Author

Darcy Smith - page 22

Darcy Smith has 258 articles published.

Ecological Farming with Interns and Volunteers

in Organic Community/Spring 2017

Michael Ekers and Charles Levkoe

Originally published by Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario in Ecological Farming in Ontario, Volume 36, Issue 5. While the research was conducted with farms in Ontario, much of the findings likely carry over to BC.

There are increasing numbers of interns, apprentices, and volunteers working on small- and medium sized ecological farms across Ontario, but also across North America and Europe. More and more, farmers are looking to young people seeking farm experiences as a way to train the next generation of farmers and meet the labour demands of their operations. As readers will surely know, interns often exchange their labour for room and board, a stipend and importantly, training in organic, agro-ecological, and/or organic production methods. This is a relatively new and potentially defining trend within the ecological farming sector with considerable significance for farm operators and interns alike.

Over the last two years we have been leading a research project examining the growth and implications of farm internships and the experiences of these types of farm workers. Incredibly generous farmers, interns, and non-profit members have made our research possible by completing our surveys and taking time out of their busy days to patiently and thoughtfully answer our questions. This first, in a series of short articles, reports on some of our initial findings. We will explore further results and observations in subsequent pieces.

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Many of the farmers and agroecology advocates that we initially met with noted the lack of data and information on farm internships and volunteer work, which we describe as new forms of non-waged work. In response, we conducted two Ontario-wide surveys in 2014 and 2015 of farms making use of interns and volunteers. The goal of the survey was to determine the scale of internships and volunteer positions on farms and the types of farms making use of non-waged workers. It also sought to explore the benefits and challenges of working with interns and volunteers. There were several key trends that emerged from the 200 responses to the survey.

The farms making use of non-waged workers tend to be relatively small to medium sized with an average of 69 acres under cultivation. In terms of production methods, about 60% of the farms in our sample were non-certified, but practicing ecologically-oriented methods, including agroecological, biodynamic, permaculture, and organic farming. 21.7% had a recognized certification, with the majority being certified organic. 14.5% identified as practicing other kinds of agriculture, while just under 4% employed conventional methods. 87% of the farms we surveyed market their products directly to consumers through a CSA or a farmer’s market while 39% of farms sold to retailers and only 9% sold to a wholesale buyer.

On the types of farms we just discussed that responded to our survey, there was an average of 4.2 non-waged workers on farms compared to an average of 1 minimum waged-worker per farm. Our results suggest that 65% of the workers on the farms we surveyed were non-waged, while the provincial average for the entire agriculture sector is 4%. While it is difficult to gauge exactly how many farms are using non-waged workers our research suggests that there are at least several hundred farms in Ontario that are sharing their knowledge and skills and meeting their labour demands through the recruitment of interns and volunteers.

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One of the key findings of our survey was the thin profit margin associated with ecological forms of agriculture production. We suggest that the use of interns and volunteers must be understood within this economic reality. Respondent farms reported an average annual gross farm revenue of $94,786. Perhaps more illustrative of the strained financial situation of the farms we surveyed is the personal net on-farm income that farmers drew from their revenues. On average respondents reported a personal on-farm income of only $13,629.

The challenging financial situation means that many farms felt dependent on their non-waged workers to meet the farm’s labour demands. Almost 60% of farm owners and operators felt that they were dependent on interns and volunteers. However, our analysis suggests that the dependency of farms was not related to a farms’ reported revenue. Famers with high revenues were as equally dependent on non-waged workers as lower grossing farms. However, one factor that determined whether a farm was dependent on non-wage workers was levels of off-farm income. The average off-farm income for dependent farms was $20,554 lower than non-dependent farms.

Farmers’ dependency on non-waged workers is a significant issue for the ecologically oriented farming sector given the increasing public and legal scrutiny on various internship programs across North America. Additionally, many survey respondents flagged the risk of being dependent on non-waged workers that despite the best of intensions generally lack experience with farm work and may not be as committed or dependable as paid workers.

A pressing issue that comes out of these findings is around the sustainability of non-wage workers as a model for farmer training and on-farm labour. We need to ask the question: Is it possible to scale-up and expand forms of ecological farming though non-waged workers? Is this a trend that is fair for all? There are no easy answers to these questions but in our next installments we will explore some of the tensions and possibilities in the comingling of farm labour and educational training on farms.

If you would like more information on the project, to comment on these issues or contact us please visit our website: foodandlabour.ca.

Dr. Michael Ekers is an Assistant Professor in Human Geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough. His work mobilizes social and political theory and political economic approaches to understand the making of different environments and the cultures of labour in environmental spaces.

 Dr. Charles Levkoe is the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Food Systems and an Assistant Professor in Health Sciences at Lakehead University. He has been involved in food sovereignty work for over 15 years in both the community and academic sectors. His ongoing community-based research focuses on the opportunities for building more socially just and ecologically sustainable food systems through collaboration and social mobilization.

Photos: Charles Levkoe

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New Market: Meal Kits!

in Marketing/Spring 2017

Devon Kirchner

Times change, and trends come and go. However, there are certain things that, try as we might, we can’t quite change so quickly. Human beings have always needed to eat—and that’s where the farmer comes in!As consumers seek out a deeper connection with their food, new markets emerge. In the last 20 years, we’ve witnessed the explosion of Farmers’ Markets, CSAs, and restaurant demand for locally grown ingredients. Innovative entrepreneurs continue to develop new markets, and the rise of meal kit delivery is the latest untapped opportunity for local farms.

Companies such as BC’s own FUUD.ca deliver weekly pre-portioned meal kits to busy people across the province. The people behind FUUD.ca are passionate about good food, and are constantly in awe of the amazing agricultural variety available in this great province.

Acorn Squash Salmon (11 of 44)

Like restaurants, meal kit services embrace the seasonality of suppliers, utilizing what each time of year has to of- fer and giving people a chance to break out of what they usually eat and try something new. Through their meal kits, Fuud.ca wants to bring people to the table again, to gather and share and laugh and create (and hopefully make a mess along the way). FUUD.ca sources a variety of different ingredients for their meals kits; fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, grains, pastas, sauces, seasonings and more, all from as many BC suppliers as they can get their hands on.

Take advantage of this new market that delivers local, organic food right into the homes of your consumers.

Devon Kirchner is FUUD.ca‘s content curator. She has an ever-growing passion for all things food, and tries to integrate this into every aspect of her life and work. She loves to support local farmers and producers, as well as sample incredible food and food producing techniques from across the globe. FUUD.ca emphasizes the strong relationships they have grown with their suppliers. If you share in their joy of connecting good food to good people, they would love to work with you.

