------=_NextPart_000_0031_01BE5F71.0D47B920
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I have appreciated Gord and Ernies comments to Anitas question and =
the direction this has gone. But I do think that there is one factor =
that has been overlooked. Motivation to switch to organic production or =
any other diversification is only triggered when ones sense of =
responcibility(to ones family,land, financial picture,etc)collide with =
IMAGINATION. Imagination may well be one of the scarcest commodities in =
the countryside. My experence on the farm suggests that there are a =
great many farmers longing for an alternitive to what they are currently =
practicing but lack the imagination to get from where they are to where =
they what to go. So may I suggest to Anita that whatever approach you =
take I would expect it to be much more effective if it can trigger a =
growers imagination or at least make the jump less scary.
On the matter of finances providing inititive for conversion to =
organic I have no concern. Being a farmer,entering year 12 of organic =
certification, and having had initial motivations including finances and =
being able to control our own marketing, I have seen more than a few =
enterprises fail. Generally I attribute this failure to top down =
management, where enterprises(farms)are subjected to conventional =
thought processesby their managers(farmers). Large business and =
uncommitted farmers use these processes that are destine to fail. =
Organic managers(farmers) make dicisions based on their relationship =
with their land and resources that have a higher long term sucess rate.
------=_NextPart_000_0031_01BE5F71.0D47B920
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
I have appreciated Gord and = Ernies=20 comments to Anitas question and the direction this has gone. But I = do think=20 that there is one factor that has been overlooked. Motivation to = switch to=20 organic production or any other diversification is only triggered = when ones=20 sense of responcibility(to ones family,land, financial = picture,etc)collide=20 with IMAGINATION. Imagination may well be one of the scarcest = commodities in=20 the countryside. My experence on the farm suggests that there are a = great=20 many farmers longing for an alternitive to what they are currently=20 practicing but lack the imagination to get from where they are to = where they=20 what to go. So may I suggest to Anita that whatever approach you = take I=20 would expect it to be much more effective if it can trigger a = growers=20 imagination or at least make the jump less = scary.
On the matter of finances = providing=20 inititive for conversion to organic I have no concern. Being a=20 farmer,entering year 12 of organic certification, and having had = initial=20 motivations including finances and being able to control our own = marketing,=20 I have seen more than a few enterprises fail. Generally I attribute = this=20 failure to top down management, where enterprises(farms)are = subjected to=20 conventional thought processesby their managers(farmers). Large = business and=20 uncommitted farmers use these processes that are destine to fail. = Organic=20 managers(farmers) make dicisions based on their relationship = with=20 their land and resources that have a higher long term sucess=20 rate.------=_NextPart_000_0031_01BE5F71.0D47B920-- To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail