The Rural Voice, 1990-03, Page 32INTEGRATION
ON THE
FARM
Huron County farmers
Ken and Jocelyn deBoer
are enhancing the
relationship between
family and farm life by
following ecologically
sound principles of
stewardship
T
here are two master keys
to farming according to
"organic" principles: assessing the
productive life of the parts of a farm
in terms of the overall ecological farm
unit, and managing the farm to be self-
sustaining — to generate homegrown
inputs — over the long term.
They may not be magical keys,
but they do open doors. And for Ken
and Jocelyn deBoer of Huron County,
farming without fertilizers and pesti-
cides has made it possible to establish
an operation of their own and the
family life that goes with a traditional
farm.
They stress that they're not organic
"zealots," that they wouldn't, for ex-
ample, sacrifice a corn crop to weeds.
In fact they'd prefer to go on record as
following LISA (Low Input Sustain-
able Agriculture) principles. But they
are sure that it's their responsibility to
be good stewards, and they're also
fairly certain that they wouldn't have
been able to afford to farm if their
investment had been much heavier to
carry.
Ken, Jocelyn, and Jeani, 3
They bought their 100 -acre farm
late in 1986 — crucial assistance
would come in the form of a private
mortgage from Ken's parents. They'd
been farming part-time on a rented
farm since 1985, and stocked part of
the new barn with veal calves, as most
of the building was rented out for pigs.
When they moved in, 70 acres of
the property were also rented out, they
had more manure coming out of the
barn than they could use on the other
30 acres, and they couldn't see how
they could afford pesticides and fer-
tilizers anyway. So they kept their
expectations and their costs low, and
they planned for the future.
Last year, they had 11 acres in
pasture, 23 acres in hay, 10 in barley,
and 11 acres of spelt which was cer-
tified organic — the rest was rented
out. They had an average yield for the
arca, says Ken, "not a high yield, and
not a yield we brag about a lot." But
they add that the grain came off land
that had been cash -cropped for six
years, and they "basically did nothing
but plant the seed and combine it."
This year will be the first that they
will work the entire 100 acres them-
selves, which they hope will mean
they don't have to buy as much feed
for their herd of 38 dairy cows. The
dairy herd and quota were purchased
in the summer of 1989 from Ken's
father, who farms eight miles away,
and the deBoers also have a flock of
27 sheep.
The deBoers' cropping plans
include, in addition to 11 acres of
pasture, 8 acres of certified organic
rye, 5 acres of oil radish sown last
year which will probably be planted to
certified oats, 30 acres of hay, 25 to 30
acres of mixed grain and barley, and
10 to 15 acres of corn — the last three
all in transition to organic. The cover
crops, oil radish or red clover, keep
the ground covered over the winter to
prevent erosion.
Much of the harvest will be used
to feed the cows, though Ken says the
rye might be sold if the price is right.
And the deBoers (at least Ken rather
likes the thought!) are also "throwing
around the idea" of sowing a couple
28 THE RURAL VOICE