Bio-Dynamic Agriculture . . . by Maireid Sullivan
2011- Updated 2024
Work in progress
"Leaves are the sole organs on Earth able to create new material substance; in contrast, everything else on Earth is a recycling of materials."
– Alex Podolinsky, 2007, Australia's Bio-Dynamic pioneer
Our emotions influence the environment:
"A person cannot utter one single word, cannot have a thought, without their feelings influencing the environment. In the same manner that our actions cause an effect in space, so do our emotions; they travel through space and influence people and the entire astral world." - The Story of My Life (1928), Rudolf Steiner's unfinished autobiography,
In 1924, Austrian scientist and philosopher Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) originated the Bio-Dynamic (BD) farming method in collaboration with German soil scientist Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899-1961), whom Rudolf Steiner selected to be ambassador of biodynamics to the USA.
The Demeter Standard was registered in 1928.
In addition:
Rudolf Steiner was the originator of Waldorf Education (aka Steiner Schools)
and Anthroposophic Medicine. “Rudolf Steiner‘s Goetheanum was conceived as a science centre, a place of spiritual scientific research and teaching, of professional development and practice.” - Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland
Bio-Dynamic agriculture became the first ecological farming system to arise in response to commercial fertilizers and 'synthetic biology', based on a 'visionary' approach that, today, can't be 'annulled' by science: For example, the concept of 'chaos and order' in 'vortex stirring' BD 500/501 preparations is well documented HERE (pdf), by international members of the Biodynamic Federation, representing
53 organisations across 40 countries:Demeter International www.demeter.net
Biodynamic Gardening by the Cosmos ... if you garden using biodynamics, preparation BD500 (horn manure) is put out in a descending phase, when the moon is waning. It’s applied as a soil spray in autumn and spring, as the day draws to a close. BD501 (horn silica) is a ‘light’ spray, applied first thing in the morning, in spring or summer. Preferably the moon will be ascending and waxing...
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer began work with Rudolf Steiner in 1920 to develop and install special diffuse stage lighting for eurythmy performances on the stage of the first Goetheanum.[1][2] After Steiner's death in 1925, Pfeiffer worked in the private research laboratory at the Goetheanum in Dornach, (Switzerland).[3]
He became manager and director of the 800-acre (3.2 km2) experimental biodynamic Loverendale farm in Domburg in the Netherlands.[4]
This farm was set up to carry out some of the agricultural studies of the Goetheanum laboratory. The work of testing and developing Rudolf Steiner's Agriculture Course of 1924 was an international enterprise coordinated by Pfeiffer at the Natural Science Section of the Goetheanum.[5] Pfeiffer’s most influential book 'Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening' was published in 1938 simultaneously in at least five languages, English, German, Dutch, French, and Italian.[6] The following year, and just months before the outbreak of World War II, Pfeiffer ran Britain's first biodynamics conference, the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference, at the estate of Lord Northbourne in Kent.[7]
Pfeiffer's Betteshanger Conference is regarded as the 'missing link' between biodynamic agriculture and organic farming because the following year (1940) its host, Lord Northbourne, published his manifesto of organic farming 'Look to the Land' in which he coined the term 'organic farming'.[8] Pfeiffer first visited the U.S. in 1933 to lecture to a group of anthroposophists at the Threefold Farm in Spring Valley, New York on biodynamic farming.[1] His consulting was essential to the development of biodynamic agriculture in the U.S....
History of the Controversy Over the Use of Herbicides
by the National Academy of Sciences, 1994 Herbicide Development and Testing
Excerpt:
Experiments with chemicals for the control of vegetative growth were first conducted around the turn of this century.
The practical purpose of these early compounds was to control weeds that competed with crops for available water, nutrients, and sunlight (NAS, 1974; Buckingham, 1982).
It was not until the 1940s that agricultural chemical research
led to the development of a number of synthetic compounds capable of regulating or suppressing plant growth. . . .
Throughout World War II and after, classified military research on these chemicals and nearly 1,100 other substances was conducted at the War Research Service in Fort Detrick, Maryland (MRI, 1967). Although defoliants were not introduced into the World War II conflict, the military potential of chemicals for reducing or removing heavy vegetative growth was further investigated.
