The other day I read an article in Freiburg's Sunday paper Der Sonntag about soybeans. This rang another bell. As a graduate student in Munich, I frequently listened to the American Forces Network (AFN) and learned that soybeans are a traded commodity and Mickey Mantle is a baseball legend.
©dpa |
Soybeans love warm weather, need temperatures of at least 6 °C, have a vegetation period of 150 to 180 days, and require soil temperatures of at least 10 °C while germinating. With climate change, the Upper Rhine Plain is becoming an ideal region for soybean cultivation. Where grapes grow, soybeans grow too. While young plants have problems fighting weeds, herbicides are taboo in organic farming. Instead of labor-intensive hoeing and plowing, the trick is to seed soybeans together with rye, the latter serving as a shield against weeds. It is like mulching, a farmer explained.
Be assured, friends, America remains first; we will not export our beans.
*
No comments:
Post a Comment