Appreciating Changes

Our farm is a commune: ie, we own everything together and share all our income and expenses. We are a small group: 5 adults and a 13 year old – she spends a lot of time at school. Over our 35 year history, we have generally had 3-12 members; however, we are usually a larger group – we have friends/family as well as community visitors, and during the growing season, have 3-6 interns. Having interns here and being open to visitors, including group tours, is part of our vision/mission of teaching people about how to live more sustainably and grow & preserve our own food. We strive to demonstrate how to accomplish this on a small scale and believe that growing your own food and eating locally is a political/economic statement – to foster communities having control of their own food supply and economic security in the face of multi-national corporations controlling all aspects of our lives.

We are often asked “how do you few you get all this work done?” The answer is that we have a lot of help – our sorghum harvest/operation is an excellent example:  3 weeks ago, there were 20-25 of us harvesting and processing our sorghum crop – there was a labor exchange group from Twin Oaks, a friend from East Wind (both communities are in the Federation of Egalitarian Communities), interns, ex-interns, and visitors. It truly feels like a harvest celebration – many hands make light work. There is an amazing feeling that comes with a group of people working on a common project. It reinforces our commitment to working together and living in community.

Contrast: today, I am on the farm by myself. Interns and visitors have left, 2 members are off on a hiking trip, 2 others are off on business – different directions – leaving me, 3 dogs, 5 cats, twenty some chickens and 4 turkeys. This seems such a contrast to the traditional/average family farm – where the human population does not vary much.

I enjoy the changes – similar to how I enjoy the changing of the seasons. I usually do not feed the non human residents here – today I will. As I walk about doing the chores and maintenance tasks, I imagine what it would be like to live this lifestyle by myself. Naturally, I feel alone – but more than that – separated from the human community – like, my actions don’t matter to anyone else. However, I do feel more connected to the critters, plants, and nature in general. I am more aware of my physical environment, noticing animal tracks, birds, various colors of leaves, etc.

I appreciate both: my natural environment and the people I live with and enjoy this sweet homestead & lifestyle. I feel blessed.

CROP FAILURES

OUCH! that’s a downer – who wants to know or talk about crop failures? well, ok, I can hear about them – as long as they are someone’s else’s failures. It’s hard for me to admit to failure. Some time back, I wrote about our problems/failure with tempeh production – it was interesting that several folks responded with suggestions – it appeared inconceivable to them that this “problem” could not be solved. We were there too – but after 9 months, we conceded defeat (in the short term – we still believe that we will figger it out eventually!).

So what am I talking about? what crop failure?

1. first & foremost: honey. In the last 25 years we have not harvested less than 100 gallons of honey in any year – the record was 410 gallons, the last few years, average 110 gal; this year – 22 gallons. THAT SUCKS – big time.

why the poor year? once again, i’m mystified. Sure, I can point to various factors:

swarming – seems like our bees just would not quit swarming this year; in fact, we had another swarm this week.

weather – cool & rainy; bees do best with the opposite – hot & dry.

But, somehow, it does not add up, because both of the above factors were also present last year, and we harvested 100 gallons.

2. dried beans – for our own eating: black beans, pinto beans, & red beans. At this time of year, they are usually 3′ tall and/or sprawling in between the rows and covering the ground. This year – some are 8″ tall, appear puny & stunted; others are 15″ now. The deer have been browsing on them freely and keeping them short – but this looks stunted, not just short. So why? too much rain, not enough sun, always theories – but it seems there were other years when we had similar conditions, and still had a good crop….?

I do note that the beans I replanted (the pintos and red beans) are doing much better; this year, later planting are more vigorous.

3. sweet corn – this hurts. we all LOVE sweet corn. What self-respecting back to the land commune does not grow their own sweet corn? well, okay, we are eating our own sweet corn now and even put some in the freezer – but many of the ears are short & stubby. Of course, the raccoons have been harvesting just ahead of us, as they like to do, but 4 strands of electric fence around the patch does deter them.

why the poor sweet corn harvest? too much rain, not enough sun, and yet?? This by itself does not satisfy me.