#1 Challenge:
Monsanto Wikipedia ... An American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in the 1970s. Later, the company became a major producer of genetically engineered crops. In 2018, the company ranked 199th on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.[2] Monsanto was one of four groups to introduce genes into plants in 1983,[3] and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops in 1987.
In September 2016, Monsanto agreed to be acquired by Bayer for US$66 Billion.
Bayer's 2016 purchase of Monsanto was concluded on June 7, 2018.
Bayer history details on the Holocaust Encyclopedia:
- Bayer is a pharmaceutical company.
- Monsanto is a pesticide company.
- Bayer bought Monsanto.
- Bayer makes drugs for NonHodgkin's lymphoma.
- Monsanto makes chemical called glyphosate to spray on FOOD crops.
- Glyphosate causes NonHodgkin's lymphoma.
Genetically modified organisms (GMO)
Wikipedia
GM food safety is a leading issue with critics. Gene flow, impact on non-target organisms, and escape are the major environmental concerns. Countries have adopted regulatory measures to deal with these concerns. There are differences in the regulation for the release of GMOs between countries, with some of the most marked differences occurring between the US and Europe.
- Monsanto India Ltd. was founded in 1949
- Organic India was founded in 1997:
Applying the Bio-Dynamic method, India has restored Monsanto-poisoned farms.
Healing INDIA
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
15 AUG, 2012 'Bitter Seeds' documentary reveals tragic toll of GMOs in India
We sometimes lose sight of the fact that Big Ag's influence extends far beyond our own borders. Micha Peled's documentary Bitter Seeds is a stark reminder of that fact.
Bitter Seeds exposes the havoc Monsanto has wreaked on rural farming communities in India, and serves as a fierce rebuttal to the claim that genetically modified seeds can save the developing world.
~~~
The documentary, Bitter Seeds (2011) won 18 international film awards, including the Green Screen Award (2011) and the Oxfam Global Justice Award (2011).
Bitter Seeds (2011) IMDB Synopsis
India has more farmers than any country in the world, and they are in a crisis that is unprecedented in human history. Every 30 minutes a farmer in India kills himself in despair. In a village at the center of the suicide epidemic, a farmer and his family struggle to keep his land and a teenage girl makes her first steps to become a journalist and tell the world about the crisis. Bitter Seeds raises questions about the human cost of genetically-modified agriculture and the future of how we grow things. ...
Excerpt:
The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would probably lead to damage on many US farms, internal documents seen by the Guardian show.
. . .
Several million acres of crops have now been reported damaged by dicamba, according to industry estimates. And more than 100 US farmers are engaged in litigation in federal court alleging Monsanto and BASF collaboration created a “defective” crop system that has damaged orchards, gardens and organic and non-organic farm fields in multiple states.
. . .
Several million acres of crops have now been reported damaged by dicamba, according to industry estimates. And more than 100 US farmers are engaged in litigation in federal court alleging Monsanto and BASF collaboration created a “defective” crop system that has damaged orchards, gardens and organic and non-organic farm fields in multiple states.
Creating Solutions: International BD Associations - Short list
2. A World Map of Biodynamic Agriculture, 2020 Agricultural and Biological Sciences Journal, 6 (2), pp. 114-119. "The map accounts for 55 countries and a world total of 251,842 certified biodynamic hectares."
3. BioDynamie Services
How to prepare Horn manure (500)
- is obtained by the transformation of high-quality cow manure that has been put into cow horns and buried under the earth for the winter period. It is important to use only preparations that have undergone a complete transformation underground during the winter months.
The preparations should be moist, colloidal in nature, brown-ish black in colour, and odourless, or with a slightly earthy, humic smell.
Any preparations that have started to dry out, go mouldy or rotten will not give good results.
This preparation, when it has been carefully made, properly stored and correctly applied, is essential.
-
It works on the soil and the plant roots.
- It is a powerful means for structuring the soil.
- It stimulates soil microbial activity of the soil and the production of humus.
- It regulates the pH balance of the soil.
- It stimulates seed germination and root development, in particular vertical growth, increasing depth of root systems.
- It improves the development of leguminous plants (Fabaceae) and nodule formation.
- It helps dissolve minerals even in deep layers (alios) and can helps counteract excessive salt levels. How to use Horn Manure: ...
IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements –
"Organics International" trace back to a meeting in Versailles, France in 1972. Roland Chevriot, of Nature et Progrès, envisioned the need for organic agriculture movements to coordinate their actions as well as to enable scientific and experimental data on organic to cross borders. In order to realize this vision, he invited organic pioneers including Lady Eve Balfour, founder of the UK Soil Association, Kjell Arman from the Swedish Biodynamic Association and Jerome Goldstein from the Rodale Institute to join him in Versailles to set the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM - Organics International) in motion.
See Roland Chevriot's Foundation invitation letter(pdf)
Four decades later, we now have over 800 members from about 120 countries and territories. The organic sector has gone through extraordinary change in phases we refer to as Organic 1.0, Organic 2.0 and Organic 3.0.
“. . . I count myself very lucky to have been able to hear Alex Podolinsky lecture and then to see his teachings so effectively applied at Agrilatina.[Italy] That soil transformation was a miracle!
I have never seen anything like it!..."
– Linda Bullard, Former President, IFOAM - Organics International.>>>more
China:
"The vintage of the century in the year of the dragon" - 2008
1. The Wine Cellar Insider "2008 became a watershed year for the growth of the fine wine market in China. Taxes on wine are abolished, giving birth to the Bordeaux boom in China."
Synopsis
For over three centuries Bordeaux has commanded an almost mythical status in the world of wine as a symbol of wealth, power and influence. But recently prices for the prestige red wines have been skyrocketing. Something unprecedented is happening to the Bordeaux fine wine market and that something is China.
Red Obsession sets out to explore the Bordeaux phenomenon. Just how good can really good wine be? What compels a cashed up industrialist to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single bottle? Is it taste, prestige or investment that is driving the demand for the wines of Bordeaux? Or is it simply the need to own something ethereal, unworldly and limited?
Red Obsession is a story of aspiration for greatness. It is also a study of power and passion in high places and the economic power shift from West to East. Production Notes 2013
Excerpt: "...When the Chinese population of 1.4 billion began turning its attention to grape wine, experts worked out that within 20 years, the entire output of the world may not be enough to satisfy the new market. So China began planting grape vines. The Red Obsession crew visited the wine regions of Yantai in Shandong Province, Ningxia Province and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China’s vast and remote far north west. They filmed vineyards in the shadow of the Great Wall and new vine plantings on the bleak, gravelly plains where Genghis Kahn was killed...."
3. Demeter China Association
Established in 2011 in Bejing "with the primary objective of promoting and coordinating the Biodynamic movement in China, to provide information and training on Biodynamic agriculture, to link up with the international Biodynamic movement and to interact with Demeter International and to promote and support the trade and commerce connected with Biodynamic agriculture in China."
USA:
1. Bio-Dynamic Association Resources on the principles and practices, biodynamic preparations, research, certification, and more
2. Demeter USA What makes a farm Biodynamic?
For a farm to refer to itself as Biodynamic, it must have achieved certification through Demeter by adhering to the Demeter Farm Standard for a minimum of three years if conventionally farmed, or a minimum of one year if organically farmed. The entire farm must be certified, not just a portion of land within the farm. Farms are inspected annually to ensure that the Standard is being met. More at Demeter FAQ
Historical Background
Philosophy in Germany during the second half of the nineteenth century was broadly identified with the theory of knowledge (Erkenntnistheorie). Natural science had overwhelmed all resistance, and since science was now the repository of all firm knowledge, the study of the sciences seemed to many the only task left, whether this was carried out in the guise of scientific epistemology or experimental psychology. But if science were the mode of knowing, then epistemology could only be a justification of the natural sciences, and would implicitly maintain their naturalistic viewpoint — that is, it would assume that all objects of knowledge are to be known according to the manner in which external nature is known, and would take the science of the day to be methodologically correct. Thus, prior to all investigation, this epistemology will rest on assumptions that prefigure the nature of the object of knowledge, and for that matter, the nature of the knowing subject. The dogmatism of such a position could only be recommended by someone already convinced of its authenticity...
Britain:
1. BioDynamic Association UK
The Biodynamic Movement in Britain, 2024 A History of the First 100 Years by Bernard Jarman (1:16:17) April 2, 2024
2. Biodynamic Association UK, April 1, 2023 So what happens when you put cow manure into a cow horn and bury it for six months over a winter period? Magic! It makes a biodynamic prep often referred to as Horn Manure preparation.
