Re: lol
That is like taking spring water and distilling it then going out and buying minerals to put back in the water.
A good example!
What possible reason do farmers (do they really exist still) have to process soil according to your analogy?
There are a few things going on here.
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen is the burning of fields after harvesting. This clears out the debris quickly, but it also loses a lot of nutrients and moisture retaining compounds that get burnt up. Farmer's would be better off coming up with a device that would chew the material up in to tiny pieces and plow them back in to the ground for quick composting. But they are also worried about the composting process using up nitrogen in the soil. This could be easily overcome though by planting nitrogen fixing plants, such as clover, in the off season, which can later be plowed under.
Another problem is that the soil has become so terrible that it is easily blown away in dust storms. Same principle that lead to the dust bowl, but just to a lesser extent.
Along the same lines we have altered the natural flood plains to the point that they no longer restore nutrients to the soils the way they use to when the flooding was allowed to occur naturally.
So the more we "advance" in our agricultural practices the more we go backward. There are ways to balance this out though if the farmers were willing to put the effort in to it. Again for example the planting of nitrogen fixing cover crops. The use of organic fertilizers such as bat guano, other manurers, seaweeds, compost, etc. These not only provide nutrition, but also allow more moisture retention lowering water usage and loss. This would more than make up for any additional costs. Imagine if we had a recycling program for grass clippings and other yard waste that could be composted and sold back the farmers. Less waste going to the landfills, less methane from the landfills, less water usage and loss, healthier plants requiring less chemicals, less runoff of artificial fertilizers in to our waterways leading to the death of fish, birds and corals.............
Planting more trees around farms would also reduce wind-induced loss of soils and water. Trees also help to bring nutrients up from deeper in the spoils and deposits them on the surface as they drop their leaves. They also help to bring the water table up closer to the surface. Some trees, such as paulownia trees, can also provide animal feed and provide sustainable lumber since the trees grow back faster after being cut down.
Fish such as tilapia can be grown near farms. The plant waste can be used for fish food, while the waste water from the ponds, which is rich in nitrogen, can be used to irrigate plants. This would work especially well with heavy nitrogen feeding plants such as corn. After harvesting the fish for human food the fish waste can be converted in to fish emulsion for fertilizer and fish meal for a non-petroleum based animal feed.
Again a little creativity and effort could provide so many benefits.