4. Mustard – okay, this is not a surprise. Our mustard crop fails more than half of the time. In fact, many years we do not even bother planting mustard – so why plant it at all? We make and sell prepared mustard as one of our products – we like to grow as many of the ingredients as possible in products we sell. Commercially, mustard is grown in more northerly areas: North Dakota, Canada, etc. Occasionally, we get a decent mustard crop – that keeps the hope/spark alive. This year was not one of them. What usually happens is that the plants are not vigorous, have a small seed set and then are overtaken by foxtail (weed). This last week, those conditions manifested and we decided to destroy the crop – to keep the foxtail from going to seed.

5. Popcorn – we have not harvested it yet, but I can already see it’s a crop failure: poor weather and deer are feasting on it.

SO WHAT IS NOT A FAILURE??

Sorghum – our main cash crop, looks to be an average crop.

Wheat – we had some vomitoxin (due to high humidity and too much rain), but an average harvest.

Green manure crops are doing GREAT! We have acres of buckwheat flowering now – the bees are loving it.

Garden and fruit crops (our food) are doing average; actually, we have had a great year for greens and the best year ever for zuchini.

As farm folks like to say, it’s not a failure unless you don’t learn from it. In that vein, we hope that calling it “failure” is incorrect – although exactly what we are learning is not evident yet.

Bee Swarming

It’s swarming season again! I wrote about why and how bees swarm a year ago. This year – it’s in the photos:

Photo #1:  a small swarm perfectly positioned:  perfect for the beekeeper/swarm catcher – it’s close to the ground – no having to balance a box on a ladder, etc.  Here I am admiring the bees with my lovely assistants and assuring the bees that I have honorable intentions – to provide a furnished home for them. What is inside the mass of bees? more bees – some hang on to the branch, others hang on to them, and others hang ….. etc. somewhere in the center is the queen.

Photo 2: the bee box is in position to receive the swarm – a quick vigorous shake of the branch to dislodge the bees – they gradually crawl inside on   the frames of beeswax foundation. what? you didn’t see the shake? “the hand is quicker than the eye.”

Photo 3:  ah! the satisfied look on the beekeeper’s face (me).

thanks to neighbors, Pete & Staci,  for calling us and offering us the swarm and thanks to Staci for the photos.

The Trials of Spring – again!

Wow! it’s been 6 weeks since my last post – many things have changed, some not.

It looks like a different world out my window: spring has matured into the abundance  of summer – it’s amazing how much plants grow with plenty of moisture. Our cool weather crops, especially the greens and brassicas are loving it. What has not changed is that we continue to have lots of rain – so much that it is challenging to get garden and farm work done.

In the gardens, we can keep up. We have raised beds and/or heavily mulched paths so that we can plant, weed, and harvest – unless the soil is really wet. We are harvesting leafy greens, asparagus, and now, strawberries. With 4 interns, visitors, and members, we get a lot done and the place is looking quite spiffy.

It’s a different story in our fields. In the last six weeks, we have had about 6 days when we could work the fields – this is the season to plant our annual spring crops. We’ve been in a pattern where it almost dries out – just before it rains again. About 10 days ago, we had about 3 days in the fields, in which we worked down green manure crops and also managed to transplant about 1.5 acres of sorghum. We had another 3 days in the fields a few days ago and transplanted the other 1.5 acres of sorghum, and planted popcorn, field corn (for cornmeal), pinto beans, black beans, yellow & brown mustard, and tillage radishes (to harvest the seed). Whew!

We had 2″ of rain yesterday – I feel lucky we got our field crops planted. We had less to plant this year:  less sorghum because we have not been selling as much, and we have not had access to about a third of our fields due to the creek washing out a bridge. The county has been working on replacing it but have been hampered by the weather as well. Hopefully, they will get it done before wheat harvest in early July.

In some ways, I feel lucky – to have all our crops planted (wheat, spelt, and green manure crops were planted last fall); on the other hand, I don’t quite trust it: when we have 2″ of rain immediately after planting, we often have to replant – seeds do not germinate well in cool water logged soils.

