This is the DM podcast you should watch, especially the few minutes after the 30 minute mark. BTW, where is Scott Ritter???
Sophie Johnson
on May 15, 2023 at 10:23 am
What an impressive conversation! Colonel Macgregor has given us a perfectly graspable account of why Russia is fighting this war as it is. E.g.: Many of us had wondered why Russia was so slow to overrun the Ukrainian army. The Colonel’s explanation is that the Russian aim was to let Ukraine feed its military into its weak defence front in Bakhmut. That the Ukrainians did! Now, they are simply out of a fighting force, and out of a whole lot of battle equipment. Hence the pointless anticipation of Ukraine’s long-promised counter-offensive.
Thank you, Colonel Macgregor!
mart
on May 15, 2023 at 10:51 pm
Like this site, but you are not doing it any favours by keeping posting this guys nonsense, he is up there with ferguson from imperial for predictions.
flor
on May 15, 2023 at 11:53 pm
Black Earth Makes Ukraine an Important Agricultural Destination
Did you know? Ukraine, commonly known as the breadbasket of Europe, has over a quarter of the world’s chernozem or “black earth” and 54 percent of its land is arable according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Chernozem is a very fertile soil that produces high agricultural yields and offers excellent agronomic conditions for the production of crops, especially cereals and oilseeds.
It is rich in phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia. Chernozem also contains a high percentage of humus (up to 15% compared to 4% in average soils), which is an organic substance that consists of decayed plant or animal matter.
As it decomposes, the color of the soil becomes darker and increases soil aggregation and the ability to attract and retain nutrients.
Ukraine is the top sunflower seed oil originator in the world and other major exports include wheat, barley and rapeseed. Earlier this year,
Bunge opened its state-of-the-art Industrial Transshipping Complex in Mykolaiv, which includes a new oilseed crushing facility and upgraded grain terminal – the largest facility of its kind in the country.
This enables Bunge to serve growing demand for oil, oilseeds and grain products from customers in the Middle East, Europe and India.
flor
on May 15, 2023 at 11:58 pm
The black gold of Ukraine and the most fertile soils in the world
Ukraine is pivotal in feeding the world and producing grains, thanks to its remarkably fertile black Chernozem soils. This “good black earth” is among the most productive soils in the world, a fact Russians are well aware of. Russia has a long tradition of soil science, and its experts have made significant contributions to the field. So for soil scientists, Russia’s unhealthy interest in Ukraine is not surprising.
We explain what Chernozems are, where in the world they can be found, and we explore some parallel situations – and disasters – in the Americas.
Chernozems, the black soils of Ukraine
Chernozem is the name of the soil type occurring in Ukraine, according to the World Reference Base of Soil Resources (WRB), the soil classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Chernozems have a thick black upper layer, the “chernic horizon” that is rich in decomposed plant material and therefore contains a lot of humus and carbon. In Ukraine, the thickness of the chernic horizon can be up to several meters!
The importance of humus and nutrients
Humus consists of humic acids (complex organic molecules) that are formed after decomposition of plants and digested by soil life. Thanks to the chemical structure of these humic acids, humus does not only retain water, but also nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, ammonia, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, etc. In contrast, in humus-poor soils, rain or irrigation water and the dissolved nutrients, simply sink to deeper layters, beyond the reach of plant roots. Humus-rich soils can bridge a dry season because of these properties.
Chernozems also has a very spongy, airy structure: plant roots have no trouble branching out into the soil and there is enough oxygen so that soil organisms can breathe and interact.
Many earthworms contribute to the good soil structure and the good qualities of the soil.
Biodiversity and abundancy of organisms is high in Chernozems, and they are active at greater depths than in other soils.
The soil also contains a lot of calcium, so it does not easily become acidic.
All of these properties mean that a Chernozem does not need much additional fertilizers or soil conditioners and produces good yields, provided it is managed sustainably.
flor
on May 16, 2023 at 12:01 am
Russian father of soil science
The name Chernozem (from chorniy, black and zemlya, land, earth, in Russian) was coined in 1883 by the Russian geographer Vasily. V. Dokuchaev, the founder of soil science. He recognized that agricultural productivity was largely determined by the type of soil, and that this in turn was influenced by geology, relief, climate, organisms, and the passing of time. The name Chernozem was adopted from the Russian classification when the FAO created the WRB, the globally applicable classification, in the 1980s and 1990s (*). Several Russian names are now fully established in soil science circles.