Photos: FUUD.ca

Temporary Migrant Farm Workers in BC

in Organic Community/Spring 2017

Robyn Bunn, Elise Hjalmarson and Christine Mettler, collective members of Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (RAMA) Okanagan. RAMA is a volunteer, grassroots collective of community organizers that work to address the disenfranchisement and injustices faced by seasonal agricultural workers in the Okanagan.

The Invisible ‘Foreign’ Labour in ‘Local’ Food

[the boss] only sees [us] as a worker—not as a human, as a person” – Migrant Farm Worker in the Okanagan

As you know, agriculture—particularly organic agriculture, which typically relies less on chemicals and machinery—is labour intensive. Farming is physically demanding, dirty, and sometimes dangerous work, so much respect should be given to all the people who grow our food.

The International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) recognizes the high need for labour in organic farming, and lays out principles that acknowledge workers and their right to fair, dignified, respectful treatment as they labour in the fields that feed the world.

In the realm of organic food production, there is an increasing move to center and embrace the role of farmers in putting food on our plates. However, while farmers occupy a position of prominence in our communities, there is not nearly as much attention paid to farm workers, despite their significant role in food production. As a result, issues faced by farm workers may sometimes be overlooked or ignored by the organic agricultural community.

This is particularly salient as it relates to hardships faced by seasonal migrant agricultural workers in BC and in other provinces. Due to labour shortages, farm owners in BC—including organic farmers—are increasingly turning to Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) to fill their labour needs with temporary foreign workers.

So what does it mean to be a temporary foreign farm worker in Canada, and how does support for temporary foreign workers align with tenets of philosophies behind organic farming?

The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program

The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) is a bilateral agreement between the federal governments of Canada and Mexico, and between Canada and several nations in the Caribbean. The program has been in place since 1966, after farm owners in Ontario lobbied to create a labour pool necessary to sustain their changing industry. The continual shortage of farm workers resulted in the expansion of the program to other provinces. In 2004, BC farm owners began bringing SAWP workers from Mexico and they were joined in 2010 by workers from the Caribbean.

Since its introduction, the program has grown exponentially, and each year more and more people are brought to work on Canadian farms. Between 2006 and 2015, the number of temporary migrant agricultural workers has more than tripled in BC. In 2015, just under 9,000 workers came to BC. This includes workers in the SAWP program (the vast majority), as well as other agricultural workers in the “high skilled” and “low skilled” streams of Canada’s overarching Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Although no statistics are available, RAMA estimates that over a third of these workers are in the Okanagan. Workers come for as little as two months to as many as 10 months out of the year, before being required to return to their home countries.

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Model with a Rotten Core

At first glance, the SAWP program may seem like a “win-win.” Farm owners get the labour power needed to grow and process their products, and workers earn money to take care of their families back home. Although it sounds like it satisfies the needs of all parties, there are many issues with the temporary migrant worker model.

The most salient issue and the one that sets the tone for all others is that workers have legislated impermanence: the program stipulates that they are not allowed to stay in Canada, no matter how many hours they put in. This means that workers’ job security is contingent on their ability to come back to Canada and work again next year, and their likelihood of coming back next year is heavily influenced by positive recommendations from their employers. This sets workers up to be particularly vulnerable to exploitation. They want good recommendations, so many workers agree to work that is unsafe, such as applying pesticides without proper gear, or tolerating poor conditions. This is further compounded by the fact that SAWP workers’ visas are tied to one employer. If a worker does indeed experience significant problems at work, they cannot simply quit and find a job in Canada with another employer, like other employees have the freedom to do.

Second, employment contracts stipulate that housing be provided and that rent is set at a certain rate. Due to the costs of transporting workers to and from farm, most employers house their workers on-farm, in structures that typically leave much to be desired, to say the least. This puts SAWP workers in the rare position of living at their workplace, where employers may continuously surveil their actions.

RAMA has worked with SAWP workers whose bosses expect them to be available for work around the clock, requesting that they work long days (sometimes up to 16 hours), or on their scheduled days off. Despite the fact that workers pay rent, many are also subjected to ‘house rules’ such as not being allowed to have visitors, or having evening curfews. Additionally, as would be expected, farms are located far from any services such as doctors, grocery stores, or banks, and often not on regular transit routes, leaving workers isolated and stranded on-farm without their own means of transportation.

Third, and importantly, workers who come to Canada through the SAWP have no pathway to permanent residency or Canadian citizenship. Some have been coming to work in Canada for decades, which puts strains on families and relationships at home as mothers and fathers have to leave their families behind for months at a time. They are typically allowed to stay for up to 8 months of the year, and must return home by December 15. This makes clear that they are valued only for their labour, and are not invited to become members of Canadian communities. This is illustrated through the frequent practice of ‘medical repatriation’, where workers are sent back to their home country if they are injured on the job and are unable to work for the season. In many of these cases, workers face overwhelming obstacles to accessing their rightfully owed workers compensation.

Fourth, although workers pay into social security programs like employment insurance and parental benefits, they cannot access those benefits. When workers are forced to leave at the end of the year, their Social Insurance Numbers are also cancelled for the time they are away from Canada. This precludes their ability to access social security benefits. Although seasonal workers in Canada can access employment insurance benefits in the uncertain offseason, migrant workers cannot.

The above is not an exhaustive list of issues with the SAWP, but they paint a good picture of ways in which the program sets up migrant workers as a “second tier” labour force in Canada. RAMA is always careful to note that abuses within the SAWP program are not a matter of “a few bad apples”; rather, the nature of the program itself sets up a structure in which workers are vulnerable to exploitation and have little control over or recourse to address their working and living conditions. In short, it is not fair.

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Supporting Farm Workers

Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (RAMA) strives to redress these injustices and support workers in the Okanagan Valley by engaging in direct support work with farm workers and by undertaking advocacy and public awareness campaigns. Many workers arrive in BC with very little information about available services and supports (which are few and hard to access), may not know much of the language, or what their rights are in Canada. Some hardly leave their place of employment at all while they are here, and to add to their feelings of isolation, often face discrimination from local residents when they enter local communities.

RAMA works to make our communities more inclusive of migrant farm workers, and ensure that they feel welcome and recognized for the work they do, which contributes greatly to local industry. We also advocate for just and fair conditions for workers—principles that are also supported by the philosophy of organic farming.