Ah – the joys & trials of being dependent on the weather; an example are the strawberries we are eating now: plenty of rain=lots of berries (yum!); too much rain = some mold/ferment just before they are truly ripe.

The Trials of Spring

Spring is an enchanting time of year: a time of beginnings & awakening, verdant shoots of green grass, sprightly wild flowers,  multi-colored flowering fruit trees, sap is rising, people falling in love, and so many beauteous things. For me, it is all of those – and also one of the most stressful times of the year. How so?

Spring: “sap is rising” is a common expression – my energy is up too: I wake up at 5:30, coffee, yogurt & toast, some quiet time, and then I’m ready to GO! Except that it’s cold & rainy out – not fair! Nature is geared up & my motor is revved up – with no place to go! I guess I could go fishing, repair farm equipment – but, in the rain?

THIS IS THE HARD PART – WAITING. Many think that the challenging part of farming & gardening is the work – well yes, it is a lot of work – but at least, when I am working, I feel good/productive. I can work long hours and my body aches – and it feels so good compared to “chomping at the bit” (a reference to bygone days when we worked with horses: they were ready to go and we held them back with the bit in the bridle…).

Rain – there is nothing as comforting as the sound & smell of rain when we really need it – I wake up in the night and hear the pitter-patter on the rood and ah! all is right with the world. BUT -  it is equally discouraging when we have too much. Folklore around here says you should always welcome rain – if you don’t, you’ll be looking for it soon. I know I should be thankful for the rain but by the 4th week of it – I’m ready to scream & do an anti-rain dance.

At Sandhill, we put a lot of energy into agriculture:  food for ourselves as well as to sell. In general, more of the food for ourselves is raised in gardens (smaller plots near our houses) and field crops are more for sale (although our fields are very small – the largest being 3 acres).  Most of the human energy here goes into producing food for ourselves and we eat it fresh as well as preserve it – canning, drying, & freezing. My partner, Gigi, manages a lot of the production in our gardens – which entails coordinating people to do the work – some are experienced, others are new. We have 4 interns and 2 visitors here now – they mostly work in the gardens. I manage field crops and bees – I deal with fewer people and more equipment. I note that Spring is both a high & stressful time in our lives &our relationship: there is so much to do and talk about. When the weather is ideal, we barely see each other because we are busy. When it keeps raining, we see each other a lot – and we fret about being behind schedule: we have transplants that should be in the ground; she is trying to keep people busy outside of the garden and I am trying not to work soil that is too wet.

WAITING – a challenge and difficult part of farming. Why can’t we just RELAX and enjoy – whatever the weather?? Ah why not indeed? Perhaps it’s time to read, meditate, do yoga, go for a walk, admire the wildflowers….

Failures

Failure. Ouch! We don’t like to use that word to describe our endeavors or any facet of our lives. In New Age lingo we prefer things like: missed possibilities, unfortunate circumstances, unplanned learning opportunities, new challenges, etc.

What failure?  Sandhill’s tempeh business. In our 35 years on the land here, we have experimented with various crops and products to earn income: (beginning with highest total income) sorghum syrup, honey, mustard, horseradish, condiments (salsa, relish, etc), seeds, and occasionally, fresh vegetables & fruit. For the last five years, tempeh was in the #2 spot. What happened?

First: what is tempeh? It is a cultured soybean product – originally from Indonesia. Some call it a meat substitute due to it’s high protein levels – so it is popular with vegetarians. We make it by from soybeans that we grow on the farm: the beans are cracked in half, soaked, and then boiled until soft (but not mushy), cooled and inoculated with rhizopus oligosporus (a spore, which we buy). The inoculated beans are put in one-half pound ziplock bags, flattened (like a hamburger patty), and placed in racks inside of a homemade box that maintains it at 90 – 100 degrees F for about 24 hours. During this time, the spores develop and grow throughout the soybeans making them more digestible for humans (like yogurt is to milk). We then freeze it and sell it  frozen. There are many ways to prepare it: marinate it in soy sauce, herbs & spices, or simply fry, bake, broil, etc. Tempeh ruben sandwiches are popular in restaurants.

