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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] The New Farm, John Ikerd
  • Date: Fri, 02 May 2008 20:55:08 -0600


The New Farm[1] John Ikerd
http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/SFT-New%20Farm.htm



Robert Rodale was a visionary. The Rodale Press first published The New Farm
magazine during the 1980s to “inform, encourage, equip, and inspire farmers…
to take the important transition steps toward regenerative agriculture.” At
the time, most of us didn’t really understand what he meant by “regenerative
agriculture” or why he called his magazine The New Farm.

Rodale understood that the modern industrial approach to farming was
inherently unsustainable because it was not self-renewing or regenerative.
Most of the rest of us in the sustainable agriculture movement were still
trying to fix conventional farming by reducing its negative impacts on the
natural environment and on rural communities. Rodale understood that
sustainable farming would have to be radically different. He wanted the rest
of us to understand that a sustainable farm would have to be a new farm.

Twenty years later, many of the rest of us were still catching up. Organic
food production was growing at a rate of nearly 20% per year, doubling in
size every three to four years. Local was becoming the new organic, as more
people were trying to find foods grown as close to home as possible.
Sustainable agriculture organizations had sprung up all around the country,
with at least six North American conferences drawing more than 1,500 people,
several more drawing 500-700, with too many smaller conferences to count.
Some who attended these conferences were still trying to fix conventional
farming but most were beginning to understand what Rodale’s new farm was
about.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a good estimate of the number of new farmers in
the United States. Statistics for organic farming and direct marketing give
us a rough indication, at best. In 2006, the Organic Farming Research
Foundation estimated the number of certified Organic farmers at 10,000. The
North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association has estimated that 40,000
farmers sell directly to customers through farmers markets, community
supported agriculture organizations (CSAs), roadside stands, and other direct
marketing venues. This estimate may be bit conservative in that USDA reported
more than 4,000 farmers markets in 2006. Estimates for CSAs range between
1,500 and 2,000, although no official statistics are available. In addition,
thousands of other farmers, such as grass-based meat, milk, and cheese
producers, farm by the basic principles of sustainability but do not produce
organically or market directly to customers.



The total number of farm operators in the United States is around 2 million.
About half of these are “primary occupation” farmers, in that they spend more
than half of their working hours farming. Over half of these primary
occupation farmers are on small farms, reporting less than $100,000 in gross
sales per year. Many of these small farms have survived by becoming new farms.



My best guess is that around 10-15 percent of all serious farmers are
consciously pursuing the ecological, social, and economic principles of
sustainable farming, although many don’t identify themselves as such. These
farms probably account for only about 5-6% of total food sales, since most
are smaller than most conventional farms. I suspect another 10-15 percent of
farmers follow sustainable principles, simply because they have never bought
into the industrial farming paradigm. They don’t think of themselves as new
farmers but they think like new farmers. If these estimates are accurate,
roughly a quarter of U.S. farmers might be called new farmers. I doubt that
more than a quarter of U.S. farmers actually believe in the industrial
philosophy of farming for maximum profits and growth. If so, this would leave
about half of all farmers as either too busy trying to survive to think about
why else they are farming, or perhaps, desperate for change but not knowing
what else to do. The potential for growth in new farms is virtually unlimited.



Over the past ten years, I have had the privilege of speaking at 25-35
different venues a year, mostly conferences attended by these new,
sustainable farmers. Most of what I know about new farms, I have learned from
these farmers. I have written about these farmers before in Small Farm Today
and elsewhere. But my understanding of why and how these new farmers farm
continues to grow over time. There is no simple description of the new farm,
because sustainable farming operations must fit the ever-changing ecological,
physical, and intellectual capacity of the individual farm and farm family.
Each farm is different and continually changing. However, some general
characteristics have become clearer with time, making possible a better
understand of how sustainable farms must be organized and managed.



