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Digger I enjoyed that article and look forward to exploring that site. I'm willing to concede that the author makes some valid points. He states he has 30 years in the business and hopes to leave an intact and productive farm to his children. That alone should provide the tools and incentive to keep most farmers straight. I know they're really plugged in to all the latest recommendations coming from the ARS and our universities and that's where the best guidance for ethical, sustainable methods needs to originate.
About the turkeys: I've heard that before and also that it isn't true. I think the stock commonly used for commercial production may well be stupid enough to drown themselves. The breeding stock has been selected for only one thing, meat production. In the case of chickens, the commercial broilers often are so heavy that their legs are deformed and they would barely be able to walk if they were turned loose.
My dad had a small herd of hogs that ran loose in a wooded fenced area. He had a farrowing house that was spacious for a single sow. I remember he would get out of bed, light a lantern and go out in all kind of weather to check on a sow he expected to deliver. He'd bring the babies into the house by the heater to dry them off and it was a constant worry about loosing some to the sow laying on them.
I also can understand his point about less pesticides. When you have miles of monocrops that have been engineered to repel insects and use herbicides to eliminate the natural hosts, it stands to reason that the insect population will be severely reduced. So will the beneficials and birds.
The no till method made possible by herbicides is beneficial for preventing erosion and pollution runoff. This year the dead zone in the Gulf is much smaller, but goes deeper. The scientists are crediting a change in wind and currents for that. The gains in agricultural practices are being offset by growing human populations and our inefficient waste treatment processes discharging into the MS River. Some of the latest findings are that runoff from homeowners fertilizing lawns is a major contributor. The retail fertilizer industry took out the phosphate in the products commonly used for home gardens but left it in the lawn fertilizer products. Something is wrong with that.
No, I don't expect all our agriculture to return to the methods of the 30s. I do see a great need for more balance. Economics is an integral part of everything but it has simply got to co-exist with ethical and responsible methods or sustainability is never going to be possible.
Twiggy, I kind of feel as you do, that the author made some valid points, but overall I felt he was a bit on the defensive - and I guess that's completely understandable. But I feel that in that defensiveness, he comes across as a bit close-minded.
I do appreciate the steps that he is taking and I do believe that he (and most farmers) are interested in being environmentally aware, but I also think he and others who think as he does need to be more open-minded and forward-thinking.
In my opinion, the reason the small, organic, diversified familiy farms won't work NOW is because of the structure of the current food supply. It will take lots of things in combination - more awareness on the part of the consumer, fair prices for farmers for their labor and their product, more of these small farms coming into existence, as well as, IMO, dealing with the population growth - to enable the small organic, local farm system to work well.
One thought I had when he mentioned about feeding the population and people going hungry - I really believe that we have too much food! Obesity is a big problem in this country, and do we really need to have as much food in our kitchen cabinets at one time as most people in this country do? Yes, of course there are people who do not have enough food but I wonder if that is more of an economic problem and not a food supply problem.
And one last thought - while organic farming uses procedures that have been in use for thousands of years, we also have a much greater knowledge today, as well as some new technology, to understand and use those old procedures in a more efficient manner.
Okay, one more last thought, lol - I can't help but wonder if the current food supply/manufacturing system (because, yes, I believe the majority of food is manufactured, not grown!) is contributing to many of the health problems we have today.
And I will never change my mind on GM foods. They are just bad.
Sorry - I kind of rambled here but was just throwing out some thoughts I had while reading the article.
Oh, (and I promise this is the last, lol!) I thought that turkeys-being-so-stupid-they-drown-in-the-rain thing was untrue too!
Dee
P.S. I know of a few local farms who practice no-till and do not use herbicides. Granted, they are small farms in relation to some of these huge farms, but on the smaller farms I don't believe no-till automatically means herbicide use.
I believe that farmer, coming from his perspective, is accurate so far as it goes. What he calls a family farm amounts to hundreds if not thousands of acres. So many of the smaller operations have gone out of business and the land was acquired by prosperous neighboring farmers. What is big to us is normal for him.
I don't favor letting people starve and I think it is good to be able to export crops. However, mono-cropping is not sustainable. He raises the point that with a proper rotation and fallowing, production would be cut. Well maybe it needs to be cut if that's what it takes for a healthy environment.