Farm Labour Within Organic Philosophy

Of the Four Principles of organic agriculture, as established by IFOAM, the Principle of Health and the Principle of Care both include the well-being of people in farming alongside health and care of animals, ecosystems, and the environment. The Principle of Fairness refers specifically to workers, among others:

“Fairness is characterized by equity, respect, justice and stewardship of the shared world, both among people and in their relations to other living beings. This principle emphasizes that those involved in organic agriculture should conduct human relationships in a manner that ensures fairness at all levels and to all parties—farmers, workers, processors, distributors, traders and consumers. Organic agriculture should provide everyone involved with a good quality of life, and contribute to food sovereignty and reduction of poverty.” http://www.ifoam.bio/sites/default/files/poa_english_web.pdf

Since its inception, IFOAM, as the global body representing organic agriculturalists, has supported the rights and dignity of farm workers and as such, those rights and freedoms are at the core of the philosophy behind organic agriculture. In its aim to spread and expand organic agriculture, the organic movement also includes the mandate of advocating for farm workers rights.

Despite this position, the SAWP sets up circumstances that are patently unfair. However, many of the problems that arise from the structure of the SAWP program could be resolved by the following policy changes:

  1. Open work permits. If migrant workers could change jobs as freely as other employees, then they would be less likely to accept poor working conditions, forcing the standards for all farm workers to go up. 

  2. Allow access to benefits. It is fundamentally unfair that migrant workers pay into Canadian benefit coffers through deductions to their paycheques, but are denied the right to collect Parental Benefits, Employment Insurance, or Canadian Pension Plan funds upon retirement. 

  3. House SAWP workers off-farm, preferably in community. Instituting policy that stipulates an end to the isolation of migrant farm workers would make strides towards community inclusion of farm workers and add to feelings of belonging. It would also increase worker’s mobility and access to health care and other necessary services. 

  4. Grant Permanent Residency to all migrant workers upon arrival. Like opening up work permits, having permanent status leaves migrant workers less dependent on their employers and would allow them to leave poor working conditions, making them less vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. It would also enable them to start to build a life in Canadian communities. If migrant workers are a valuable work force, they should also be considered valuable community members, be able to bring their families, and become part of our communities. 


As growers, workers, eaters, and community members, we all have a responsibility to each other to ensure that everyone involved in agricultural production is treated with fairness and respect. RAMA supports workers and aims to build more inclusive, equitable communities that recognize the struggles of temporary migrant farm workers and come together to mitigate the challenges that SAWP workers face. Join RAMA and the national coalition of organizations advocating for migrant workers’ rights, write to your political representatives about your concerns, and talk to your neighbours and fellow growers. Let’s make fair and dignified conditions for migrant farm workers part of the growing movement for a fair, healthy, and sustainable food system.

Honor the hands that harvest your crops” – Dolores Huerta, Leader in the United Farm Workers Movement

RAMA is a migrant justice collective that advocates for Latin American and Caribbean migrant farmworkers in the unceded Syilx territories of the Okanagan Valley. We work to build radically inclusive and more socially just communities by engaging in political advocacy, accompaniment, direct support work, public awareness campaigns, and the documentation of workers’ conditions and experiences. We are a volunteer-run, not-for-profit group.

www.ramaokanagan.org

 

 

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Organic Stories: Mackin Creek Farm

in Farmer Focus/Organic Community/Organic Stories/Spring 2017

Rob Borsato with thanks to Marjorie Harris

Growing a Local Food Movement in the Cariboo

It was the “back to the land” movement of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s that nudged, on separate paths, Cathie Allen and Rob Borsato to the Cariboo. Together, in 1985 they purchased 105 acres of mostly timbered bench land above the Fraser River about 45 kilometres north of Williams Lake.

Immediately, they were captivated by the dramatic vistas, the arid climate, the light, silty soils, the bunchgrass hillsides, the open Douglas fir forests laced with juniper and sage, and Mackin Creek itself, which cut a deep swath through the middle of the property as it tumbled aggressively to the Fraser.

“Like any couple starting out with a piece of raw land, we were swamped with priorities—shelter and fences for animals, shelter for us, breaking some land, and, most challenging of all, developing irrigation and domestic water”, recalls Rob. Getting water up from the creek, a full 100 metres below, proved to be the biggest obstacle, especially since electricity was still several kilometres down the road. “Initially, we used a hydraulic ram, which harnesses the power of a large flow of falling water to push a smaller volume up hill. With some engineering, a fair amount of infrastructure, and a lot of tinkering, it served us well for a few years, until our farm needs outgrew the capacity of the pump.” “By then”, adds Cathie, “we had saved up the money to put in a permanent gravity feed system, with over a kilometre of buried pipe. It still works beautifully.”

Traditonal farm horses

During those early years, Rob continued to work as a horse logger, living away at camp all week, farming on weekends, and taking full advantage of spring “break up” to do the farm field work. To initially break the land, they used four big horses (black Percherons) and a heavy duty, single-bottom breaking plough. “It took two of us, one on the plough handles and the other driving the horses, and it was always exciting. We broke an additional half acre each season, for 10 years or so. We broke a lot of other stuff, too”, he quipped.

Rob hasn’t horse logged for over a decade now, but still uses the horses to do the heavy work on the farm, including all the discing, compost spreading, any ploughing, harrowing, planting and hilling potatoes, all the cultivating between rows and beds, and getting firewood for home and the greenhouse boiler. “For us, with a five acre organic garden, the horses are a perfect fit: not only do they supply the essential components of soil fertility, but they do the heavy lifting, and they provide for me an enjoyment that is very personal and enriching, even on bad days.”

Cathie worked off farm as a draught person prior to the birth of their son, Joe; she added the role of teacher when they elected to home school him. And, not unlike other farm-raised kids, Joe played a significant role on the farm for most of his youth, even coming home to work summers during undergraduate years. “We were so lucky to be able to have all that extra time with him, especially in light of the fact that the farming lifestyle can be so demanding”, reflects Cathie.

Mackin Creek logo

‘Demanding’ might well be a classic understatement, especially in those developmental years on the farm. “We quickly came to realize that the challenges were bigger than we were”, recalls Cathie, “and only by working cooperatively with others would we all have a chance of success”. The challenges lay not only with learning how to grow food, but how to market it as well. On this front, there was no infrastructure in place, no local farmers’ market, little awareness of local food, no talk of CSAs, no organic certification.

