Even the most water hungry crop on earth will not require irrigation in the most rainy place on earth.

    • invertedspear@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      And not at all in the middle of the Sonoran desert, in and around a city of 5 million people, where water is a limited resource.

      Phoenix has plenty of water to suit the population if it’s used wisely. Alfalfa is not a wise use of water.

  • PorradaVFR@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    “In the long run…” so he’s still onboard. Let him ride the failure train to financial ruin. Maybe then he’ll learn.