"The critical issue today is not whether U.S. farmers can produce enough food for our current needs, but whether the way we are producing our food is mortgaging our ability to produce food tomorrow," he says.
The no-till farming systems that Buffett champions always keep cover on the soil. A farmer plants in either the residue from a former crop or in a separate cover crop—a process that increases organic matter in the soil, retains water and decreases erosion. It also sequesters carbon and cuts the use of fossil fuels.
While many of these techniques are associated with organic agriculture, Buffett still supports the use of genetically modified seed and nitrogen-based fertilizer—albeit substantially less than if he did not focus on taking care of the soil.
"I don't believe organic agriculture can feed the world," he says.
He prefers the term "biological agriculture" to indicate that no-till is about using biology rather than chemistry to enhance the soil—and to emphasize the soil.
In Brazil, the reddish, acidic heavy-clay soil of the country’s Cerrado region makes it one of the most difficult farming areas in the world, he notes. But because the government has promoted no-till farming and developed an ecosystem of policies to support this type of large-scale sustainable agriculture, the productivity of this land nearly matches that of his U.S. farm.
"Leaders of countries grappling with food insecurity in some of the most difficult farming regions in the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa, should find reason to hope in what has happened in Brazil," he says.
Buffett says it is time to redesign subsidies in the U.S., which currently encourage short-term production rather than longer-term conservation of water and soil. Water use could be cut in half if modern and efficient center pivots and drip irrigation replaced “extraordinarily wasteful” flood irrigation and 25-year-old center pivots, he said.
"If we don't farm in a thoughtful and planned way, we will end up where many African countries are today; unable to feed their own people, let alone export food to the ever-growing world," he says.
A former investment banker, Ellie Winninghoff is a writer and consultant specializing in impact investing. More of her writing about impact investing is linked at her blog, DoGoodCapitalist.com and she can be reached at: ellie. [email protected].