But there was, in the Cariboo, a nascent but enthusiastic group of young and aspiring farmers/ back-to-the-landers who shared common goals and principles. Together in 1988, they formed the producers’ group that would grow and eventually host the Quesnel Farmers’ Market. About the same time (and likely organized by Paddy Doherty), they were meeting on Sunday afternoons on little farms at the end of dirt roads to begin the formation of the Cariboo Organic Producers Association. A few years later, some of these same people convened in Kamloops to help create the BC Association of Farmers Markets. “And, at the same time, we were trying to figure out which varieties of garlic grew best, and how were we ever going to get rid of all those zucchini”, laughs Cathie.

For the first few years, the farms and the farmers’ markets in Williams Lake and Quesnel seemed to be growing slowly and with some synchronicity, “Then, in the early 90’s, farm production was outstripping demand, so they had to look at other marketing approaches. They learned what they could about CSAs, and partnered with Dragon Mountain Farm out of Quesnel, and introduced the concept to the Cariboo. “It caught on quite quickly, and eventually each farm was delivering 100 boxes a week”, says Cathie. “Shortly after getting this established, we saw the local food movement emerge, along with the exponential growth of organics, and the generally increased awareness consumers seemed to develop toward food. All of us who had been at this for awhile were positioned well to take full advantage of the additional consumer demand”.

Mackin Creek Rob & Cathie 1

At this point, with the security of a committed CSA group, and a strengthening local farmers market, they were able to focus on ramping up per acre productivity. “Simply put, we learned something from our mistakes every year”, chuckles Rob; “What we did learn early on was how important soil fertility is to the success of the whole operation. So we figured out how to make good compost and are religious about applying it, we incorporate pigs and chickens into our rotation, and we use green manure crops whenever we can”.

The importance of feeding the soil, and the broader perspective of holistic land management, are some of the most fundamental lessons they impress upon interns. Several of these apprentices have gone on to develop their own successful farming operations, and this has been a real measure of gratification for Rob and Cathie. “These success stories are very uplifting”, attests Cathie, “in so very many ways, including the simple fact that more acres are being farmed organically”. They continue to share farming knowledge within their community. These include weekend workshops on organic farming, evening garden club talks, and elder college courses. Currently Rob is also doing consulting work with three local First Nations Bands to develop community gardens.

Now, nearly 30 years since they started farming, Rob and Cathie are talking about more changes. “We’re going to scale back our production to about two acres, not rely on full-time employees, and hopefully be able to build into it all some flexibility so that we can get a bit of time off in the summer months. We have two wonderful granddaughters, with whom we’d love to go camping once in awhile”, says Rob. “We’d like to find that sweet spot where we can continue doing what we love to do, just maybe a little less intensely”, concludes Cathie.

In addition to operating, with partner Cathie Allen, Mackin Creek Farm, on the west side of the Fraser River north of Williams Lake, Rob is involved with several regional agricultural organizations. Mackin Creek Farm was recognized by the BC Association of Farmers Markets as “Vendor of the Year” for the 2014 season.

 

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Ask an Expert: Transforming Conflict on the Farm

in Ask an Expert/Organic Community/Spring 2017

Keeley Nixon

Seeds ordered? Check. Planting calendar set? Check. Staff hired? Check. Conflict resolution preparedness in place? Wait, what?! Though it’s often overlooked in the sheer onslaught of too-much-to-do-not-enough-time of daily farm life, collaborative communication practice can be one of our strongest tools,.Think you’ve got this covered? Remember back to the hardest moments of last season—could something have been made easier by clarifying a directive or job duty? Sharing feedback sooner? We can’t go back, but wouldn’t it be nice to avoid the uncomfortable hardship of unresolved conflict?

This is the crux of good communication; it’s not something we’re explicitly taught, but it is something we can always improve with practice. And while unfamiliar communication tools may feel awkward at the time, the alternative of inaction is often much worse.

Our communication muscles are underdeveloped—the good news is there are simple things we can start doing to build them.

Change how you understand conflict

Conflict is not inherently bad or negative. Conflict is normal and part of an ongoing cycle of change. Recognize where conflict comes from. Assumptions, misunderstandings, and perceptions can all prompt conflict, and forces such as the individuals involved and their relationship, time demands, and stress can impact it.

  • See the agenda and relationship. In any conflict there’s an agenda and a relationship at play. How we deal with conflict is dependent on the focus of each.
  • Aim to depersonalize. It won’t be neutral but strive for cooperative instead of adversarial. Think “us vs. issue” instead of “you vs.me”

Know thy self

It’s important to acknowledge your lenses. Values, ego, expectations, goals, needs, attitudes, and beliefs inform how we engage. Be mindful of what these are for you. Next, identify your default style. When a conflict arises do you cooperate, direct, compromise, accommodate, or avoid? Each has a time and place, and knowing your default will help you build awareness of when it serves you best—and when to try a different approach.

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Lean in to process

Think of the process as a messy Venn diagram of 4 overlapping stages:

1. opening (approaching the issue)
2. identifying (sharing perspectives)
3. exploring (building understanding) and
4. closing (agreeing on solutions).

Each has certain goals and tasks, and in order for communication to be effective, there are some important considerations:

  • Be mindful of language. Use “I” language to speak from your experience and use “we” language for collective goals and impact.
  • Where and when a discussion happens matters. Friday afternoon at the wash up area is likely not the best time or place. Think about a space where everyone is comfortable, allocate time to bring the topic up, and share enough information to clearly convey the topic. This could sound like, “I’d like to check in with you about how we each feel the season is going so far… Could we make time after lunch one day this week?” Making time for regular check-ins creates space for conversation before issues arise and a space to channel ideas in-between.
  • Check your body language and don’t interrupt. Listen to understand before you speak to be understood
  • Question assumptions. Try asking, “Can you tell me what makes you think that way?” or, “What have I done/said that makes you think that way?”
  • Anticipate emotion. When you feel emotion rising, stop and breathe before you respond. Defensiveness comes on fast, don’t let it.
  • Stay open to resolution. Recognize that there’s no right way to resolve a conflict and in sharing perspective, listening deeply, and engaging you may be surprised where a solution does emerge. If a resolution isn’t apparent try taking a break and coming back at a set time, obtaining more information to help inform the group, or agreeing to disagree.

Tension and conflict are inevitable in any job. With the lived realities of being a farmer, or working for one, prickly situations are common. We owe it to ourselves and each other to strengthen our businesses and practices by learning how and when to approach tough conversations and show up with open ears and an open heart both on and off the farm.

