WSP05005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

, ". '~'. rrt'J~'4''79 tions for agriculture. It is obvious to many sustain- able agriculture proponents that a sustainableecon- omy will depart from current economic theory. Today's economic models fail to be inclusive; air, water, topsoil, and rural culture continue to be externalized costs in the wake of progress, yet most agricultural economists debate sustainable innova- tions within these models. In doing so, the models dilute the merits of the innovations. Fred Kirschen- mann, a farmer from North Dakota and keynote speaker of the conference, calls this "the fallacy of reductionism. ~ Without a broader examination of how agricultural alternatives relate to ecological, social, political, and economic factors, how can sus- tainable agriculture really serve change? At the Center for Rural Affairs, Chuck Hasse- brook's perspective is that 'agricultural research , policy is a forin of social planning. To ensure that cultural change is positive, public policy and the research it ultimately funds must be reconsidered and directed to meet the ends we desire. Ifwe wish to reward stewardship, then we ought to design policies to meet that end. Jim Moseley's point that agriculture based on an urban agenda will literally erode the faming base should be kept in mind. This requires that farmers be leaders in the democratic process and not solely participants. Agriculture policy without the farmer's perspective wiIl only lead to increased regulation. Cpuck Francis spoke with the interns later this faIl after the conference. He told about the excite- ment that grew on the second day when the program was dedicated to sharing success stories about build- ing networks and transferring information to farm- ers. Representative from Practical Farmers of Iowa, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATrRA), the N ationalAgricultureLibrary, and , dozens of other organizations, both conventional and alternative, presented their ideas and exciting results of innovative strategies to exchange information. Three concurrent sessions illuminated new informa- tional sources, transitional processes, and on-farm demonstrations. The alternative agriculture move- ment has improved the means by which farmers can tap educational resources. By employing new meth- ods of education and extension, a change has oc- curred in the direction that information flows. Verti- ca dissemination is being replaced by cyclical trans- fers of information and technology. On-farm demon- strations and cooperative experiments between researchers and farmers attest to dialectic move- ments of information, showing how improvements of farming methods no longer need to move from re- searcher through extension to the farmer. Coopera- tive efforts such as on-farm research begin a conver- sation in which all parties participate. Perhaps increasing opportunities for farmers to speak with researchers will lead to the creation of technologies to fit the farm and not force the farm to fit the technology. As Fred Kirschenmann succinctly puts it:" A farm is not a factory and a cow is not a, production unit..' What has led us to this perception, he holds, is that our abstractions concerning reality are flawed. Whe!1 we attempt to conform reality (the farm) to our abstractions (farm models), we fail, because we rely on our incomplete models too heavily. The interns left Lincoln after the second day to complete the biculture harvest, but theSANR confer- ence continued. Chuck informed me that'team building during the third day greatly improved communication among supporting members of sus- tainable agriculture. Teams were formed by geo- graphical region, and members included people involved in 'all levels of sustainable agriculture: non- profit organizations, SCS, extension, researchers and farmers. Better communication may begin to inspire new directions and a possible agenda for change. I went to the SANR conference wearing two different shoes, one of a Land Institute intern, the other that of a land grant aggie alumnus. From ,my first perspective, I agreed with Ron Kroese, executive director of the Land Stewardship Project, who pointed out at the conference that rural and fann advocacy groups plust take the lead in critiquing conventional agriculture as the institutions that benefit from the system and perpetuate it will not work for change. From my othet"perspective, I am encouraged that a slow evolution is happening in the land grants even though the sustainable agricultural movement did not begin there. Seventeen land grant universities now have some sort of sustainable agriculture program. But public discussion about the role of the land grants in sustainable agriculture must continue.. ' The effort to transform agriculture and trans- 'late fundamental values into a guiding policy are vital. Ron Kroese' suggests that non-government organizations can take on the work of imagining and inspiring "positive cultural change.. For example, the LSP works with religious groups to foster change and empower farmers. On an individual level, we can be inspired by Harlyn Meyers, a vegetable grower from California, who spoke at the conference in Lincoln. She feels that an affirmation offeminine values and the culti- vation of healthy relationships between earth, agri- culture, and society will move agriculture to sustaina- bility. The Land Institute would add to this the importance oflearning from natural ecosystems. The interns returned to Salina-where a biculture of eastern gamagrass and Illinois bundle- flower awaited harvesting hands-without a solid defmition of sustainable agriculture. But the confer- ence proved, nevertheless, that enough of a common understanding exists for the work to go forward. . ~ , ~ 1 ! , 15