Learning with the Fang

Yesterday Dr. Paul and the good folk from litfuse hired me to help out with a ‘Web2.0 BootCamp’. By the end of the day we had seven new bloggers starting conversations around the sustainability of Agriculture in our part of the world in the light of climate change.

Lambsy thinks the type of broadacre farming prevalent here in South Australia is sustainable because there is scope to adapt.

Leroy says we need to manage our water better, stop upstream rice and cotton farming but not build a desalination plant here in Adelaide.

Anne suggests a government buyback of water allocation would be better than costly engineering solutions to get the type of flows back from the Murray Darling basin that the environment needs.

The lobster might not be a water expert but is aware of local shortages and taking personal steps to reduce water consumption. (And gets extra kudos for being a good sport during the bootcamp by taking some some fake harsh criticism to demonstrate comments and trackbacks to the group).

Leighton reckons it is essential that our farmers change the way they operate, and that NoTill is the way to go. There is an interesting response to this assertion that incorporates everything from silver bullets to suburban lawns!

Michael makes an interesting point that regardless of the impact of climate change, the demand for output from crops will increase and that skilled farmers will find ways to adapt, driven by the market.

That IT guy writes about the inevitable evolution of farming practice but is really more interested in pictures than words. (I hope he finds a way to use blogs to share his wonderful images and suggest taking a look at creative commons licensing to make his work more ‘open’ and shareable).

And thanks for introducing me to photobubble - I love the way the help artists make money from physical representations (atoms) of their digital images (bits). The advice in their FAQ on ’stealing art’ is superb. For the record, my favourite is probably your ‘at hells entrance’ shot but I’ve included the image below because it fits with our theme of ‘future chaos’.

Fang - Mike Seyfang

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