Keeley Nixon has been involved in farming and food sector organizing since moving from the BC interior in 2001. After stepping out of field last season she’s pursuing training in mediation with a focus on agriculture. Keeley thrives on working with farmers to create durable changes and preserve important relationships. She brings her passion for food, good design, community engagement, and general joie de vivre to all that she does.

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Building Bridges

2023 BC Organic Conference Recap By Stacey Santos Mentorship. Perseverance. Kindness. Relationships. More than words, these ideas were penned and

The Prairie Organic Grain Initiative

in Crop Production/Tools & Techniques/Winter 2017

Cari Hartt

Growing Prairie Grain

The Prairie Organic Grain Initiative is a 4-year, $2.2M tri-provincial project dedicated to achieving resiliency and stability in the prairie organic sector by focusing on increasing the quantity and quality of organic grains, and developing relationships across organic market value chains.

A partnership between Organic Alberta, SaskOrganics, and Manitoba Organic Alliance, the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative is bringing the community together to develop a strong foundation of programs, resources, and relationships upon which the prairie organic grain sector can truly flourish. Other industry stakeholders integral to the project’s success include COABC, the Canadian Organic Trade Association, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, and organic processors, brokers, buyers, and certification bodies.

One of the flagship programs is the Pivot and Grow campaign, which makes the transition to organics simple by providing producers with the tools required to tackle major concerns such as the certification process, weeds, and nances. Resources like the New Farmer Kit and mentorship programs help make the journey through transition easy and profitable.

Iris and Becky and participants with green manure at Newells Field day

The Initiative also focuses on compiling innovative research to create resources for producers that improve best management practices and consequently their resiliency, stability, and profitability. A primary objective is to help farmers increase yields and improve grain quality. Workshops, field days, and conferences train producers how to implement best management practices that build soil fertility, manage weeds, and maximize grain quality. The Prairie Organic Grain Initiative has released a series of fact sheets that provide practical information for organic farmers to consider and integrate into their farming systems, including:

  • From Harvest to Sale: Maintaining food quality in storage
  • Intercropping: Increasing crop diversity
  • Rotations: Designing a System that Works for You
  • Cultural Practices: To Give the Crop Advantage
  • Living with Weeds: Putting Weeds into Ecological Context

The fact sheets can be accessed on the Pivot and Grow website.

The Initiative has also developed a series of short videos designed to inform and introduce organic grain production to those unfamiliar with organic farming methods:

  • Weeds: The First Emergence after Disturbance
  • Intercropping: Utilizing More Efficiently the Acres that we have
  • Planning Crop Rotations: The Diversity is what makes you
  • The Organic Ration: Eyes per Acre
  • Grain Quality: From Producer to Consumer
  • Strategies for Successful and Sustainable Weed Management

View the videos and subscribe to Pivot and Grow’s You-Tube channel.

Copy-of-Wheat_2015

Another exciting project from the Initiative is the Organic Agronomy Training Program. The Organic Agronomy Training sessions are being held in partnership with University of Manitoba. In the Spring and Summer of 2016, Martin Entz of the U of M, along with experts such as Brenda Frick, Joanne Thiessen Martens and other U of M instructors, held three successful training sessions across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, that trained 120 participants.

Currently, the Prairies have a shortage of agronomists who are trained to work together with organic farmers. The goal of this program is to train agronomists to provide agronomic advice to organic farmers in areas such as nutrient management, crop rotation planning, weed management, and grain quality. Participants were equipped with data gathering and decision support tools to take a systematic and comprehensive approach to working with farmer clients. Participants have been staying in touch with the instructors and each other through emails, Facebook, and organized teleconference calls, allowing for valuable continued learning and sharing.

The Prairie Organic Grain Initiative is also working with Martin Entz and Joanne Thiessen Martens on the Organic Nutrient Management Program. Martin and Joanne have developed a spread sheet-based tool to help organic farmers assess crop nutrients. Because nutrients are made available through biological activity, rather than synthetic fertilizers, understanding how to manage these nutrients properly is critical to improving organic grain quality and quantity. The tool uses information from the farm including soil, plant, and grain samples, and cropping history.

Through the Initiative, the program has been extended across the Prairies. The program connected agronomists and organic farmers to develop nutrient budgets that inform management recommendations. Ten agronomists, several of whom are participants of the Organic Agronomy Training Program, work with 40 farms across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and one farm in the Peace River Region of British Columbia. [Editor’s note: for more on the Nutrient Management Program, visit Footnotes from the Field: Organic Nutrient Management.]

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The Initiative is also working with Joanna White and Dr. Andy Hammermeister from the Organic Agriculture Center of Canada on the upcoming release of an online Green Manure Management Tool. This online resource will aid farmers in selecting the appropriate green manure to include in their crop rotations to build soil fertility. The Green Manure Management Tool will include five interactive modules, and will be available on the Pivot and Grow website in January 2017 and includes the following titles:

Module 1: Choosing A Green Manure
Module 2: Green Manure Profiles
Module 3: Managing Green Manures
Module 4: Green Manures and Weed Management
Module 5: Green Manure Resource tool for Professionals

The Prairie Organic Grain Initiative is working to improve resiliency and stability in the Prairie organic grain sector. If you would like more information on the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative and how you can access its programs, resources and tools, please contact info@prairieorganicgrain.org. Working together, we can achieve a resilient, stable, and profitable industry for Canadian prairie organic grain.

Cari Hartt is the new Communications Coordinator for The Prairie Organic Grain Initiative. A graduate of MacEwan University with a degree in professional communications, she is new to organics, but is thrilled to offer her skills to such a wonderful and welcoming community.

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Ask an Expert: Financial Tips for Life

in Uncategorized

Karen Fenske

Track Anytime, Anywhere, and Save!

Yes, even budgeting has become hi-tech. With a little help from Google Sheets, you can track your spending and plan ahead to manage your cash flow, either for your personal or farm business finances. Because this app sits in the virtual world it can be accessed on your cell phone, laptop, computer, tablet, or anywhere with a wifi connection. This makes Google Sheets the perfect way to manage finances on the go.

How to:

  • After you have signed into your Gmail account, click the 9 little squares in the right corner of the home page (if you don’t have a Gmail account google how to set one up).
  • Select the green Sheets icon and set up your first Google Sheet! The online tutorials provide assistance
  • Set up multiple sheets to manage expenses and incoming cash—you can make this as simple or technical as you have an appetite for, as long as you’re tracking something!
  • Be sure to update regularly with new expenses and income to keep an accurate financial snapshot

Worried you don’t have time? Share. With Google Sheets you can easily share your budgeting sheets with others so you and your business partner, spouse, or kids can enter the amounts into the spreadsheet. Because the sheets are stored in the cloud, you can work in the same document at the same time. You may be surprised how easy and practical it is. If you have a business, personal income, a rental, etc… you can set up your tracking sheet to see all income and expenses in one place.