The Americans did not adopt the Russian nomenclature, and developed their own method: the Soil Taxonomy of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This system, too, is applicable worldwide and was drawn up after the agricultural disaster of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.
In the Soil Taxonomy, Chernozems correspond to the category of Mollisols after mollis, soft, and sol, soil, in Latin.
(*) Many countries have their own local system of classifying soils. This is useful for local food production. For example, for Icelandic farmers it is not very relevant to know how one deals with farming problems in the Tropics.
Globally applicable classifications are especially useful for knowledge exchange, policy making, and to provide food security in a globalized world.
Soil classification are also continuously updated, based on new knowledge and needs. Note as well that both Mollisols and Chernozems can still be divided into many subclasses, they are anything but homogeneous.
Soils of the steppes, prairies and pampas
One-fourth of the world’s Chernozems are located in Ukraine, and the country itself consists of 68% of this type of soil. Beyond Ukraine chernozems extend across two major black-earth belts in the world: in the steppes of Eurasia, and in the prairies of the Great Plains in North America. They are typical of grasslands in continental climate belts with cold winters, rainy springs and hot summers. Similar soils, with slightly different characteristics (Mollisols), stretch over vast regions in the Argentinean pampas.
Regenerative agriculture of Ukraine
To date, Ukraine is one of the three largest grain exporters, and a world leader for soy, maize and sunflower oil. The blue-yellow flag is reminiscent of the vast golden-yellow grain fields under a radiant blue sky. In addition to the EU and surrounding countries, the Arabian Peninsula is an important market. Ukraine also began to establish itself as an important country for the export to the EU of organic crops. The UN also identified Ukraine’s potential in regenerative agriculture, a sustainable form of agriculture that does not harm the environment and increases biodiversity. They also looked at the potential to capture carbon from the atmosphere, and sequester it in Ukrainian soils.
Soil degradation in Ukraine
But this vast soil wealth is just too good to be true. Ukrainians are people like me and you who, like our fellow humans elsewhere in the world, inflict great damage to the environment.
In theory, Chernozems can feed the world, but in practice they are subject to predatory agriculture and soil degradation and erosion. It is estimated (in this FAO report) that Ukraine loses 500 million tons of soil per year through erosion, equating to a loss of $5 billion per year in nutrients.
Or in another calculation, per ton of grain produced, 10 tonnes of soil are lost. The same FAO report offers solutions and methods for conservation agriculture (CA) and climate-smart agriculture (CSA), which have already been successfully applied in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.
Gone with the wind: soils blown away
Despite their good reputation, we can completely lose the best soils in the world. The Dust Bowl may not ring a bell with most people today, yet it was a disaster of epic proportions in the 1930s in the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, where fertile black Mollisols occur.
Deforestation, plowing, and prolonged drought in this American “breadbasket” resulted in tragic soil erosion. Strong winds blew away the top layer of soil that had been reduced to dust; dust clouds rose and darkened the sky even thousands of miles away.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers left their fields and moved to California and Oregon to start new lives. John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Grapes of Wrath is about this event.
flor
on May 16, 2023 at 12:03 am
The New Black Gold
The world is at a tipping point, and the consequences of the war in Ukraine will ripple across societies worldwide.
The soil problems will make it worse. Because phenomena such as the Dust Bowl, or other disasters, may occur again, and it would be a pity if this were to happen to the world’s most fertile soils.
Therefore, we need to remind ourselves what the basis of a stable, prosperous society is, and that is healthy food, clean water, clean air, and sustainable renewable resources, to which everyone has access.
If these are in place, the energy transition can be accomplished peacefully.
Therefore, sustainable management of forests, oceans and soils should be at the top of political agendas worldwide.
It seems that petroleum is no longer the black gold, the heyday of Big Oil is over, however well it has raised living standards to their current levels (at least in rich countries).
Good black soils, like the Chernozems of Ukraine, are the black gold of the future (and in fact they always have been, it’s just that soils never get the attention they deserve, and we are so far removed from nature that we are no longer aware of what we owe our prosperity to).
Petroleum and gold cannot be eaten.
Neither can money, as the Native Americans noted long ago.
It is therefore of the utmost importance that soils are sustainably managed anywhere in the world.
Randolph
on May 16, 2023 at 2:52 am
In a world so grossly prevented, Colonel MacGregor provides a clear, balanced and vital voice. He is a pillar of sanity and reason. A local Militia should offer him security support.
BUILD BACK WHITE NATION.
BUILD BACK WHITE COMUNITY.
BUILD BACK WHITE FAMILY.