We have been making tempeh for about 20 years – at first, just for ourselves. Other folks tried it and loved it -  so we began to sell it and it grew into a business. We sold it mostly in University towns – Columbia MO & Iowa City IA. It is  a niche market – most mid-westerners have not heard of it. It was good for us in that we could make it throughout the year – in contrast to most of our other products, which are harvested & processed mostly during the summer and fall of the year. It was a  steady income.

About a year ago, we began having  production problems. Previously our failure rate averaged 3-5%: these were pieces  in which the spores failed to develop evenly – resulting in spots that remained as  cooked soybeans – but not tempeh. We kept these for home use and simply cut out & discarded those spots when preparing it. Now, the failure rate was 60 – 100%. At first we were undaunted – here was another challenge. We cleaned and sanitized the equipment, purchased new innoculant, were extra careful about cleanliness, etc – but the problem persisted. Friends and customers had different ideas & suggestions – we tried most of them, including lab tests. Nothing made a difference.

Finally – we admitted defeat – FAILURE. We have suspended tempeh production: telling our customers was difficult. Admitting defeat was even harder. Besides the sting  of FAILURE, there were additional factors. First, value added products have always been our specialty & niche – all our products are in this category. Tempeh was our shining example of this: conventional soybeans sell for about $10/bushel; organic soybeans about $20; however, when we made them into tempeh – we received about 10 times that ($200/bu) for our beans – there’s adding value!

Secondly, the biggest challenge in making an income from a small/organic/sustainable farm is marketing. I am often queried about the challenges of growing crops organically. My stock answer is that production is not the issue – marketing is. This has been true for us: for example, we used to make and sell pesto and garlic but due to marketing challenges, we no longer do (markets for pesto were too distant & prices for garlic were too low). For most other products, we continue to put a lot of energy into marketing. Tempeh was the exception. The demand was higher than we could keep up with – we occasionally hired folks to help with production. We hated to give up a product that sold itself but, we’ve tried everything we know to do.

Various one-liners/saying come to mind:  Nay Nay, our 12 year old, is fond of saying: “this is the exception that proves the rule.”

Down ‘N Dirty On The Farm

Now that I have your attention, I trust you won’t be disappointed.

The heading could suggest soil/dirt/fertility/etc. BUT what I have in mind is what could be considered the down side of country/rural living. Huh? Again, the possibilities are myriad:  isolation(cultural/technological), having to drive distances for services or to see friends; however, my topic here is CAFOs – Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations – aka “factory farms”. Yikes – there’s a heavy subject…

I moved to Sandhill in 1980 – I’d never heard of cafo and as far as I know, neither had anyone else in this county of 5000. Today cafos are a hot topic in many rural areas – due to the evolution of current American agriculture – others have written about it, notably Michael Pollen, Wendell Berry, etc.

Back to my story:  I’d been aware of cafos for 10-15 years, but it became personal 7 months ago when we heard that our county commissioners had rescinded our local health ordinance – so what’s the big deal? We find out that a local health ordinance is the only way residents in Missouri can establish more restrictive regulations on cafos because the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) under a Republican administration is anything but what the name would indicate. So – why did the commissioners rescind the health ordinance? Apparently, the ordinance has been in place for 4 years because some of our neighbors convinced the commissioners we needed it. They rescinded it last September because they felt pressured by both pro and anti cafo proponents. In response, some of us become alarmed and spontaneously form a group to get a health ordinance reinstated. My partner, Gigi, is very active and becomes the focal person in a leaderless group, which has been holding public meetings to educate folks on the health, environmental, and social effects of cafos. We have also been meeting with the commissioners to reinstate a new ordinance.

