Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

This is from Frequently Asked Questions for Beginning Farmers.
http://www.growingnewfarmers.org/questions_answers/index.htm

At Farming Q&A http://www.growingnewfarmers.org/questions_answers/index.htm
they list the following questions and answers:

    *  I would like to start farming. Where do I begin?
    * I am considering farming as part of my life's work. How do I find
help to guide my decision-making?
    * I want to learn more about farming. Where can I go to get experience
and information?
    * What programs are out there to help me start or develop my farm?
    * How do I find a farm or farmland?
    * How do I know this farm or farmland is the right place for me?
    * How do I develop a conservation or land use plan for my property?
    * Do I need a business plan for my farm?
    * I want to start a farm, or I have started a farm. What about grants,
loans, and other sources of capital to help me?
    * What legal, tax, and regulatory information do I need to know to run
my farm?
    * I want to grow XXXX on my farm. Where can I find information to help
me?
    * How do I market my product(s)?
    * I plan to take over my family's farm. What are the best ways to
accomplish this?
    * I plan to take over an existing farm business. What are the best ways
to accomplish this?

Under How do I find a farm or farmland here is what they think important:

( *** there is NO hint or mention of any concern for what kind of SOIL a
farm has, whether healthy or ruined by decades of nutrient mining with
N-P-K)

Acquiring your farm is one of the most critical farming steps you will ever
take. And purchasing farmland is not necessarily the best or only option.
Occasionally, a new farmer will buy a farm and then ask, "What can I
produce here?" It's far better to select your farm property based on prior
decisions and planning -- answering questions first about what you want to
produce (and "what the market wants"), and how you prefer to market your
products. A diversified vegetable enterprise needs a very different natural
resource base and farm infrastructure than a dairy or beef cattle
operation.
Here are some things to think about:

There are different ways to acquire a farm or farmland.

    * For many starting farmers, purchasing land is not desirable or
possible. You don't have to own land to be a successful farmer.
    * Often, rental, long-term lease, lease-to-own, "work-in" or other
"tenure" arrangements make business sense. Sometimes, gaining experience as
a farm manager or herdsman, for example, is a good first step before
committing to a piece of farmland.
    * Working through a farm transfer from a retiring farm family -- your
own family, or an unrelated party—can be a complex transaction, often
requiring technical assistance.
    * Your tenure relationship to the farm—that is, how you hold the
land—may change over the course of your farming career.
    * Be clear about what you are looking for, and gather adequate
information about any prospective farm property: the natural resources,
buildings and other infrastructure, access, history, community, zoning
regulations, projected growth of the area, etc. You can search for farm
property in traditional ways, such as through realtors. Often, farming
newsletters and other publications, farm supplier bulletin boards, etc.
have classified sections. In the Northeast, several states have "farm
linking" programs that assist farmers in locating land and securing a
tenure arrangement (see below).

Search the Directory of Programs and Services for Northeast New Farmers
using keywords such as finding land, farmland, land tenure for resources on
this topic.
Here is a sample of resources:

National Farm Transition Network: This site lists and links you to all the
"farm linking" programs in the US. In the Northeast, farm link programs
serve CT, ME, MA, VT, NH, RI, NY, NJ, and PA. They offer a wide variety of
programs, services, publications and other products on accessing farmland
and related new farmer topics.

Canadian Farm Business Management Council hosts a website of land tenure
resources for entering and exiting farmers.

Acquiring & Managing Farm Resources, published by Midwest Plan
Service/NRAES.

For information on land trusts and conservation easements try the American
Farmland Trust or the Land Trust Alliance.

For help in evaluating land, try the National Soil Survey Center, USDA
NRCS, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Wetlands Maps, or www.terraserver.com ,
a world-wide source of satellite imagery and aerial photography.

Look at general real estate resources on buying property, getting
mortgages, learning land history, including www.realtor.com and the Real
Estate Library.

There are many sites for buying land online, including LandMarketer,
Agriscape, the American Land Network, Land and Farm, and the Farm Market.

NRAES publications available online include: Fixed and Flexible Cash Rental
Arrangements for Your Farm; Long Term Installment Land Contracts; Pasture
Rental Arrangements for Your Farm; and Rental Agreements for Farm Buildings
and Livestock Facilities.
--------------------------------------------------------

Apparently they don't think the soil plays any important part in anything.
THEY'RE WRONG. And the one thing they don't even try to tell beginning
farmers is - you guessed it - HOW TO FARM.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
--Henry David Thoreau