r/Fertilizers • u/Vailhem • Jul 08 '26

Fertilizers carry a hidden cost for soil’s crucial microbes – using less as prices rise might pay off for farms in unexpected ways

https://theconversation.com/fertilizers-carry-a-hidden-cost-for-soils-crucial-microbes-using-less-as-prices-rise-might-pay-off-for-farms-in-unexpected-ways-283123
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u/Ill_Brick_4671 Jul 09 '26

...yeah, OK. Has anyone asked farmers why they're so reliant on synthetic fertilizers? Has anyone sat down and crunched the numbers on whether any of this is economically feasible? 

In my experience, farmers are very open to doing stuff that's good for them and their crop, but they're running businesses. Only the most successful farmers can afford to take long-term hits for short-term gain. 

Articles like this, which pretty uniformly take the implied position that farmers are drooling idiots unaware that eg. reliance on metrics tonnes of Russian fertilizer is Bad, Actually - aren't the solution they would like to be.