Frank
----------
> From: Erorganic@aol.com
> To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: No-Till Mania versus Organic
> Date: Sunday, August 09, 1998 11:20 AM
>
> Hello folks,
>
> 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
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe
sanet-mg".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".