Here is a message that I posted to our group recently:

This is Stan’s summary of recent events and is lengthy – keeping things short & sweet doesn’t appear to be one of my gifts….
Warning:  this may be upsetting – you may want to fix yerself a cup of relaxing beverage, breathe deep, etc

What a tumultuous time we’ve had the last few days – where to begin?
After months of working on a proposed new health ordinance (mostly by Garth, Gigi, Marty, & Rudy), a series of public educational events, and meeting with the commissioners, we thought we were on track with getting the ordinance in place soon – in fact, the commissioners had already scheduled the first hearing; after another hearing and perhaps some minor revisions, the ordinance would be passed. Everything appeared to be going smoothly – we were definitely hopeful.

That all fell apart on Wed night. What happened?
For several days previous, we heard that some producers had concerns about the proposed ordinance and were having a private meeting with the commissioners. That sparked our curiosity and after some enquireies, it appeared that the meeting was called by Mennonite producers and that dairy producers were involved. Gigi talked to Paul Campbell, who assured us that since the commissioners were going to be there, it had to be an open meeting. Tuesday night Gigi calls one of the organizers to warn him that we planned to attend. He told her that we were definitely not invited or welcome there. When she pressed him, he grudgingly conceded that they would not throw us out. Whew! Do we really want to go where people don’t want us? We talk to Marty, Garth, Rudy, etc, and decide yes, we need to be there. At this point, “we” meant Garth, Joni, Rudy, Judy, Marty, Genese, Gigi, & me.

Wednesday morning: someone leaves a message on Dancing Rabbit’s (a neigboring ecovillage) answering machine that feels threatening: “you are not welcome at this meeting. It is being held on private land and is a private event. We know who you are and what you are up to. If you do come, it will be a matter of public knowledge…”  Gigi & I assume that the message was meant for us – folks often lump sandhill & dancing rabbit people together and no one at DR is active in this group.
I am outraged and stew about it all day – I was born & raised Mennonite – this does not fit my idea of my heritage….
so what are they hiding and/or afraid of? what could we possibly do to them?
Later in the day, I mention the incident to Marty who mentions it to someone else….. then, Gigi gets a phone call from one of the organizers – saying that the phone call did not come from them (wonder who “them” is?) Then a phone call from Rick Fisher asking where is this meeting?? How did he know (we’d thought this was a private affair). Rick had been told that it was a dairy meeting and that he should check it out. Ok, if Rick is going to be there, it feels less threatening…. at the same time, this may be a bigger deal than we’d thought??

That last sentence was an understatement – it was a big deal. There were more than a hundred there: mostly Mennonite but there were quite a few others as well. Copies of the proposed ordinance were on the tables. The meeting began with a statement from Paul C about the proposed ordinance – general details only. Then followed a series of speakers from the industry: a local dairy producer, representatives from Cargil, nutrient management systems, etc. All of the presentations were anti-ordinance and anti regulation in general.
A major surprise for us: our group had assumed that the ordinance did not apply to the dairy operations; however, everyone there thought it did – gradually it sunk in for us: the way the ordinance was written, it could apply to them. Another realization: I had always separated the hog cafos from the dairies because, after all, cows go out to pasture, right? WRONG! Dairy producers there told me that the general practice is that only dry cows are out on pasture – and only for about 2 months of the year; other cows are in loafing sheds & lots – but not on pasture. Yikes!  it appears that the dairies are much more like cafos than I’d thought.

Back to the meeting – how to describe it? There was an energy build up that was anti-ordinance. Not a single positive aspect of regulation was mentioned – rather, we should just all be good neighbors. The speakers used classic scare tactics: “it starts here, then they go after this… and this… etc.” The feeling I get is that anyone advocating this ordinance must be animal rights advocates and anti-livestock (even though all of us there have livestock). The energy peaks with presiding commissioner, Mike Stephenson, apologizing to the group for his role in instituting the first ordinance and that he is against any new one – wild applause! That energy keeps going – there are “testimonials” – local producers lauding modern technology and how it helps them feed the world. It keeps going & going. At various times, one of us raises a question or expresses an alternative viewpoint, but the tide was swamps us. Finally, Garth points out that there is a general spirit of fear pervading the group – raised by outside industry folks; again, the energy swirls around his words and is ignored in the anti-regulation wave – it borders on hysteria.

