Like many of you, there are topics our family avoids when we gather for holidays. Somehow, science has crept into the topics to avoid. Yet the scientific method isn’t a religion. It’s merely a way to figure out what holds up and what doesn’t.
One reason the general public doesn’t trust science? People like me. A journalists’ main purpose is to serve the public, or in my case, the vegetable industry. But we also need to prove that you guys are engaged with our reporting in order to attract advertisers.
So, you find science used as clickbait. There have been far too many news stories along the lines of “Scientists have discovered [insert something absurd here].” Those reports are typically based on a single study that desperately needs further research and others testing the results with their own work. But they’re catnip to broadcast companies wanting an uptick in viewers.
The best-established science and theories (such as the plant and soil chemistry, botany, entomology, pathology, and weed science our industry depends upon) result from a long-term series of studies, not a one-off. They’re done in collaboration with others, with each step likely published in peer-review journals, and other respected groups across the world verifying results and finding their own evidence.
Another reason people doubt science? Politics. Pundits who want to attack an established theory have a reliable weapon: cast doubt on the source. Instead of digging up dirt on a political candidate, this group lines up a series of arguments about why a scientific theory or those doing the research aren’t reliable.
And finally, our own egos undermine trusting the scientific method. If research turns up an uncomfortable finding, we instinctively reject it.
This kind of thing is easier to see in history. Think about how Galileo upended his life by reporting what he saw in a telescope. He was following in the steps of Copernicus, who initially had a positive reception to his theory that the Earth circled the sun. A couple decades after Copernicus’ death, however, church firebrands campaigned against the science, effectively ejecting the theory. By the time Galileo published his work almost 100 years later, it challenged current theology that God made the Earth the center of the universe.
The future of farming depends on a better understanding of soil, plants, breeding, and the general environment. Let’s embrace the scientific method that will guide us.
Oh, One More Thing
Here is some of the research that holds my attention these days.
Soil Health
The Arizona-based Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, better known as YCEDA, has decided to tackle soil health research. One of the reasons we know so little about something that has been around for epochs stems from how soil health clashes with common research methods. Most research relies on studying a single component. Soil is so interconnected, that doesn’t work. But YCEDA is setting out to do an integrated approach.
Holistic Approach to Research
The YCEDA approach to soil health represents a new way to tackle ongoing problems. When citrus greening devastated the Florida citrus industry, USDA changed its approach to big problems. It now has scientists embedded across the world, where many of our future diseases will come from (as did citrus greening). It also creates teams of scientists with various areas of expertise, allowing for a broader understanding of an issue.
https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda-science-research-strategy.pdf