First, the purpose of a new farm is to sustain a desirable quality of life
for people – for farmers, farm families, rural communities, and society in
general. New farmers understand that quality of life is not just about making
money, it’s also about the quality of relationships, including their
relationship with nature. Some level of income is necessary for a good life,
but beyond a fairly modest level – some studies indicate around $10,000 – our
happiness is determined much more by our relationships with other people than
our income or wealth. Another essential prerequisite for happiness is a sense
of purpose and meaning in life. We need to know that our life matters. New
farmers understand that they need to make money, but they also understand
that they need to be good friends, good neighbors, and good citizens. They
also understand that farmers are the caretakers of the earth and their
stewardship of the earth matters for the future of humanity. New farmers
understand the purpose of real farming is far more important than just
production and profits.



Next, new farmers rely on principles, rather than specific goals or
strategies, to guide them in their purpose. They know they must respect the
basic principles of economics if they are to survive economically. But they
also know they must respect the principles of nature, including human nature,
if they are to survive ecologically and socially. Everything in nature is
interconnected; we are all part of the same whole. Sustainable farms must be
managed holistically. In holistic management, each component of the farming
operation – each practice, method, or enterprise – is treated as an
inseparable aspect of the farm as a whole. Each new arrangement or sequence
of crops, livestock, methods, or practices – across space, over time, or
among people – creates a new set of relationships among the various
components and thus constitutes a new and different whole. When viewed
holistically, relationships among parts are as important as the parts
themselves. The new farm is more than the sum of its parts.



New farms also are managed for diversity. Nature is diverse, and the
diversity of an ecologically sound farm must reflect the diversity of its
place in nature. People are diverse, and the diversity of a socially
responsible farming operation must reflect the diversity of the people who
operate the farm and the customers it serves. Diversity also creates the
opportunities for economic synergy, making the whole farm more profitable
than the sum of its collective enterprises. Productivity and regenerative
capacity results from mutually beneficial relationships among the diverse
components of holistically managed farms. Contract farmers are dependent;
they cooperate out of necessity. Traditional farmers are independent; they
compete rather than cooperate. New farmers are interdependent; they cooperate
as a matter of choice, not necessity.



New farmers also respect the principles of human nature. People have many
different religious, social, and cultural values, but we all share a common
sense of the most important principles of interpersonal relationships. For
example, we know we must be honest, fair, and responsible in our relations
with other if we expect to sustain our relationships. In other words, we must
be trustworthy. New farmers understand that markets for organic foods and
locally grown foods are growing because many Americans no longer trust
today’s industrial food system. They don’t trust the corporate food
processors and retailers, they don’t trust the government regulators, and
they don’t trust large-scale industrial farm operators. They are looking for
food they can trust.



Many people who buy from local farmers also are seeking a sense of
connectedness, if not a personal friendship. Trust, although necessary, isn’t
enough to sustain a friendship. Sometimes we all need to be treated with
compassion rather than equity. We need empathy rather than brutal honesty and
respect more than agreement. New farmers understand that sustainability
requires relationships of kindness. They care about their customers as
friends and neighbors – as caring people – not just buyers of their products.
New farmers also understand that they are swimming against the mainstream of
economic fundamentalism in today’s agricultural economy. By trusting and
caring, they know they may be labeled as naïve and idealistic. But new
farmers have the courage to act on their moral convictions; they have the
courage to be trusting and kind.



New farmers also respect the basic principles of economics. They understand
that economic value is determined by scarcity. They know they must produce
things people want, that other farmers cannot produce or cannot produce as
well. They understand they must make efficient use of their scarce land,
labor, time, and abilities, if they are to survive economically. And they
know that the sustainability of their farming operations is ultimately up to
them; they must be willing to make and to accept responsibility for their own
decisions. They must respect the economic principles of value, efficiency,
and sovereignty. But the principles of new farm economics must be internally
consistent with the principles of ecology and society. I plan to write more
about new farm economics in the next issue of Small Farm Today.

[1] Prepared for publication in “Sustaining People through Agriculture”
series, Small Farm Today, November-December, 2007.





  • [Livingontheland] The New Farm, John Ikerd, Tradingpost, 05/02/2008

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