Why track finances?

It can be a great stress reliever knowing where your money is going—using Google Sheets to track your funds can help you gain control over something that once seemed unmanageable. Also, if you track your spending you can see the little places to save. These add up to a tidy sum each month which can help you get the things you want.
As well, if you’re planning for the farm, tracking finances and projecting costs and returns can help you better understand your profit margins. As well, you’ll be able to make smarter business management decisions, such as which varieties are most profitable for you, and just how much you should charge for that head of cauliflower at market.

A side note on saving:

You don’t have to be rich to save, just determined. I work with folks just like you to make the best spending and saving decisions.

How can you save money? Pay yourself first! Typically we spend anything that lands in our bank account and because of our high-technology world with debit cards we have access to the money right away. After expenses and buying what we want it’s easy to have nothing left to save for a rainy day or retirement.

An efficient strategy to “grow a nest egg” is to take TFSA and RRSP contributions off “at source”. For those with employees, it may be possible to set up a group RRSP plan where the contribution amount of their choice is taken off before paycheques are deposited.

You’re in business to take care of your family and you care about those who work for you. Farmers typically don’t have pensions, so helping your employees – and yourself! – save is one of the best things you can do. Some employers choose to match 1% or more as an ideal way to show appreciation and support. For example if they give $100 a month at 5% that’s $5/mo. Over the years it’s a nice bonus that is not tied to wages. It all adds up.

Karen Fenske is licensed to sell Mutual Funds and Insurance in BC. She has a degree in business and mediation skills, and has provided strategic planning and business development for 25 years. She lives in Vernon with her husband. She enjoys spending time with her two young adult children, in her garden, hiking, skiing, travelling around the province, and watching murder mysteries.

Horse Power

in Livestock/Tools & Techniques/Winter 2017

Naomi Martz

Sometimes the best tool for a job isn’t a tool at all

Despite what some may think, farming with horses is not always about wanting to go back to the “good old days”. For me, it comes from a pretty extensive list of things that are important to me as a young person starting a farm business: less time spent fixing engines and running power tools, more time listening, less fossil fuel use, more conscious fine-tuning of the work/play/sleep/love/grow balance that sounds great in theory. With all that in mind, choosing to start farming with live horsepower has very much been a decision based in the present.

At this point, I would consider myself to be “barely a beginner” at draft horse work, so if you are looking here for expert advice I strongly suggest seeking out experienced teamsters who are willing to share their craft. Publications by Lynn Miller, Stephen Leslie, and the Small Farmer’s Journal can also provide a jumping off point for further resources. But I can share what adding two 2,000 lb coworkers brought to my first year running a farm.

Having completed an apprenticeship with Ice Cap Organics where the Zayacs gave me the inspiration and confidence to start my own vegetable-growing endeavour, I spent the 2015 season at Orchard Hill Farm, a horse-powered CSA farm in south-western Ontario in the hopes of putting to rest my curiosity for draft animal power. While there, somehow the Laings managed to instil me with enough confidence to return home to BC, find some land to lease, and buy a pair of draft horses the following spring.

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This season, Four Beat Farm grew produce for a 20 week, 30-member vegetable CSA as well the local farmers’ market. I rent a small house and 10 acres of farmable land as part of a larger property, with 4 acres in cultivation at the moment (1.5 in vegetables, 2.5 in cover crop to expand next year’s vegetable production), and the remaining 6 acres are used for horse pasture with intentions of haying and diversifying in the future. Currently theoperation is in transition to organic and biodynamic practices are employed as well. There are countless neighbours, family members, and friends who provide infinite moral and practical support, but on paper and in the field Four Beat Farm is currently a one-person, two-horse operation, with a dog who works bear patrol.

Tom and Judy, two Belgian drafts in their mid-teens, were purchased based on their kind demeanour, having done farm work and wagon rides before, and their ability to stand still. If the latter seems silly, imagine being a work crew of one with a tractor that cannot reliably be taken out of gear or turned off when something needs to be tweaked or loaded in the field. Other than the initial ploughing that was hired out in the spring around the time the horses were purchased (ploughing is heavy work and can easily lead to soreness for out of shape horses and a frustrated novice teamster), the vegetable farming has been horse-powered this year.

This has included lots of discing and harrowing to prepare for vegetables and manage cover crop, using a straddle single-row cultivator for weed control (all crops except salad beds and one row of hot crops are direct seeded or transplanted in single rows with 3’ between to allow space for the horses to walk), planting and hilling potatoes, spreading compost, and hauling in crates of produce as well as moving other heavy objects, such as bags of soil amendments, around the farm.

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While a task like hilling an eighth of an acre of potatoes is not unreasonable to do by hand, establishing horse-powered systems that can be scaled up in the future, not to mention improving my own teamster abilities, was a key priority for this season. Taking the eight minutes to harness and hook up the team rather than doing a repetitive task by hand whenever feasible meant not just a lot of time savings overall, but also that this autumn I felt physically better than ever after a season of farming. This seems like a key component of sustainable agriculture that us youthful small-scale farmers prefer to overlook when handling heavy storage crops in the cold rain.

There are many articles written and discussions to be had about the role of draft horse power on a working, profitable farm. Horses can eat from, work on, and fertilize the fields. Horses are light on the land, and they can be worked in single- or multi-horse hitches depending on the task at hand. With the right knowledge and equipment, horses can also grow and harvest their own hay and grain, and breeding can lead to new engines being born and trained on the farm as the older ones slow down.

I agree with all of these and dare to add a few of my own. For one, farming with horses lends itself well to the pursuit of thrift and of mechanical simplicity. My equipment repertoire currently includes some long-forgotten tractor discs and harrows, a roller-packer, a work sled built in an evening from scrap lumber, a small borrowed trailer, a forecart which has a ball hitch attachment to pull the trailer or discs with horses, and a row cultivator. Other than the forecart and cultivator, which worked out to about $1000 and paid for itself in time savings within about six weeks, the rest of the implements ranged from free to one hundred dollars.

