This is the time of year for resolutions and some important business decisions. Regarding your farm, this slow season is the opportunity to decide where to go into the next millenium. That thought process was obvious among the 18 people who turned out for the first session of the organic/ecological farming training held in Berwick this month. They were all pondering the potential for their farm to embark on a long road of agricultural sustainability.
The introductory course underlined the need to take stock of the resources they had and the potential to succeed. Contrary to the recipe-farming practised on many conventional farmers today, the candidates learned that farming in general and organic farming in particular is complex, knowledge-intensive, and requires an in-depth understanding of ecological relationships to resolve a problem and produce a crop.
A potential organic farmer needs to identify his/her intentions and long term goals. Why is organic farming being considered: money, ecology, quality of life, health? The right reasons can make or break an adventure in organic farming. Then, the family/spouse’s compatibility on these issues must be examined. The farm needs to find its place in the community for support, neighbourly coexistence and urban compatibility. For example, an organic farm of open-pollinated corn cannot operate successfully in a region crowded by conventional hybrids and GMO’s.
Organic farming is about a relationship with the environment. So how will the farm rely on or suffer from the environment: weather patterns, heat units, rainfall and snow cover, local micro-climate, regional and local water currents, last and first frost. What environmental issues may raise concerns about the organic integrity of your food production: industrial pollution, periodic floods, dumping sites, the use of agro-chemicals upstream or upwind.
The main tool of farming, the soil, needs the greatest consideration before making the leap. If one is intends to produce a bountiful crop, then the first asset must support the goal. What are the soil’s characteristics: soil type, tilth, presence of compaction, organic matter content, mineral fertility, microbial activity, variability across the farm, layout, drainage, water table. The first duty is to have the soil tested thoroughly and then monitored over a few years to measure its progress. Taking a field of muck out of bush and weeds and calling it organic is not good enough. You need to review its real potential to produce good food profitably. If an organic farmer starts on marginal land in the first place, then the imminent failure is predictable.
And what of the living environment? You need to understand the wildlife of the region in order to support it or least not interfere with it. Do the birds rely on your fence lines for shelter and food? The indigenous plant life on your land will tell you a lot about soil conditions and about which crops will perform best. Recognise the weeds in order to develop the best weed management plan.
Having understood what is around you, what are your own resources: capital and cash flow, appropriate equipment for the job you plan, a ready market for you products, time and humanpower, skills and knowledge, commercial farming services to fill in the gaps? If you are a new farmer, do not underestimate the costs of farming and if you are converting, beware of some new tillage equipment that you need to replace the weed sprayer.
As you can see, farming, especially organical, is no picnic. But help is available. Come and join us for more training on January 20th, 21st, and 28th. Call the undersigned for further details.
contribution by Tom Manley
President of Homestead Organics
"Eastern Ontario’s Organic Grain Company"
Berwick, Ontario, K0C 1G0
Tel: (613) 984-0480
www3.sympatico.ca/homestead.organics