“Agriculture Is The Silent Poetry Of The Earth” – Unknown. “Now, Now,” I Say, “There Is Good And There Is Bad Poetry!”

“Agriculture is the silent poetry of the earth, written by the diligent hands of farmers” (Unknown), shared by Vale on Facebook I saw today, Tuesday, 19 Dec 2023. Vale is a global mining company; its slogan is, “We exist to improve life and transform the future” (Vale, vale.com). In this vale of tears, let’s see! 
(“Hand” from triumphtimes.com)

My first time to consider the earth in poetic language, so here I am googling for poems about agriculture in general – I pick Maya Anthony’s “The Plowman’s Song” from “10 Best Short Poems about Agriculture” (Nov 2023, EngDic, engdic.org).

A poet, Miss Maya wrote all those 10 poems; she says about the #3 poem: “This poem is an ode to the hardworking plowman, who prepares the fields for sowing, ensuring that the soil is ready to nurture life.”

3. The Plowman’s Song
With strength and might, he tills the ground,
The plowman’s song, a rhythmic sound.
Breaking earth, in furrows neat,
Making way for grains and wheat.
Forward, back, and then once more,
Sweat on brow, hands so sore.
But in his eyes, a gleaming pride,
For the soil’s secrets, he confides.
Though his labor may seem long,
He knows the land sings a fertile song.
For each furrow, deep and true,
Promises a life anew.

An agriculturist and a proselytizer for Regenerative Agriculture (RA), and so I note this:

Whether the farmer is planting a grain crop or wheat, he is “Breaking earth, in furrows neat … Forward, back, and then once more.” … “Though his labor may seem long” … He knows the land sings a fertile song / For each furrow deep and true.”

The farmer plows the field – in deep furrows.

That is where my fascination with this poem ends – as American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner puts it in the very title of his book published in 1943: “The Plowman’s Folly.” When you plow the field, the natural food relationship between the organic matter that enriches the soil is lost, and that is why you need chemical fertilizer! This is called Chemical Agriculture (CA).

If you have an open mind and/or done your research, you already know that it is the chemicals in the farms generated by CA that generate greenhouse gases (GHGs) that collectively generate Climate Change!

Now then, the more food we grow via CA, the more the climate turns against us and becomes dangerous to all humans!

Now then, the farmer hero of Miss Maya is the villain himself. And the motto of Vale – “We exist to improve life and transform the future together” – will never get the farmers (and the rest of humanity) out of the ravages of Climate Change!

With CA, the solemn promise of Vale – “We exist to improve life and transform the future” – cannot be delivered. In fact, the exact opposite will be delivered!

The life of this world will continue to deteriorate because of modern agriculture! Modern agriculture is The Silent Enemy Of The Earth!@517