After the six months, the manure will have composted which can then be scraped out and stirred into water creating a super oxygenated liquid soil activator that is sprayed onto the soil adding rich biological nutrients. Research has shown this process to be an exceptionally fertile breeding ground for helpful soil bacteria and fungi.
It's a great way to give the health of your soil a boost and ultimately, stimulate plant growth whilst improving the overall health of the ecosystem. No poisons, all good stuff!
-More
Films and Videos HERE
Ireland
Biodynamic Agricultural Association of Ireland In cooperation with the UK work based learning program, some farms and gardens in Ireland now offer a two year accredited Biodynamic training. This is an Ofqual accredited, Crossfeilds Institute level 3 diploma in Biodynamic Farming and Gardening (VRQ), currently equivalent to a level 5 in the Republic of Ireland.
Sustainable agriculture offers solutions for future challenges connected to climate, environment, nutrition, health, economy and well being.
By training to work in biodynamic agriculture, you can be part of these solutions for the future!
Denmark
1. “So Much Good Awaits" - "Så meget godt i vente” - 2014 documentary
"Farming in accordance with spiritual laws."
Danish Poet, musician, and civil engineer, Niels Stokholm (1933-2022) was a BioDynamic farmer who became famous when the 2014 documentary film was shown at film festivals all over the world.
2. Save Our Soil SOS Australia Bio-Dynamic vs Organic Food, July 23, 2018 By Mark Rathbone, whose biodynamic vegetable farm produces 40 crops harvested throughout the year.
- What exactly is Bio-dynamics? . . . Similar to nature, bio-dynamics relies solely on humus to grow plants. The farmers are trained to know how soil biology works and use certain techniques to maintain and increase humus levels. - The goals of the bio-dynamic farmer include; • To grow the most nutritious plants possible and to build health for the end user.
• To use a closed farm system that has very little, if anything, brought onto the property to treat the soil or plant.
• To increase the humus bank in the soil, so there is enough for future crops. If there is a deficiency of elements or unusual climatic conditions then some substances may be needed to remedy a situation. In this case, permission must be received by the farmer from the certifying body, before proceeding. - How does bio-dynamics work? - What is humus? >>>more
Excerpt:
With help from the pioneering Australian farmers,
he [Alex Podolinsky] took the original impulse of Rudolf Steiner and developed a practical Biodynamic method…
During the late 1950s and early 1960s he founded the Bio Dynamic Agricultural Association of Australia, The Bio Dynamic Research Institute and registered the Demeter Trademark: Demeter Research Institute- Bio-Dynamic and Organic certification
Wikipedia overview of world wide Bio-Dynamic practice includes a brief history of Australian Bio-Dynamic development, chiefly referencing John Paull, BBSc, MEnvt, PhD, environmental scientist at the University of Tasmania's School of Land and Food, and distinguished expert on the history of biodynamic and organic agriculture.
Excerpt: In Australia, the first biodynamic farmer was Ernesto Genoni[24] who in 1928 joined the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners, followed soon after by his brother Emilio Genoni.[25] Ernesto Genoni's first biodynamic farm was at Dalmore, in Gippsland, Victoria, in 1933.[26] The following year, Ileen Macpherson and Ernesto Genoni founded Demeter Biological Farm at Dandenong, Victoria, in 1934 and it was farmed using biodynamic principles for over two decades.[27]
Bob Williams presented the first public lecture in Australia on biodynamic agriculture on 26 June 1938 at the home of the architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin at Castlecrag, Sydney.[28] Since the 1950s research work has continued at the Biodynamic Research Institute (BDRI)[29] in Powelltown, near Melbourne under the direction of Alex Podolinsky,[30] In 1989 Biodynamic Agriculture Australia was established, as a not for profit association. >>>more
Alex Podolinsky (13.07.1925 - 30.06.2019)
Australian Bio-Dynamic agriculture pioneer "My aim is to make our farmers observe what is happening on their farm and think biologically.
I see our farmers as creative composers."
