HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1994-03-16, Page 26Kincardine Twp. farmers
utilize biodynamic method
by Ron WassInk
Farming is like a religious ex-
perience for Bernard Hack, a Kin-
cardine Township fanner.
Hack and his two sons farm 530
acres and run a cow/calf operation
and have taking organic farming
one step further using the
"biodynamic method".
Though Hack says he feels people
are reluctant today to use the
biodynamic method, he says it's the
method that could help farmers
survive and also provide enough
food for the rest of the country.
Hack's way of farming is to strike
a balance between earthly and cos-
Kttid forces.
*hen he immigrated to Canada
from Germany in 1982..the forces
on his new farm were' out of
balance. To prove his point that
earthly forces were stronger than
cosmic (i.e. overuse of fertilizers
and chemical sprays), he uses his
cow herd as an example.
Of his herd, four cows still had
horns. Horns to a cow are like
antenna to an insect. He says he
knew the earthly/cosmic balance
was out of whack because the
'cows' horns all pointed down and
inward. He recalls one cow where
he had to keep trimming its horns
to stop them from growing into the
cow's head.
"The horns grow in the direction
of the main force of where their
feed comes from," he says.
What Hack did was he put his
herd on pasture. And instead of
fertilizing the fields, the soil only
received a biodynamic preparation.
As Hack explains it, "a miracle
happened."
The newborn calves' horns
pointed up, not down.
A new balance had been struck.
He says sunlight plays an impor-
tant role in farming.
With over -fertilization, fanners
get higher crop yields, but Hack
says the feed is "overladen with
these earthen forces and then the
cosmic forces are unable to strike a
balance."
Before he converted to the
biodynamic method, Hack says he
was a leading conventional farmer
in Germany. He remembers how his
farm grew potatoes, but he couldn't
use new potatoes for seed the next
year. Today, though, he grows
potatoes on his farm and because he
has changed his method of farming,
he is able to use his own potatoes
for seed.
His emphasis is on a healthy
environment where emphasis is on
topsoil. Rather than spreading com-
mercial fertilizers on his fields, he
spreads compost. There should be
•turn to page 10
Bernard Hack, along with his two sons, tarn 530 acres and run
a cow/calf operation in Kincardine Township. They have taken
organic fanning one step further using the "blodynamlc
method". (Ron Wasslnk photo)
Farm Progress '94 -Page 9
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