Page 74 - Spring2018

Technology as Servant

BUG OFF! NEW TOOLS TO BRING FARMING INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
By John Moody

Technological For a long time, farming and the technolo- 16 feet of lettuce in the field of the U.S.’s second
progress has gies that support it have gone almost exclusively largest lettuce grower. With the force of hurri-
cane winds, this $80,000 vac [sic] cleaner hurls
in a bad direction. The negative trends have in-
the potential cluded turning the chemical leftovers of war into bugs against metal components for an instant
to herald a tools to raise food; relying on compounds that kill and exhausts them for soil amendments.” 1

move back to are ever more persistent and toxic; using larger Strawberries are one food that shows real
and more damaging equipment that creates promise when married to the vacuum approach.
a more compaction or allows endless, soil-depleting Whereas conventional strawberries are a pe-
holistic, tillage; and overbreeding animals and plants rennial list-topper for the “dirty dozen” (the
organic solely for caloric production. The cost of these Environmental Working Group’s list of pro-
strategies—to ecosystems, the environment, duce items with the highest loads of pesticide
approach to plants, animals and us—has been immense. residues), Driscoll, the nation's largest organic
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farming. New technologies are not inherently bad, strawberry producer, uses vacuums directly on
however. For example, the same types of robots its strawberry crops. In addition, Driscoll and
that now vacuum many homes may soon allow other organic strawberry growers employ the
growers to gain victory over weeds. The same vacuums on what are known as “trap crops”—
tools that allow us to find an unknown location secondary crops intended to lure insects away
on our cell phone may allow a farmer to put from the primary cash crop. For example,
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down just the right amounts of nutrients in a the lygus bugs that like to damage strawberry
suffering segment of pasture or a produce field. crops will choose alfalfa over strawberries. As
The same drones that are a pest in our neighbor- a result, “some farmers plant one bed of alfalfa
hood may be able to spot and help remove pests for every 50 rows of [straw]berries. As the ly-
in an orchard. In short, technological progress gus bugs crowd into the green growth, a giant
has the potential to herald a move back to a tractor-mounted vacuum cleaner comes by and
more holistic, organic approach to farming, one sucks them up.” 3
that is not as dependent on chemical warfare to Do bug vacuums have any drawbacks?
grow our food. Studies on bug vacuums have shown that they
Let’s look at some of the promising technol- have little impact on pollinators or other ben-
ogies currently used or on the horizon that may eficial insect populations. This is something
bring us one step closer to ending chemically- that poses a problem for many other organic-
based agriculture as the dominant model in the approved pest control methods; even if one
U.S. and the world. carefully applies a non-chemical pest control
approach at just the right time and with the right
BUG VACUUMS methods, it may still result in adverse impacts
As a father of five, I can attest to the fact on beneficial insects. Bug vacuums, used in the
that vacuums play a key role in household right way, achieve excellent pest reduction with
cleanliness. When it comes to pest control, bug minimal off-target impacts. 4
vacuums are one of the more fascinating innova- Bug vacuums developed a bad reputation
tions to be introduced into the farming system. back in the 1980s and early 1990s, with only a
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As one master gardener reports: “Imagine a 97 few crops or farms achieving moderate success
HP, tractor-mounted, 8-fan vacuum straddling with the systems. This may be why we don’t
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72 Wise Traditions SPRING 2018