– Alex Podolinsky, 2008 Peter Podolinsky, director of the Biodynamic Marketing Company (and son of Alex Podolinsky), explains that there are a number of reasons. "Biodynamic food is not expensive," he says, repeating what to him has become a well-used phrase. "It's just that conventional produce is too cheap. You see no farmer alive who will argue that they don't deserve more money for their produce. But farmers overproduce in the hope they will get more money, but in the process they actually drive down the price of their produce themselves." "Great sense of humus" The Age, May 27, 2008
Alex Sergei de Podolinsky was dynamic, vibrantly creative, artistic and actively perceptive. He was born in Baden-Baden (DE), his father was of Ukrainian noble descent, his mother was German. Alex had several siblings and a twin sister, Alika. ... Alex "realized that he wanted to be in a land of the sun"
Goetheanum Tribute
We can come to a point where we must question: “What is truth?” Within a man-made system of mathematics or philosophy, or very much, the “model” of conventional agricultural science, truth can acquire an absoluteness and a kind of finality. Not so, when dealing with the (outside of man) real world of Nature and Creation. …
Conclusion: This has been contributed from o p e n human observation of Nature brought to consciousness. It makes no “scientific” claim. I feel sorry for those who try to “prove” their theory in a “scientifically” acceptable way, able to be “published” in a recognised journal; a time and money consuming effort which ends up in archives, often never to really contribute. In such, little productive purpose can be found. – Alex Podolinsky, Bio-Dynamic Agricultural Association of Australia AGM 2007 - Third Session Address
Excerpt: "Australia’s 20 Million (on an area the size of Europe or the US mainland) contra to Kyoto agreement of 8% eventual pollution reduction –pollute to 30%. And scant notice is taken by Government Authorities – even to warnings of the CSIRO. There is hardly a university professor, or a senior 'public servant', or almost anybody who 'dares' say anything until, perhaps, after retirement. A system of funding by Government is in place, which “directs” virtually all 'individual' efforts and enslaves initiative. . . The way Australia is proceeding, it will, in 20 to 40 years, not be able to feed the present number of citizens. Certainly not healthily. (pp.3-4) . . .
The 57% Asians of the world population exist just outside our door.
We all live on one Earth. And we few inhabitants of the Australian continent (remember Graham Stephens report in the recent Newsletter on the Nitrate presence in NSW underground water - a danger to health), how have we affected and poisoned soils, crops and environment.
Forty years ago the Nitrate problem in underground water in the USA
was well recorded. We now have it here. Without doubt most of the NPK problems are induced by “fertiliser” run off ex biologically defunct soils without humus, unable to “hold” and utilize this NPK slowly. Blue-green algae is one result. Of all the people I know in various parts of Earth, there are very few with access to pure water deriving from springs, rivers or underground sources. In some highly populated countries, drinking water is unavailable for hours per day.
There are many people with sparsest access to water at all.
Australia will never be able to continue a policy of “US” . . . There are rattles round the globe. Isolationist or ego-centric policies will eventually fail. This has to be seriously considered. We know the situation – even in Australia – with water, with salt, with pesticides, weedicides. . . . And scant notice is taken by Government Authorities – even to warnings of the CSIRO >>> more
Abstract
Arguably one of Western esotericism’s most ambitious and widely influential thinkers, Rudolf Steiner (1861– 1925) has left an astonishing legacy of cultural products that continue to have influence beyond the institutional reach of Anthroposophy, the new religious movement he founded. One such legacy is his system of agriculture, known today as Biodynamic Agriculture, or Biodynamics. This method, combining a distrust of modern agro-chemical applications and a desire to spiritually as well as physically nourish the individual, is now disseminated in a range of industries, and is often applied in ways that have little to do with Anthroposophy or Steiner. The current fascination in the viticulture industry for Biodynamic methods serves as a useful example for exploring what Steiner believed and set out for farmers, as well as for highlighting how these techniques are used today. Lorand’s (1996) paradigm for understanding Biodynamic Agriculture is here used to frame a discussion utilising a production of culture perspective that looks at elements of culture as shaped by the system within which they created, promoted, taught, and appraised (Peterson 1976). In order to understand how and why an esoteric agricultural method is flourishing in the twenty-first century, its origins must first be examined.
The Scientific Basis of Bio-Dynamics By John Bradshaw, December 2009, Biodynamic Growing Magazine It matters not the source of the inspiration, the wild leap of imagination that may lead to new theories. No rational scientist would say:“I don’t know where that promising idea came from, I’d better not investigate it.”