Everybody knows we don't eat right but I think it's mostly a societal thing. Nobody wants to take the time to prepare food. It's not easy to plan meals to be ready after you work all day and then take the kids to soccer or ballet. Then when you get home everyone is starving and it's time to watch that movie with the family. Convenience foods, take out and junk are the norm in many households. I understand this very well because I'll often get a peanut butter sandwich while looking at something on this computer. I have plenty of time to cook, I just don't want to. In the interest of my health, I have been doing a lot better this past year.
I don't blame farmers or the processors for trying to make a buck. I don't think they should be allowed to lie or deceive on their labels or their advertising and plenty of both are going on. It's not their job to worry about how healthy our diet is. Their job is to sell stuff and turn a profit. I think if all that processed stuff was labeled like a pack of cigarettes people would still buy them. Food quality will only improve when people consider it to be important and start voting for it with their wallets.
I was completely dismayed recently to hear a talk radio show proposing to tax fat people because they're a drag on the nation's health care system and raise insurance premiums. I don't think that's constitutional but maybe a tax on fat foods would be helpful. On the other hand, I don't think the government has the will to sort out what is really beneficial from what is harmful. They haven't shown much inclination in the past.
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I think turkeys are beautiful. My dentist (oral surgeon) is a wild turkey hunter and he has a wild turkey fan framed over the dentist chair. As you go "under" there is that fan that goes on a male turkey that he uses to romance his ladies. There are so many colours in those feathers - maybe a little enhanced by the anesthesia . . ..
My vet has a bunch of professionally "mounted?" wild turkey beards on his wall. I think the colored turkeys are beautiful too. The ones in the grocery store are those solid white ones and so are the chickens. They're easier for the processors to make a better looking "naked" carcass since the white pin feathers leave less noticeable residue.
Phick's tell us about your turkeys. Are you going to eat all of them or are you raising a few to sell? Are you able to let them free range or are you going to buy all their feed?
I'm raising a single pig which has been a bottomless pit for money and a learning experience. I bet most people don't know that a pig will pick a corner of his pen for his toilet, another corner for his food and another corner for his bed.
I used to have a lot of chickens. I know I ordered 50 chicks about 3 times and probably topped out at about 70. I couldn't sell many eggs for enough to make it worthwhile and feed kept going up. I'd scramble eggs for the cats and dogs and they evidently got tired of it and soon quit eating them. Many times I fed the chickens scrambled eggs and they were the only ones to always appreciate them. Now if I had them, the pig could really benefit from all that protein. He'd also love some milk if I had a cow.
I now begin to see how a small farm needs a balance of different crops and animals to run efficiently. One provides for the other. Free ranging chickens benefit from the bugs and stay healthy without overcrowding. Pigs thrive with space too. I think it's our human nature to tend towards economy of scale but I also think that's where our ag system has gone wrong. It totally goes against the rules of nature.
Gloria do I detect you typing that while you snicker? No I didn't.
I'm an animal lover and now I can really appreciate the pig. They're smart and show all the emotions like a dog. That makes it a lot harder to accept the way they're treated in the confinement factories. He squeals when he knows I'm outside, wanting me to bring him something or fill his mudhole with water. He wags his tail when I approach. He gets playful, running around just like a dog running in circles when he's happy. He enjoys my talking to him and tries to poke his snout through the fence for closer contact. He prefers raisins and cinnamon in his oatmeal, cheese in his grits and loves baked sweet potatoes. He's getting huge.
I've been amused and learned a lot about pigs. He's a bottomless pit for food and that's a lot of expense and responsibility since I'm ill prepared for it. He hasn't matured yet and as soon as he does, I want it over with. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple months. I won't be able to eat a bite of him and will hide in the house feeling like a traitor when somebody comes to get him. I'm disgusted with myself since I'm not a vegetarian.
I have even more respect for a successful small organic farmer. For max production, he has to work hard, plan and execute just like conducting a symphony.
No I sympathize. You said earlier that you had misgivings about having the animal since it wasn't possible for you to keep him. And just as you predicted he got bigger. I wouldn't want the task of sending him off. In fact, even now I am disturbed that I was given calves as a child only to have them hauled off to be slaughtered. But Ive had pigs myself and I know they are very amusing animals -- they can be scary when they get big. On our farm we had one who thought it was great fun to chase me across the property until I could escape through the cattle gate into the woods. Then he would be there when I came out waiting to chase me again. A great game for him! His name was Elmer. Even now I am a pretty good runner!
