My interview with Nick Train in this week's magazine (out on Friday sign up now if you're not already a subscriber) talks about the extraordinary capacity for transformation in the UK and US corporate sectors. According to Train, digitalisation will collapse costs, free up cash and make stock prices soar; there is a productivity revolution ahead.
After I sent the interview off to the production desk I sat down to read The Farmers Club Autumn Journal (we all relax in different ways). And there I read more about how new technology is going to do exactly the same to farming.
We've written here before (often) about how robots and new types of "just-in-time" irrigation and fertilisation techniques will transform the yields from all types of crops. But the really interesting stuff seems to be happening in the world of soils.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
At the heart of farming, says Hugh Goldworthy, is the living soil itself, something made up of a mix of "viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, earthworms, nutrients and various chemical compostions" and something we know almost nothing about. "Current scientific understanding of bacteria alone in the world's soils is put at 5% at best."
What we apparently do know, however, is that things happen very quickly in soil. Bacteria "population spikes" can happen in as little as 20 minutes meaning that taking samples and sending them to labs is verging on pointless. By the time the sample gets to the lab, the soil left behind could be completely different.
So if we want to increase yields by working on maximising the biological balance of soil, we have to test in situ. This is now possible we can see how pH levels vary at depth and assess the bacteria and fungi populations. Then we can use "biomanipulation" to influence soil and plant performance (and to reduce the use of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides).
It looks like it might work. Goldsworthy who reckons that this "technology will be as relevant to the farming of the future as the plough was to the farming of the past" notes the case of a golf course that had been spending £15,000 a year on fertilisers and chemicals using biomanipulation to bring it down to a couple of hundred pounds.
Imagine that kind of saving extrapolated throughout the agricultural sector. Extraordinary capacity for transformation indeed. There's an academic paper on this here for other people who like reading about farming.
-
Beating inflation takes more luck than skill – but are we about to get lucky?Opinion The US Federal Reserve managed to beat inflation in the 1980s. But much of that was down to pure luck. Thankfully, says Merryn Somerset Webb, the Bank of England may be about to get lucky.
-
Rishi Sunak can’t fix all our problems – so why try?Opinion Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement is an attempt to plaster over problems the chancellor can’t fix. So should he even bother trying, asks Merryn Somerset Webb?
-
Young people are becoming a scarce resource – we should value them more highlyOpinion In the last two years adults have been bizarrely unkind to children and young people. That doesn’t bode well for the future, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
Ask for a pay rise – everyone else isOpinion As inflation bites and the labour market remains tight, many of the nation's employees are asking for a pay rise. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why you should do that too.
-
Why central banks should stick to controlling inflationOpinion The world’s central bankers are stepping out of their traditional roles and becoming much more political. That’s a mistake, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
How St Ives became St Tropez as the recovery drives prices sky highOpinion Merryn Somerset Webb finds herself at the epicentre of Britain’s V-shaped recovery as pent-up demand flows straight into Cornwall’s restaurants and beaches.
-
The real problem of Universal Basic Income (UBI)Merryn's Blog April employment numbers showed 75 per cent fewer people in the US returned to employment compared to expectations. Merryn Somerset-Webb explains how excessive government support is causing a shortage of labour.
-
Why an ageing population is not necessarily the disaster many people think it isOpinion We’ve got used to the idea that an ageing population is a bad thing. But that’s not necessarily true, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
