The Rural Voice, 1988-06, Page 16COMPLETE LINE OF
ANIMAL FEED
— Hog — Beef
— Veal — Poultry
— Dairy — Pet
treleaven'
!wee v wed to wed.
treleaven's
feed mill ltd.
box 182, lucknow, ont. NOG 2H0
519-528-3000
1.800.265.3006
14 THE RURAL VOICE
ORGANIC FARMING:
IS IT FEASIBLE?
For a long time I have kept an eye
on the progress of the environmental
movement as it affects farming. I
recall how in the infancy of my farm
career an old farmer advised me never
to put poison on the fields. I disregar-
ded his advice as coming from just
another ignorant old fogey and read up
on the efficient use of herbicides.
My first crop was wheat. In April
of that year it seemed to sprout little
yellow flowers. Within days, the
whole field turned into a very pretty
yellow blanket. What was I to do?
Pull the mustard weeds on the 20 -acre
field? Instead I called on a neighbour
with a field sprayer. It was too late to
save much of the crop, but not too late
to teach me a lesson: either spray a
herbicide or forget about growing a
crop. I learned about herbicides and
fungicides and although I never be-
came a good crop man my yields were
always about the Ontario average.
But as time went on the concerns
of environmental groups began to pen-
etrate and organic growers began to
claim success through farming without
chemicals. Most farmers considered
them oddballs from the sixties who
had beards and ponytails, but after
listening to successful organic farmers
I now believe it is possible to grow
crops in their manner.
There remain, however, many
questions. The organic growers say
that their method can only be used in
a mixed -farming operation —animal
fertilizers replace chemical fertilizers.
But is there a difference between
nitrogen filtered from air or natural
gas and nitrogen taken from the air
and filtered through animals?
Of course, animal manure contains
bacteria not available through chemi-
cals. And manure returns fibre to the
soil. Some organic farmers process
manure further through composting,
which adds another dimension.
A marketing question is what to
do with the surplus meat raised when
everyone begins a mixed farm.
Next we ask if we can afford to do
away with all the crutches we have
developed. Could it be that the lack of
a crutch would make us fall flat on our
financial face? Organic farmers tell us
that their yields are lower but costs are
diminished equally. But today many
mediocre farmers find it hard to make
ends meet and poor managers go
broke, even with a guaranteed price,
as a study of the Perth County dairy
industry found recently. Do the costs
of organic farming drop sufficiently to
compensate for the drop in yield?
I tried to find out and wrote to five
organic farm organizations for infor-
mation or the names of organic farm-
ers who would be willing to open their
books to show their input costs, inclu-
ding labour, whether paid or family. I
planned to compare these figures with
figures from conventional farmers.
Three didn't bother to answer.
One wrote that I was on the wrong
track and that financial comparisons
were irrelevant. The fifth one gave me
the name and address of a prominent
organic farmer who writes and speaks
regularly on the virtues of his ecol-
ogical methods. This farmer didn't
answer my letter of inquiry.
My own sympathy lies with those
who try to prevent pesticides from
affecting our environment. I couldn't
accept the possibility that anyone's
children or grandchildren could get
cancer or other diseases if it could be
prevented.
No farmer wants to pay thousands
of dollars for chemicals, but a farmer
must also provide for his family. Thus
the question remains: is organic farm-
ing a financially viable alternative for
average farmers?0
Adrian Vos, from Huron County, has
contributed to The Rural Voice since
its inception in 1975.
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