As this discussion gyrated towards the question of soil conservation or
conserving soils as being a foundation of "sustainable agriculture"; I would
like to extend a simple organic perspective. Some of the content may be a
repeat for some, but is needed to make a "whole" farming and marketing system,
what we now see as an "organic" system of farming.
Fertile soil is not conserved, but is continually produced through management
of the soil biotic activity by organic farming. The organic system is one of
life, death, decay and rebirth. To produce a fertile soil, the microbiology
and the soil invertebrate life, which compose the soil biotic activity, must
be diverse and vigorous. The organic farmer seeks to create the optimal
conditions for the soil biotic activity. To accomplish this a farmer must
observe and recognize as many mutual and symbiotic interactions impacting on
and within the soil and farm the soil in a way to enhance soil biotic
activity. No one has to be a certified organic farmer to do this. The
present organic farming community receives its strength from learning from
generations of un-named farmers that preceded us.
Close observation soon informs a farmer that soil, both fertility and mineral
components move little by little downhill following the forces of gravity.
The question is not holding soil in a specific position, the question is not
allowing the fertility to be depleted whereby substantial amounts of earth
begin to move downhill. In fact, when a substantial amount of earth can be
seen moving downhill, a farmer is being informed the fertility is already
gone. So, the working farm solution to prevent "true" erosion of our soils is
to maintain fertility above loss, not to stop erosion or conserve soils. Well
managed organic farming accomplishes this.
Soil can be generally divided into two components: organic matter and
minerals. Organic matter combined with readily available minerals acted on by
the biotic activity of the soil produces humus. Humus is the depository that
maintains soil fertility and prevents soil "erosion." Fertility is defined as
humus and minerals readily available for use by soil life and plants.
Ultimately, an organic farmer judges farm progression by looking at the
maintenance and enhancement of their farm's soil fertility.
In fact, if one looks closely at no-till, the practice does provide large
amounts of organic matter for soil biotic activity and generally does enhance
humus. Unfortunately, the broad acre use of pesticides, is always detrimental
to soil biotic activity. The question is how to accomplish the benefits of
no-till without broad acre use of pesticides. Numerous organic farmers
producing every crop in every region of this nation and the world have done
such. Organic farmers monitor erosion, but on a well-managed organic farm
erosion is negligible because the farm's soil fertility is maintained and
consistently enhanced. Capitalization is lowered through biological fertility
management rather than synthetic fertilizers. If one were to compare no-till
and organic, the first question arising is what are no-till's and organic
farming's specific objectives. I would be interested in a no-till farmer's
response on this.
As an organic farmer, my farming objectives are directed towards bettering the
soil conditions and climate for conversion of organic matter to humus. The
practices to accomplish this vary somewhat--but not as much as most people
think. The system, made up of the practices, being used by what we choose to
call organic farmers to better soil climate is virtually identical worldwide.
In general, the organic farmer is working to produce luxuriant plant growth
(which along with diversity of plants will inevitably produce the healthiest
of vertebrates and invertebrates) without the use of synthetic fertilizers or
pesticides.
The term "sustainable agriculture" is a much more encompassing term than
"organic farming." "Sustainable" is a term that is and will remain open to
constant site and market specific interpretation. If one wants to compare or
contrast "organic" farming with "sustainable agriculture," I guess one can
converse about it forever, but from my perspective, it is avocados and lemons.
Well managed organic farming coupled with well managed marketing is
"sustainable" organic agriculture.
Only when we move into understanding the marketing system called the organic
certification system are we entering into the realm of fully investigating
the "sustainability" of organic farming. The term "certified organic farm"
means a farm, or portion of a farm, or site where agricultural products or
livestock are produced, that is certified by the certifying agent as utilizing
a system of organic farming. The organic community developed certification to
provide a market driven incentive for producing, beginning or transition
farmers to utilize organic practices and the organic system. To build a
strong binding relationship with the customer and assure the customer of pure
and unadulterated food and fiber, the organic community further established a
certifying system for handling operations (processing, packaging and storing)
of products produced on a certified organic farm.
Still, if an organic farm is not efficient in biotic management, labor
management, mechanical management and marketing, it will not be "sustainable."
Best regards,
Eric Kindberg
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