When things break or need restoring sometimes I make time to work on them myself; sometimes I drag them to a neighbour’s shop if they can make time to fuss around with my antiques, knowing someone else will do twice the job in half the time and I enjoy visiting with neighbours. Developing the skill set to speak the language of engine repair, not to mention actually repair engines, would not be impossible but would be a big learning curve in comparison. If I were a person who enjoys and excels at running heavy machinery and tinkering with tractors, or if I did not actually like horses, my farm would probably look quite different than it does at the moment.

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As a final note, horses appreciate the importance of a morning routine, of stopping for a midday break in the shade, of that extra ten seconds of grooming before suit- ing up for the day, and this is reflected in their work quality and productivity. I daresay I am similar but am equally prone to working myself into the ground when left to my own devices. Farming can be overwhelming on the quietest of days, but 4,000 lb of friendly, hay-burning accountability helps to keep me physically, emotionally, and financially grounded and present.

It goes without saying that there are unique challenges. Sometimes my horses have had several days off and have lots of energy and need to pull something heavy for a half hour to let off steam before they are ready to carefully cultivate baby beets. Sometimes even when they are doing a spectacular job a bear pops out of the woods and causes a hoof to sidestep, which can mean a few broccoli plants get stepped on. Sometimes I am amazed by how often I need to buy hay or set up a new pasture fence, and I have to remind myself that relying on a renewable fuel source that can be bought from neighbouring farmers and turned into next year’s compost pile is worth more than just the cost of hay on a budget sheet.

So that is a bit of what happened in this first year of horse-powered vegetable farming in southwestern BC. Lucky for me, as the list of things I know I don’t know just continues to grow, there is plenty of work to enjoy for a long while yet.

Originally from Vancouver, Naomi Martz is thrilled to have stumbled across a career that incorporates her love of math, mornings, and good food. She sees farming as an excuse to tromp around in the rain, a means of satisfying her appetite for carrots and community, and a way to live well in a changing world.

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Footnotes from the Field: Organic Nutrient Management

in Crop Production/Footnotes from the Field/Tools & Techniques/Winter 2017

Marjorie Harris, BSc, IOIA VO, P.Ag.

New Techniques for Organic Nutrient Management

As the International Year of Pulses draws to a close it is nice to give a tip of the hat to pulses, the peas and beans, and to their leguminous cousins, alfalfa and the clovers. Research has demonstrated that legumes in symbiotic relationship with Rhizobacteriums biofertilize the cropping system by fixing prodigious amounts of nitrogen from the air. Able to deliver hundreds of pounds of nitrogen per acre, legumes are an extremely valuable green manure crop to include in crop rotations.

2016 marked the 25th anniversary for Canada’s oldest organic vs conventional comparative study conducted by the University of Manitoba at the Glenlea Research Station. The organic cropping research primarily focuses on long term crop rotations for grains and green manures.

This year Martin Entz, lead researcher, in conjunction with Joanne Thiessen Martens, and Katherine Stanley, rolled out a two year consultant training program for their new Organic Nutrient Management (ONM) system. Currently only 10 consultants from across Western Canada are enrolled in the hands-on training working directly with farmers to implement the ONM system.

The ONM program is designed to track the soluble and plant available nutrients Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), and Sulphur (S) as they move on and off the farm as imports and exports through an 8 year crop rotation plan. The ONM also includes livestock production within the system.

New nutrient monitoring techniques are employed that rely on leguminous plant tissue bioassays to understand how plant tissue nutrient concentrations relate to soil fertility conditions. Interpreting this kind of data is still quite new, although research has proven that this type of data can lend useful insight for long term soil fertility nutrient management strategies.

There are two parts to the data development. Part 1 determines the nitrogen xation and nutrient concentration rates of N, P, K, S for the legume green manure cover crops on a per acre basis. Part 2 creates a net summary balance of N, P, K, S for imports and exports over an 8 year crop rotation on a per acre and per whole field basis.

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Part 1: Determine level of nitrogen biofertilization in pounds per acre and green manure nutrient uptake.

Step 1: Dig up legume roots to check for nodular growth and nodular activity. It is important to inoculate the legumes with the appropriate symbiotic Rhozobacterium for optimum nodular development. The root colonizing Rhizobacterium form large ball-like nodules on the roots of peas and beans, and smaller at, hand shaped nodules on clover and alfalfa roots. When the nodules are actively fixing nitrogen the inner flesh of the nodule will turn a reddish color when broken open and exposed to the oxygen in air. If the inner flesh of the nodule is brown, green or clear the nodule is not actively fixing nitrogen.

Step 2: Cut biomass samples of legumes from a predetermined number of quadrants per field. Sort the legumes from the cut vegetation to record the percentage of legume vs weeds and other plants, then send the total biomass for plant tissue nutrient analysis.

Step 3: From the same plant sampled field take soil samples at 6 and 24 inch depths and send for nutrient analysis. Phosphorous and Potassium are relatively stable in the top six inches of soil whereas Nitrogen and Sulphur are more mobile and tend to leach down through the soil profile, the 24 inch depth sample will capture this movement.

Step 4: Enter the plant tissue and soil fertility results into the specified Excel spreadsheet to calculate nitro- gen biofertilzation per acre. The plant tissue results will also demonstrate if the legumes have sufficient P, K, & S for optimum growth. Long term research has shown that many legumes only need a soil test P at 5 – 9 ppm, to produce optimum nitrogen. However, a soil test rating of 5 – 9ppm P will be reported as Low as a standard soil test interpretation. Martin Entz’s research demonstrates that 5 – 9ppm P is sufficient for good legume growth. Most other crops will require supplementary nutrients for optimum growth.

The three main supplementary forms of phosphorus are: livestock manures, rock phosphate, and animal feeds. Rock phosphate has been shown to be a very slow releaser of plant available phosphorous. The ONM general recommendation for supplying a plant bioavailable form of P is a periodic light application of livestock manure, whether composted or spread raw followed by a green manure cover crop to catch the nutrients up into the plant tissue for slower release of plant available P.

Nitrogen Fixing Nodules

Part 2: Determining the net summary balance import and export of nutrients N, P, K, S, through an 8 year crop rotation per acre and per whole field.

Step 1: Send samples of exported farm biomass, seed, plant, and livestock manure for nutrient testing. Enter results into the ONM Excel spreadsheet. The import, export, and nitrogen fixation biofertilization date is entered and automatically calculated per field per year and then summarized over the 8 year crop rotations on a Whole Field (total acreage) and Per Acre basis.

