Jordon Wade
@jordonwade.bsky.social
Soil Health Assessment Lead @ Syngenta Group | Mostly soils and agronomy but probably some other odds n end too | X: jordon_wade
📝 New article on Our World in Data: Is organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming? One of the most common questions we’re asked about food systems is whether organic farming is better for the environment than conventional methods.
Come on, I'm the Lorax! Since I was a child I've been nature's voice for the green & the wild. Now I am begging you, please understand You must make more food, but with much, much less land. Sure, treasure your soil & nurture your fields. But you'll keep killing trees if you don't boost your yields.
That’s what happens when you get rid of the department of defense
Spent yesterday in 48°C (118°F) temperatures, with the humidex. It was brutal. Little kids in particular have a hard time with the heat because they can't cool down as easily. Climate change sucks. Maybe we should stop burning fossil fuels... soon?
I’m traveling so I had to wake up at 2am to catch this game and wow did the USMNT deliver. Now the trick is to get back to sleep…
Jason Anderson@jasondcsoccer.bsky.social · 3mo agoThe USMNT has won a third game at a World Cup, a thing they have never done before
True story, I had to switch my PHEV car to combustion ⛽️ after two months on just charging ⚡️ Fill issue.
Richard Waite@waiterich.bsky.social · 3mo agoTrue story, I almost just bought bread and butter pickles by mistake Dill issue
The recent NY Times article on Oath (a soil inoculant company) warrants a mini-thread, so here we go: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/b... (1/9)
After Prison, a Financial Titan Plots an Unlikely Comeback
nytimes.com
One of the most frustrating things I find in the soil health world is the assumption that a management is good/bad rather than evaluating it within a given system/context. Finally some nuance - a great reminder!
Fabien Ferchaud@fabien-ferchaud.bsky.social · 5mo ago📣 Just out in @commsearth.nature.com Our paper explores the role of tillage in agroecological systems, discussing the trade-offs between carbon, climate and pest management. We recommend moving beyond the simplistic view of 'tillage bad, no-till good'. Open access ➡️ doi.org/10.1038/s432...
“I have seen the future of science. It is ruled by bitter competition instead of collaboration, pageantry instead of exploration. . . .Those willing to toil over genuine questions will necessarily lose out to those that can furnish cheap answers. . . .” statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/04/20/94/
“I have seen the future of science. It is ruled by bitter competition instead of collaboration, pageantry instead of exploration. Bright minds beginning careers in science will be taught to debase th...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu
I’ve already seen enough vibecoded websites to last me a lifetime. It’s like the last stop on the enshittification train. youtube.com/shorts/CkXvh...
Do you have an unbearable ‘vibecoding’ friend?
YouTube video by Prof G Markets
youtube.com
Pretty obvious that tariffs and the war in Iran are increasing the prices of farm inputs. But Admin doesn't want anyone to think about that 🤷♀️. farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2026/04/usda...
USDA Seeks Farmer Input in Fertilizer Price Collusion Probe - Farm Policy News
The Trump administration is seeking information from farmers to help with an ongoing Justice Department probe into high costs for fertilizer, machinery and other farm inputs. The Department of Justice...
farmpolicynews.illinois.edu
The best version of Bob Dylan songs are the ones performed by others, without exception.
Rav@rvbdrm.com · 6mo agoWE NEED BAD IRRELEVANT TAKES IMMEDIATELY FLOOD THE TIMELINE
One reason soil erosion is so tough is that it occurs over long timescales. In these long term plots in Wooster, OH, you can see that reduced tillage and adding grasses in the rotation has prevented ~4” of topsoil loss in the past decades. This always reminds me of the Wendell Berry quote…
Saw a thoughtful thread about AI, don't want to QT or argue. But. The biggest rage factor with LLMs is the people who, because genAI is transformative for coding, think it's transformative for everything else, because they devalue every other form of work and labor and knowledge.
Perhaps you received a mysterious noreply email asking you to evaluate some publications 'for novelty'. Looked kinda dubious? Yup, that's the one. So what's up with this 'metascience novelty indicators challenge'? 🧵
#AshaniThilakarathne 's latest publication showing long-term, diversified #croprotations improve #soilhealth and help soybeans better withstand extreme #drought, reducing water stress and yield losses, compared to conventional systems. 🌱🫘💦 🔗https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2025.110180
Never thought a science journal could have a clever, relevant, and on-topic holiday message, but here we are! 🤓
New Phytologist@newphyt.bsky.social · 9mo agoSeason's greetings from all of us at New Phytologist and The New Phytologist Foundation!
It’s good to see papers start to address LLMs as structural plagiarism — provenance, more hidden than the original words or training data. www.nature.com/articles/s42...
LLM use in scholarly writing poses a provenance problem
Nature Machine Intelligence - LLM use in scholarly writing poses a provenance problem
nature.com
Agricultural soil carbon sequestration gets a lot of attention but let’s not forget that the best way to keep carbon in soils is to stop further expansion of agriculture into natural ecosystems. #WorldSoilDay
Regenerative agriculture is mostly overhyped as a climate solution. But in Brazil, I saw some regenerative grazing practices produce higher beef yields, which meant more money for the rancher and less eating of the earth.
Development vs climate action is a false choice. In the agriculture sector, there are many actions that reduce climate pollution AND help farmers adapt to a changing climate. An underappreciated one is helping smallholders sustainably boost productivity, reducing ag land expansion & deforestation.
Whatever your research question, I can assure you it is *NOT* answered by a combination of linear mixed models, random forest, and structural equation models.
We've somehow settled into an equilibrium wherein *all* the social media sites suck & are unbearable.
PNAS highlights Johannes Lehmann’s pioneering soil science—from revealing the secrets of Amazonian dark earths to advancing biochar for fertility and climate solutions. His work is reshaping sustainable agriculture. Read the PNAS Profile: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Check out our team’s new paper about reducing nitrogen losses in US row-crop agriculture, by @mikebadzmierowski.bsky.social. Nitrogen is essential for crop production, but its overuse reduces air and water quality and emits potent GHGs. This paper examines solutions. www.wri.org/research/red...
