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Looks good. Your numbers are
self-explanatory, but I think we'd like to know what the "100 pounds of renewable fertility materials per
acre" were. If compost or manure, that doesn't sound like much. Is
that in addition to cover crops or other organic material?
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 9:01
AM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] the ways
that best sustain the farmer/Efficiency
** comments within.
> [Original Message]
>
From: TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net>
>
>
Barb tossed out a couple thoughts on it I have to pass on. They
weren't
> usually high paying jobs, true. But - and it's a big but -
their cost of
> living in those communities was much lower. Few families
needed more than
> one wagearner. They didn't have long commutes, and
didn't have to shop all
> over a city for necessities. And most of what
they earned was spent
locally
> and recycled through the town's
businesses - a big plus to support local
> businesses.
>
*** They were "locally effcient" They were achieving the
same or more with
less.
> As for HOW sustainable food production
can create lots of good income in
> local communities, the answer lies
in methods that first sustain the
> grower. Not being locked into taking
the middleman's price is numero uno.
** You're either a price taker or
a price maker. If you can get more for
your product marketing and
selling yourself, that is the way to go for you.
If the wholesale margin is
less than what it would cost you to market the
product resulting in the a
higher net value on your production with less
risk, that is the way to
sell.
> Next is cutting costs. Gross minus expenses equals
profit. Retailing to
> the locals gets the whole dollar for the
grower.
** If the cost of retailing is less than the wholesaler's
margin. It is
very possible to get more money for your product and
make far less money.
Holding costs down comes
> from recycling
free organic wastes to build healthy, pest resistant soil,
> and
avoiding the rising cost of fossil fuel-derived fertilizers and
>
pesticides.
** Couldn't agree more. Utilize what resources you
have available and
create a growing system supporting a high nutrient,
fertile soil.
For vegetables it may mean avoiding high land costs by
growing
> intensively on small acreages or plots and double cropping
where climate
> permits.
** Profitable operations need not be
limited to small acreages. If it is
profitable, high costs are not
the primary limitation.
Permanent, no-till mulched beds can cut the
cost of amendments,
> water, and labor, and easily double production
over larger fields. Season
> extension techniques can double your gross
sales for the same land area,
> without increasing costs
proportionately.
** Anything to increase gross sales with a profitable
margin makes sense.
It's more effcient.
Don't go into debt for
machinery
> - payments can eat up profits.
** If Principle
+ Interest + a suitable return on assets is less than the
value that can be
derived, it is profitable to own machinery. Personal
example, I
operate a little over 270 acres all organic, and I do not own
a
tractor. I own other equipment, but not a single tractor. The
tractor
doesn't generate a good enough return. It is not capital
effcient in my
operation.
For cane and tree crops it may
mean
> perpetual cover crops like clover to feed nitrogen to berries or
peaches
> and conserve soil moisture. With small livestock for example,
it may mean
> space for free range and growing grains for poultry
to cheat the
> feedstores out of outrageous chicken feed prices. The
list goes on.
** Yes, it comes down to the correct diversity of
enterprises and crops for
the correct situation. It comes down to
managing resources to achieve the
objective and maximize resource
utilization.
>
> PLUS these approaches also protect the land,
air, and water and rural
> prosperity. That's the beauty of it. Contrary
to all the gobbledygook from
> armchair experts, the ways that best
sustain the farmer also sustain the
> earth.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
**
Conservation of resources is a dependent of not depleting resources
of
fertility and function and the continual renewal of resources. So
much
time and energy is expended on talking about saving this or that, or
doing
this or that to get this. There is a distinct lack of doing
from the
armchair experts. I am proud that I can farm 270 without
pesticides,
herbicides, fuel effciently, and earth consciously. I
would like to talk
with some others on this list to compare notes on what
they are doing to
save the soil, become energy self suffcient (no fossil
fuels), and promote
the betterment of the world. Email me off list to
discuss. And on a last
note I have my year end numbers close to
finished and here are some real
numbers I achieved this year: just over
500,000 pounds dry matter (no water
included to even the playing field and
not including animal feed/forage) of
human grade food produced on just
under 1000 gallons of fuel (yes, that is
under 4 gallons per acre), and
using about 100 pounds of renewable
fertility materials per acre, and some
other practices that are moving to
greater effectiveness for the next
year. Those who say it can't be done,
shouldn't get in the way of
those doing
it.
Rya
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