FAQ:
As we are in the business of ‘energising’ rather than ‘fertilising’
... The Essence of Biodynamic Agriculture
The reason biodynamics works so well is that every aspect of the method, based on scientific understanding, meticulous experiments and extensive field trials, is focused on building and protecting essential soil life, the collective function of which in Nature is to convert organic matter and any free soluble elements into stable humus. This feeds plants as Nature intended, sun driven, not indiscriminately through the soil water charged with soluble fertilizers. The biodynamic preparations are powerful stimulators of biological activity in the soil, and when combined with associated biological agricultural practices, enable farmers and gardeners to produce food of the highest quality with minimal inputs....
Their critics call the practice "occult", labelling them followers of a quasi-religious movement. To their fans, they are the best food and wine producers in the country. The movement is gaining popularity with farmers, market gardeners and winemakers converting to biodynamics mainly because they eschew chemical fertilisers, hormones and pesticides.
Alex Podolinsky, the man considered by many to be the father of biodynamics in Australia, walks us through his shed at his property in a valley near Powelltown. Sacks filled with cow horns are stacked to the rafters. Previously the sacks were filled with fresh cow manure, buried in the earth over winter. Podolinsky reaches into a covered bin and pulls out a handful of "preparation 500". This used to be cow manure but has been transformed into a smooth, moist, dough-like substance that smells neutral. In it are billions of microbes and particles of trace elements that are to be stirred in water and sprayed over a farm, garden or vineyard. An erudite, effusive and energetic man in his 80s, Podolinsky spells out the differences between organics and biodynamics. While organic certification requires the exclusion of chemicals, biodynamics is about the creative input - treating humus to hold soil nutrients, he says. . .
At a Glance
Conventional: Artificial fertilisers and petrochemicals are applied to soil. Pests are controlled with chemical sprays while flowering and fruiting can be manipulated with chemical hormones.
Organic: Natural manures, composts, crushed rock and other natural compounds lift soil fertility while pests are controlled with natural compounds. No chemical, hormones or GM products.
Biodynamic: An extension of organic farming with a more holistic approach emphasising the interrelationship of soil, plants and animals.
1.
Biodynamic Faming & Compost Preparation
By Steve Diver - Agriculture Specialist
Feb. 1999, Demeter-usa.org (pdf)
Excerpt:
In a nutshell, biodynamics can be understood as a combination of "biological dynamic" agriculture practices. "Biological" practices include a series of well-known organic farming techniques that improve soil health. "Dynamic" practices are intended to influence biological as well as metaphysical aspects of the farm (such as increasing vital life force), or to adapt the farm to natural rhythms (such as planting seeds during certain lunar phases).
The concept of dynamic practice - those practices associated with non-physical forces in nature like vitality, life force, ki, subtle energy and related concepts - is a commonality that also underlies many systems of alternative and complementary medicine. It is this latter aspect of biodynamics which gives rise to the characterization of biodynamics as a spiritual or mystical approach to alternative agriculture. >>> more
2.
Perfect Compost:
A masterclass with Peter Proctor - Green Planet Films:
(DVD & eBook) Peter Proctor is New Zealand's father of biodynamic agriculture.
Compost is the fundamental element in all gardening & farming. This master class takes you through the compost making process from gathering and assembling your materials to creating the perfect compost heap.
Review:
SCIENCE in SOCIETY Archive Saving the World with Biodynamic Farming "The importance of marginal farmers in India using an emergent agricultural knowledge system against the corporate takeover of farms."
By Sam Burcher
January 2008 One farmer, one cow, one planet
What if the world were an apple? One quarter of the apple is land and the rest is water. Cut the land in half and put aside that which is deserts and mountains. Quarter what is left and the peel of one of those quarters represents the topsoil that must feed the whole world. This analogy illustrates how important it is to get the best out of the available soil to provide abundant and nutritious food for everyone on the planet [1].
Peter Proctor is a soil scientist who has worked with the stuff for over sixty years [2]. His favourite invertebrate is the earthworm, which he describes as “the unpaid servant of soil health” and his favourite animal is the cow because of all the dung it provides. Dung is something that Proctor prizes more highly than gold, jewels, fossil fuels, or many other natural resources. His recommendation for green-fingered gardeners and for the long term sustainability and security of global agricultural systems is the same: a complex preparation of medicinal plant material (see Box) added to compost, manure and slurry. The mineral enriched compost preparations lessen soil compaction, enhance the quality of topsoil, increase microbial activity and encourage earthworms. >>> more
