Farmers philosophies

Organic / Sustainable / Renewable / Fair Trade / Fairly Traded…et al Agriculture seems to be locked in a struggle with what has latterly become Conventional Agriculture when you listen to farmers discussing the merits or demerits of management systems.

In South Africa the word “Organic” is cynically used by retailers and wholesalers as a marketing slogan for products and goods of all description.
They have done this to the point that using the word has almost reached negative connotations in the mind of the general public

These two forces of perception are very difficult trends to buck in particular when one’s agricultural and marketing principles demand that you measure your principles against a standard.
That standard for Roux Pecans and Ramah Farm being, those guidelines in law as prescribed by the EU and Switzerland to use the word “Organic/Bio” to prove annually that we have conformed to those minimum requirements. We have done this for more than 10 years now.

There is no question that the “bottom line” is important and a motivation in farming. Any kind of farming.

Does the end justify the means, or do the means justify the end?

To this extent, it is a question of philosophy.
Since World War II, farmers have been trained, schooled and coerced into a system of agricultural production that demands and respects those farmers/agriculturalists who are at the cutting edge of “bottom line first” systems.

The excesses of this post WWII mindset do worry conscientious farmers but, it is difficult to “unlearn” taught “truths”. The fear of changing a paying, successful method for a different philosophy in agriculture is a very difficult process.
I can vouch for this personally.
It flies in the face of banking norms and expectations with the resulting skepticism and loan withholding.
It flies in the face of institutional academic agriculture funded by and large by commercial interest groups that target the students of these institutions.
Peer pressure or community norms in the family of farmers cannot be underestimated.

Then on top of this come the labels, chief of which “Organic”.
It is like joining the other team and now the process of justification begin and the arguments for and against.

These discussions become tedious, meaningless and irrational.
Until, it dawns that it is not a competition but a philosophy or force of conscience, and that even Certification to a standard is just a test of progress along path.

This realization has eased the tension in opening discussions about different ways to farm and live in agriculture.
It removes the confrontation and, with enquiring, intelligent fellow farmers it sets in motion a new or different style of discussion.

Typically I get asked “What is “Organic” agriculture?”
“What is better, a genetically modified potato against a virus or one that may decay before consumption?” ………..and so on.
There are many such confrontational opening lines.

I find them easy to answer now.
“It is not a competition between systems or farmers. You do as you please. The consequences of what you do is what makes it interesting.”

This is usually a good time to open a good bottle of wine.