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Small Farm Talk
Andrew Stevens Editor Are You One Of The |
They are not trying to take advantage of their customers to make quick profits; they are trying to create long-term relationships. They market to people who care where their food comes from and how it is produced – locally grown, organic, natural, humanely raised, hormone and antibiotic free, etc. – and, they receive premium prices by producing what their customers value. Their farms are more profitable as well as more ecologically sound and socially responsible. These new farmers challenge the stereotype of the farmer as a fiercely independent competitor. They freely share information and encouragement. They form partnerships and cooperatives to buy equipment, to process and market their products, to do together the things that they can’t do as well alone. They are not trying to drive each other out of business; they are trying to help each other succeed. They refuse to exploit each other for short-run gain; they are trying to build long-term relationships. They buy locally and market locally. They bring people together in positive, productive relationships that contribute to their economic, ecological and social well being. Finally, to these new farmers, farming is as much a way of life as a way to make a living. They are “quality of life” farmers. To them, the farm is a good place to live – a healthy environment, a good place to raise a family and a good way to be a part of a caring community. Many of these farms create economic benefits worth tens of thousands of dollars, in addition to any reported net farm income. For these farmers, their “quality of life” objectives are at least as important as the economic objectives in carrying out their farming operations. Their farming operations reflect the things they like to do, the things they believe in and the things they have a passion for, as much as the things that might yield profits. However, for many, their products are better and their costs are less because by following their passion they end up doing what they do best. Most new farmers are able to earn a decent income, but more important, they have a higher quality of life because they are living a life that they love. Copyright © 2007 American Small Farm. All rights reserved. |
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“We are witnesses to the end of an era in American agriculture. Some go so far as to call it the “end” of the American farm. Agriculture, at least as we have known it, may well be coming to an end.” These were comments made by John E. Ikerd at the Ohio Ecological Farm and Food Association conference earlier this year. Ikerd is a professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Ikerd continued by saying that this picture of the future may not seem very pretty, but it is a real possibility. The same basic trends now dominate agriculture in all of the developed economies of the world. If there is to be a bright future for farming in America, we will have to paint a new picture – a picture of the “new American farm.” The economic problems that today confront individually owned and operated small businesses are all direct consequences of consolidation of economic power and control during the industrial era. And nowhere are these social, ecological and economic problems more evident than on American farms. While there are no “blueprints” for the New American Farm, some basic characteristics are emerging. First, these farmers see themselves as stewards of the earth. They are committed to caring for the land and protecting the natural environment. They work with nature rather than try to control or conquer nature. They fit the farm to their land and climate rather than try to bend nature to fit the way they might prefer to farm. Their farming operations tend to be more diversified than are conventional farms – because nature is diverse. Diversity may mean a variety of crop and animal enterprises, crop rotations and cover crops, or managed livestock grazing systems, depending on the type of farm. By managing diversity, these new farmers are able to reduce their dependence on pesticides, fertilizers and other commercial inputs that squeeze farm profits and threaten the environment. Their farms are more economically viable, as well as more ecologically sound, because they farm in harmony with nature. Second, these new farmers build relationships. They tend to have more direct contact with their customers than do conventional farmers. Most either market their products direct to customers or market through agents who represent them with their customers. They realize that as consumers each of us value things differently because we have different needs and different tastes and preferences. They produce the things that their customers value most, rather than try to convince their customers to buy whatever they produce.
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