Whiteknight777
on May 16, 2023 at 11:15 am
I hope that when and if Trump wins the 2024 election he brings Colonel Macgregor back into his administration Leaders such as this man, are few in number, and we need them now before Russia nukes us to death. If it were not for Putin, we would all be dust.
This is the DM podcast you should watch, especially the few minutes after the 30 minute mark. BTW, where is Scott Ritter???
What an impressive conversation! Colonel Macgregor has given us a perfectly graspable account of why Russia is fighting this war as it is. E.g.: Many of us had wondered why Russia was so slow to overrun the Ukrainian army. The Colonel’s explanation is that the Russian aim was to let Ukraine feed its military into its weak defence front in Bakhmut. That the Ukrainians did! Now, they are simply out of a fighting force, and out of a whole lot of battle equipment. Hence the pointless anticipation of Ukraine’s long-promised counter-offensive.
Thank you, Colonel Macgregor!
Like this site, but you are not doing it any favours by keeping posting this guys nonsense, he is up there with ferguson from imperial for predictions.
Black Earth Makes Ukraine an Important Agricultural Destination
Did you know? Ukraine, commonly known as the breadbasket of Europe, has over a quarter of the world’s chernozem or “black earth” and 54 percent of its land is arable according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Chernozem is a very fertile soil that produces high agricultural yields and offers excellent agronomic conditions for the production of crops, especially cereals and oilseeds.
It is rich in phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia. Chernozem also contains a high percentage of humus (up to 15% compared to 4% in average soils), which is an organic substance that consists of decayed plant or animal matter.
As it decomposes, the color of the soil becomes darker and increases soil aggregation and the ability to attract and retain nutrients.
Ukraine is the top sunflower seed oil originator in the world and other major exports include wheat, barley and rapeseed. Earlier this year,
Bunge opened its state-of-the-art Industrial Transshipping Complex in Mykolaiv, which includes a new oilseed crushing facility and upgraded grain terminal – the largest facility of its kind in the country.
This enables Bunge to serve growing demand for oil, oilseeds and grain products from customers in the Middle East, Europe and India.
The black gold of Ukraine and the most fertile soils in the world
Ukraine is pivotal in feeding the world and producing grains, thanks to its remarkably fertile black Chernozem soils. This “good black earth” is among the most productive soils in the world, a fact Russians are well aware of. Russia has a long tradition of soil science, and its experts have made significant contributions to the field. So for soil scientists, Russia’s unhealthy interest in Ukraine is not surprising.
We explain what Chernozems are, where in the world they can be found, and we explore some parallel situations – and disasters – in the Americas.
Chernozems, the black soils of Ukraine
Chernozem is the name of the soil type occurring in Ukraine, according to the World Reference Base of Soil Resources (WRB), the soil classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Chernozems have a thick black upper layer, the “chernic horizon” that is rich in decomposed plant material and therefore contains a lot of humus and carbon. In Ukraine, the thickness of the chernic horizon can be up to several meters!
The importance of humus and nutrients
Humus consists of humic acids (complex organic molecules) that are formed after decomposition of plants and digested by soil life. Thanks to the chemical structure of these humic acids, humus does not only retain water, but also nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, ammonia, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, etc. In contrast, in humus-poor soils, rain or irrigation water and the dissolved nutrients, simply sink to deeper layters, beyond the reach of plant roots. Humus-rich soils can bridge a dry season because of these properties.
Chernozems also has a very spongy, airy structure: plant roots have no trouble branching out into the soil and there is enough oxygen so that soil organisms can breathe and interact.
Many earthworms contribute to the good soil structure and the good qualities of the soil.
Biodiversity and abundancy of organisms is high in Chernozems, and they are active at greater depths than in other soils.
The soil also contains a lot of calcium, so it does not easily become acidic.
All of these properties mean that a Chernozem does not need much additional fertilizers or soil conditioners and produces good yields, provided it is managed sustainably.
Russian father of soil science
The name Chernozem (from chorniy, black and zemlya, land, earth, in Russian) was coined in 1883 by the Russian geographer Vasily. V. Dokuchaev, the founder of soil science. He recognized that agricultural productivity was largely determined by the type of soil, and that this in turn was influenced by geology, relief, climate, organisms, and the passing of time. The name Chernozem was adopted from the Russian classification when the FAO created the WRB, the globally applicable classification, in the 1980s and 1990s (*). Several Russian names are now fully established in soil science circles.
The Americans did not adopt the Russian nomenclature, and developed their own method: the Soil Taxonomy of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This system, too, is applicable worldwide and was drawn up after the agricultural disaster of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.