We are devastated – we keep looking at each other like: we’re dead. period. How could this happen?
After the meeting ends, some of us stay on for another hour or so talking to various folks. Personally, I feel hesitant to go talk to people I’ve known for years – maybe they do not want to be associated with me? On the other hand, several come to me, introduce themselves, and we have friendly conversations that usually ended on a note of: yes, we all want to be good neighbors. Gigi is like a celebrity: she is surrounded by a circle of mostly young men with very spirited conversations.

NOW WHAT??? that’s how we go home. Can we salvage anything? Gigi & I take turns keeping a spark of hope alive.

Gigi had already scheduled a meeting of our group with the commissioners for 9 am on Thursday – the next morning. I am surprised to find 3 of the Mennonite producers there as well (I guess that’s fair: we went to their meeting, they come to ours..). We talk for about an hour and a half – mostly between the cafo folks and us – not the commissioners. A lot of good honest opinions and views are exchanged. Commissioner Paul finally tells us that we need to select several folks from each side and come up with a document that we can all support – because the commissioners will only pass a document that everyone supports.
That is how we left it: Garth is responsible for getting representatives from our group.

Energetically: I felt very discouraged after Wed night’s meeting. I noted that I feel more hopeful after Thursday morning.
However, it also seems that there is a power imbalance: we want an ordinance, they do not. We have to come to an agreement to forge a new ordinance: it seems that we will have to concede whatever they feel strongly about – otherwise, no agreement which means no ordinance.

The reason I am writing this – rather than Gigi: she is a little burned out on this now and is outside in the sunshine being physically active.

Note: the day after this post (yesterday), I posted another message – an invitation to the first monthly potluck/social evening for our anti-cafo group – to reinforce our positive energy!

The Mystery in Agriculture

My friend Donald, a pagan witch, oft refers to “the mysterious ones”; in my paradigm, the reference is to the spirits or gods/goddesses that are in nature and daily life. Although I can’t see them, I sense their presences around me. I like the “mysterious” part because that is how I experience various non physical forces/energies.

So what does this have to do with agriculture? When I plant a seed, I have a picture of what the plant will look like – BUT no idea if it will be sickly or vigorous,  whether the return/yield will be zero or a hundredfold. It  depends on weather, genetics, soil fertility, care, etc – and yet, to me, the sum of these factors does not account for the variation in the vigor of plants and their yield. I prefer to ascribe the difference to – the “mysterious ones”.

Example:  our  maple harvest. We have been tapping maple trees at Sandhill for 21 years now. During 2002 – 08, the number of trees we tapped/harvested remained constant and everything that we earthlings did was the same. The return/yield varied from 30 to 115 quarts of syrup. Why the difference? Supposedly, it all depends on the weather:  ideal weather is when the nights are below freezing and the days are above freezing. I have not attempted to correlate the ideal temperature factor with maple yields – but my impression is that there is NOT a direct correlation – leaving certain amount of variation as:  mysterious.

This year’s maple seasson broke all records and most everything I thought I knew.  I grew up on a farm and am used to being surprized at yields – but this one took my breath away. The season began as usual: 2 weeks later, we had 3 days of 60+ temperatures and nights that did not go below freezing. DANG!  I feared the season was finished – before it really began (ok, we had maybe 20 gallons of sap). Then the temperatures went up & down, the sap flowed – but it seemed different;  it was slower to start when it warmed and then ran longer when it stayed warm.  In the end, we had an all time record harvest by far: 168 quarts – almost 50% higher than our previous record! I’m ecstatic – and totally in awe:  how did this happen? How to explain?

The Mysterious Ones strike again. Thank you for keeping me humble…

Blessed Be.

Maple Sugaring open house

We had our first ever maple sugaring/syrup open house on March 7, 2009. The photo on the left with Renay sucking on the tube connected to a tap in the maple tree headlined our invite. You can see 2 blue tubes attached to taps in the maple tree – this was the first stop on our open house tour.

