permaculture

[Victor Guest <vic@daena.eepo.com.au>]

To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, saed-share-l@cornell.edu
Subject: VERY long -- organic farm case studies
Dear Sanet and Saed,

Many thanks to the people who gave me information on where to find case
studies of organic farms.  There is a lot more out there than I thought!  I
hope I get the same sort of enthusiastic response from prospective students
as I did from you.

Following are all the answers I received.  Apologies for cross posting to
those of you who are on both Sanet and Saed.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Victoria Mundy
Univ. of Kentucky

I have given you a cross section of the context of this paper.

Vic
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Victoria, I've used a couple of videos on organic ag. in classes, and
asked students to identify specific practices being used, their
environmental advantages, and what they replace or make unnecessary in
more typical farming systems.  "My Father's Garden" (Bullfrog Films) has
considerable detail on Fred Kirschenmann's farm.  "The Greening of Cuba" 
(Food First) discusses the forced transition from use of pesticides and
other imported inputs to a more closed system. Both films have pretty
strong political/ethical subtexts---personally I like this, because it
sets the stage for some useful discussions on values in agriculture and
the trade-offs involved in ag. transitions. But this might not be
appropriate for your class. 

Molly Anderson 
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Victoria,

I don't have much right here but the NOFA Video Project based here in
Massachusetts has videos of some case studies, such as the Nordell farm in
PA where they use horses as traction on a 15-acre (I think) vegetable
farm. If you're interested you should call or write Jack Kittredge, 411
Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA (don't have the zip right now but you can look it
up), 978-355-2853, JACKKITT@aol.com. I actually haven't heard much about
the NOFA Video Project in a year or two but I'm pretty sure it's still
going on, and I'm pretty sure Jack is still the person to contact. 

Good luck. - Rob Fetter
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Victoria,

The Sustainable Foods Center published a short, nicely designed book called
"Growing Smart" in 1995 which included detailed case studies of four
organic producers in Texas. 

The producers were as follows:
* cotton and mixed grains (4000 acres)
* citrus and mixed vegetables (250 acres)
* cotton, beef and mixed vegetables (187 acres)
* beef and lamb (32,000+ acres)

"Growing Smart" is available from Kate Fitzgerald at the Sustainable Food
Center in Austin Texas (512/385-0080).

Nessa Richman
Marketing Project
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Victoria,  My Master's thesis "Farmers in Transition:  Exploring Learning
Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture through Narratives" has 12 narratives
of farmers from around New York state.  These might be helpful because they
are quite diverse and farmers tell what motivated their transitions - from
differing perspectives.  The farmers talk a lot about production practices,
marketing, trouble shooting, how they network with other farmers and where
they get their information.  Let me know if  you'd like a copy.  (I have
extras).  Kim Leval kiml@cfra.org

____________________________________--

Hi Victoria, 

This is Steve Diver, we met at the Sare-Austin conference.

Fyi, I think you will find the Master's Thesis just 
completed (May '98) by my colleague at ATTRA, 
Radhika Balasubrahmanyam, to be an excellent new addition 
to the literature. 

"Small is Still Beautiful:  How Sustainable Agriculture is 
Helping Arkansas and Missouri Farmers Stay in Business" 
is 124-pages long with 16-pages containing color photo 
copies.  

The thesis is a case study of 5 farms in Arkansas-Missouri, 
three farms are organic and two farms emphasize sustainable.  Three 
case studies discuss grazing and animal production and the last
two case studies focus on organic market gardening.  

For more information, call Radhika Bala at ATTRA at 
501-442-9824 or send her an email at:    rbala@attra.org 

The ATTRA Resource Center also has a number of case 
studies.  If you'd like, I can submit a request on your behalf
asking for at least a partial list of references.  

After your class compiles a bibliography or curriculum, I'd
appreciate receiving a copy. 

Thanks!

Steve Diver
ATTRA

SNIP
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I would also recommend checking out a Biodynamic farm in your area and looking
at that field of organics. You can find one perhaps through the Biodynamic
Association of America on the internet. (www.biodynamics.com)

Hope this helps

dawn
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