In the Soil Taxonomy, Chernozems correspond to the category of Mollisols after mollis, soft, and sol, soil, in Latin.
(*) Many countries have their own local system of classifying soils. This is useful for local food production. For example, for Icelandic farmers it is not very relevant to know how one deals with farming problems in the Tropics.
Globally applicable classifications are especially useful for knowledge exchange, policy making, and to provide food security in a globalized world.
Soil classification are also continuously updated, based on new knowledge and needs. Note as well that both Mollisols and Chernozems can still be divided into many subclasses, they are anything but homogeneous.
Soils of the steppes, prairies and pampas
One-fourth of the world’s Chernozems are located in Ukraine, and the country itself consists of 68% of this type of soil. Beyond Ukraine chernozems extend across two major black-earth belts in the world: in the steppes of Eurasia, and in the prairies of the Great Plains in North America. They are typical of grasslands in continental climate belts with cold winters, rainy springs and hot summers. Similar soils, with slightly different characteristics (Mollisols), stretch over vast regions in the Argentinean pampas.
Regenerative agriculture of Ukraine
To date, Ukraine is one of the three largest grain exporters, and a world leader for soy, maize and sunflower oil. The blue-yellow flag is reminiscent of the vast golden-yellow grain fields under a radiant blue sky. In addition to the EU and surrounding countries, the Arabian Peninsula is an important market. Ukraine also began to establish itself as an important country for the export to the EU of organic crops. The UN also identified Ukraine’s potential in regenerative agriculture, a sustainable form of agriculture that does not harm the environment and increases biodiversity. They also looked at the potential to capture carbon from the atmosphere, and sequester it in Ukrainian soils.
Soil degradation in Ukraine
But this vast soil wealth is just too good to be true. Ukrainians are people like me and you who, like our fellow humans elsewhere in the world, inflict great damage to the environment.
In theory, Chernozems can feed the world, but in practice they are subject to predatory agriculture and soil degradation and erosion. It is estimated (in this FAO report) that Ukraine loses 500 million tons of soil per year through erosion, equating to a loss of $5 billion per year in nutrients.
Or in another calculation, per ton of grain produced, 10 tonnes of soil are lost. The same FAO report offers solutions and methods for conservation agriculture (CA) and climate-smart agriculture (CSA), which have already been successfully applied in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.
Gone with the wind: soils blown away
Despite their good reputation, we can completely lose the best soils in the world. The Dust Bowl may not ring a bell with most people today, yet it was a disaster of epic proportions in the 1930s in the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, where fertile black Mollisols occur.
Deforestation, plowing, and prolonged drought in this American “breadbasket” resulted in tragic soil erosion. Strong winds blew away the top layer of soil that had been reduced to dust; dust clouds rose and darkened the sky even thousands of miles away.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers left their fields and moved to California and Oregon to start new lives. John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Grapes of Wrath is about this event.
The New Black Gold
The world is at a tipping point, and the consequences of the war in Ukraine will ripple across societies worldwide.
The soil problems will make it worse. Because phenomena such as the Dust Bowl, or other disasters, may occur again, and it would be a pity if this were to happen to the world’s most fertile soils.
Therefore, we need to remind ourselves what the basis of a stable, prosperous society is, and that is healthy food, clean water, clean air, and sustainable renewable resources, to which everyone has access.
If these are in place, the energy transition can be accomplished peacefully.
Therefore, sustainable management of forests, oceans and soils should be at the top of political agendas worldwide.
It seems that petroleum is no longer the black gold, the heyday of Big Oil is over, however well it has raised living standards to their current levels (at least in rich countries).
Good black soils, like the Chernozems of Ukraine, are the black gold of the future (and in fact they always have been, it’s just that soils never get the attention they deserve, and we are so far removed from nature that we are no longer aware of what we owe our prosperity to).
Petroleum and gold cannot be eaten.
Neither can money, as the Native Americans noted long ago.
It is therefore of the utmost importance that soils are sustainably managed anywhere in the world.
In a world so grossly prevented, Colonel MacGregor provides a clear, balanced and vital voice. He is a pillar of sanity and reason. A local Militia should offer him security support.
BUILD BACK WHITE NATION.
BUILD BACK WHITE COMUNITY.
BUILD BACK WHITE FAMILY.
I hope that when and if Trump wins the 2024 election he brings Colonel Macgregor back into his administration Leaders such as this man, are few in number, and we need them now before Russia nukes us to death. If it were not for Putin, we would all be dust.