When we mailed out our invitations, we hoped for good weather; a few days before the scheduled open house, the forecast was for 80% chances for rain – bummer! Miraculously, the rain held off.

The photo is of our shitake logs which are close to sugar shack (where we boil the sap) and so on our tour folks see them and want to know all about them. The spots on the logs are where we drilled holes, packed in spawn (shitake spores mixed with sawdust) and then sealed with our own beeswax.

The photo on the left shows the maple sap cooking in the pan in the foreground – see the steam off to the left? The smiling faces are students from Truman University in Kirksville (about 35 miles from us) -who came for the open house. I am the 3rd person from left – trying to blend in with the younger crowd.

Naturally, we had tasting experiences: maple sap, syrup, and 2 experiments of maple candy – shown in the photo on the right (we were worried that if a lot of folks came, there might not be enough candy – hence the sign requesting one per person). The tasting was a great hit – I neglected to include the sap in the photo – it looks like water and tastes like water with a faint hint of maple/sweetness in it. It’s hard to imagine the sap being the only ingredient in the syrup & candy.

The final photo is of one of our guests, Melinda – an enthusiastic sampler of the maple candy. It’s hard to see – but there is a trail of candy (as thin as a spider’s web, or leg?) from the candy in her hand to her mouth. Ah – the look on her face says it all: divine! We had a great time at the maple open house.

Organic Farming conferences

This is the time of year for farming conferences – I go to the organic ones. On Feb 21, I attend the annual Missouri Organic Association’s conference.  I have been the vice president for the past two years and in charge of the trade show(so I had to be there – but I always go anyway). The following weekend, several friends and I went to a 2 day Upper Midwest Organic Farming conference in LaCrosse WI.

The two are typical: there are similarities as well as differences. The primary difference is the size: we had about a hundred folks at the local MOA one while there were over 2600 registered at the LaCrosse one. The local one is cozy – most of us know each other and the feeling is like a gathering of the clan. The larger one feels more like being a part of a movement; most of the year, us organic folx feel like a minority – we are constantly talking about why organic is important, how to source and/or produce organic products, etc. Often we producers are alone or one of a handful of organic producers in our county. At the conference, I am one of 2600 (that’s more than half of the population of my entire county!). The feeling is different – we are significant, we are the movers/shakers in agriculture – rah!rah!rah!

The topics of the workshops are similar: basic soil biology & fertility, organic weed and pest control, livestock production and health, fruit and vegetable production, small grains,  row crops,  organic certification, various marketing strategies – local/niche, web-based, tell your personal story, etc., sustainable practices, biological diversity, funding opportunities in the new farm program, etc.

Again, the difference is scale:  at our local conference, we have two concurrent sessions; at the big one, there are 10 workshops happening simultanously. Which ones do I go to? I look at the descriptions, consult my oracle, and in the end, it does not seem to matter that much – I have been attending these type of conferences for more than 25 years – of course, there is new stuff, but not that much – I have heard most of it before. What keeps me coming back to these conferences are the personal connections:   some folx I see only once a year, others a few times. I go to the larger conference every 2 or 3 years and so I see folx  I haven’t seen in a few years:  it feels balanced to be part of the local scene as well as part of a lager movement.

Cost? Registration at the local conference is about 1/10th of the larger one; and then there is lodging. If you are a speaker/ presenter – your expenses are paid. Most of the time, I am just attending and so lodging is my expense. At the local conference, it is easier – I have friends nearby I can stay with (it’s not as convenient and occasionally, I miss out on other stuff that’s happening) but it’s affordable. This time, even at the large conference, we stay with friends of friends in the area – and, of course, there are benefits – they have a fruit orchard and are VERY hospitable – so I make new friends AND do not pay the friggin franchise hotels in town to put me up.

Winter – another paradox for farmers: we tend to draw inward, be introspective, and recharge our energies – and then we got to conferences, resuscitate our social energy and be reminded of our interconnectedness.