Examples of 8 year rotation: Table 1.1 is the standard crop rotation the farmer has traditionally employed. The farmer noticed that his yields were falling and that weeds were starting to encroach the crop.

Table 1.1 – Traditional Crop Rotation Plan

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Table 1.2 – Modified Crop Rotation Plan

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This new approach to Organic Nutrient Management over long term crop rotations employs biomass nutrient uptake monitoring and soil testing. The laboratory data generated is entered put into the ONM Excel spreadsheet for net import and export nutrient calculations. The summary results allow the operator to visualize the long term results of various combinations of crop rotations and nutrient supplementations.

Regular green manure crop rotations provide nitrogen biofertilization and assists in the building and maintenance of soil fertility. Higher seeding rates of legume and cover crop can help suppress weed pressures. Plowing down green manure cover crops, straw, and plant waste helps to increase organic matter in the soil. Overall higher soil fertility will increase crop yields and promote healthier disease resistance plants due to sufficient plant available nutrients for optimum growth conditions.

The Glenlea long term research project has proven that organic rotational cropping systems that rely on perennial forage legumes are 222% more energy ef cient than conventional farming techniques. The energy efficiency in the organic management system was attributed to the vast reduction in the use of fossil fuels and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning them.

This is a very brief overview of the University of Manitoba’s new Organic Nutrient Management system. For more in-depth information about implementation and to develop long term nutrient management strategies using green manures and nutrient supplements contact Marjorie Harris, Organic Nutrient Management consultant, at ecoaudit@telus.net.

 

 

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Sweat Farming at Hope Farm Organics

in Grow Organic/Tools & Techniques/Winter 2017
Sweat Farming at Hope Farm Organics

Andrew J. Adams

From Fossil Fuel to Sweat Power

Sweat farming: an ideal low-carbon, low-stress, grease-less-hands, no-knuckle-bashing approach to organic farming.

All of you know that the price of food is low relative to the costs of production (though some might argue this), and that is due to our fossil fuel addicted economy. Mechanization sought to end the drudgery of producing sustenance, but at what costs? Now that the drudgery is gone, people pay money for drudgery and go into buildings to lift pieces of metal and contort their bodies in strange ways. Ironic, don’t you think?

We all know the saying there is no free lunch and in this case, it couldn’t be any truer. The true costs of our fossil fuel addiction are now only being fully realized since the tractor’s invention in 1892, though much could be said about the dust bowl days of my home state’s past.

It has been a steady race to the bottom ever since in terms of prices and environmental degradation. Falling prices due to the use of fertilizers and mechanization have caused an agricultural arms race in which there is truly no winner.

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Here at Hope Farm Organics, we have been utilizing as little machinery as possible since our farm’s inception. This is not only due to our convictions but also the price of equipment in the north where there is comparatively hardly any agriculture happening. The reality of the low pricing and market competition hit hard and quick once we started jumping into producing on a larger scale and attempting to make our living from our produce.

We have dabbled in the devil’s promises with our potato digger, tiller, and tractor pulled plow, but to our defense we now feed our tractor waste veggie oil and we primarily use only hand tools and train ourselves to essentially become the machines that we loath. This does require some time in training to become ef cient and safe without harming joints. We hope to one day move toward primarily horse drawn equipment once we build a couple more barns and ne tune our production.

Tools of the Trade

Tools of the trade that we highly recommend to anyone wanting to make a go of what we are doing would be the following: a diamond hoe, stirrup hoe, earthway seed- er, broadfork, double wheel hoe with attachments and an assortment of peg boards for planting accuracy when it comes down to the little seeds like carrots (yes, we do all the carrots by hand).

A sharp hoe, or sharp tool of any kind for that matter, is essential for ease of work. Daily sharpening of tools before use is a must. On days that you forget to sharpen a tool, you will notice in terms of effort required to cultivate and weed.

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One tool that, once we found it, we could not do without besides our hands and backs is the double wheel hoe. This horse drawn plow look alike has made life so much easier and ef cient. With its many attachments, from cultivating teeth to stirrup hoes and even plows, this wheeled wonder has saved many hours of back breaking work and allows you to use different muscles not typically used in long handled hoeing.

The benefits of hand tools over machines? Think of it this way: you will never need to go to a gym! But a fair warning—sometimes you may eat lots of calorie ridden, cheesy goodness all winter to “stock up” on fuel for summer.

Humans, of course, are the most important tool in “sweat farming”, and one of the major challenges is finding help. Because of the low profit margins, it is essential that anyone on the farm become very efficient and do so very quickly, or profits can get tossed out the window on wages horrifyingly quick. In this instance, you have to know when to hire and when to fire. The training period for new hires is always tough. You have to give workers the benefit of the doubt that they will pull through and become food producing machines. This is not always the case, though, and we have learned over the years that it takes a special person to be able to do this type of work. Finding that person is as difficult as the work itself. You must have a passion for it because you won’t ever get a decent return on the effort in a monetary sense until someone turns the oil spout off for the planet and food prices reflect the lack of fossil fuel subsidies.

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Stewards of Ecology

Another part of our “sweat farming” mantra is zero input production. When we talk about zero input farming, we are discussing no feed and no seed coming from outside sources. For us, this is an ongoing mission that will take years to fully achieve. Hey, we have nothing but time, right?

We believe almost to an obsession that a farm must become an ecology. The farmer is the master conductor in this symphony of soil, and must make all efforts to create bountiful production through thoughtful planning in the cold winter months, including where seed crops will be produced for the following years, animal grazing rotations to maximize soil health, and crop rotations to mitigate pests. This planning takes several years of observations of water drainage, soil fertility, ease of access, etc… after you first set foot onto your plot of land and decide to farm.

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There is no get rich quick model in this type of food production, but it will in the end increase food security in an ever-growing uncertain climate. If the climate keeps changing alongside the predicted exponential hockey stick graph, then we can be sure that it will not take long for the food revolution to truly take root. Only then will the masters of the organic farm ecology finally have their day in the sun.

Careful planning, thoughtful observations and attention to plant breeding will yield great bushels of gold for those who are willing to wait and work at it. Heck, it only took us six years to produce our famous cantaloupe that is supposedly not possible to be grown in our biogeoclimatic region of the SBSvk (Sub Boreal Spruce Zone). Think of what we can accomplish with a lifetime of perseverance to do something different!

Andrew has a bachelors of science in Agriculture from Kansas State University and Janie has a Bachelor of education. After seeing the state of food security and agriculture in the north the two felt obligated to make real change in the form of organic food production and thus created Hope Farm in 2011.

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