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Dollars in SA and cattle oiler or snake oil?



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>Sanetters,
>>
>>Beth's question is an important one...and not quite as simple as it might
>>seem.  Why is it alright for a farmer or market gardener to use the
>>information on the sanet "to make a buck" (i.e. improve the profitability of
>>his/her farming operation),  while it seems offensive to some that a
>>consultant should want to use information on the sanet to "make a buck" in
>>his/her consulting business?  The consultant is selling information which
>>he/she gathers here for free.   Kind of like a person who sells wild ginseng
>>roots that  are gathered for free!
>>
>>I'm not sure what the answer is!  It  IS hypocritical to be offended by the
>>concept of  making a profit, and be an advocate of sustainable agriculture
>>(which must be profitable to be sustainable, most people would agree).
>>
>> Advertisements for products and services?  I find them VERY annoying on the
>>WWW. But  farmer-to-farmer networks often specialize in  marketing spare
>>parts,  special products, etc.
>>
>>Anyway, there is certainly no excuse for anyone treating fellow sanetters
>>rudely.
>>
>>
>>Ray Weil
>>
>
>Beth's message was:
>>
>>>And I 'third' this one - as a matter of fact, I had been meaning to bring
>>>this up to the group - with so much (valuable) information being exchanged
>>>here, I think there needs to be some kind of ethical system in place.
>>>
>>>Some of you may recall my recent query about info on organic stats -  a
>>>fellow who works for an agricultural consulting company offered to do the
>>>research job for me (at a price) and was very brusque when I said, thanks
>>>but we have no money! - while he IN THE SAME BREATH was trying to get info
>>>on compost starters (for free) from me! A bit cheeky, I though...
>>>
>>>So the question is, what do we as a group/community do about this kind of
>>>thing? After all, they say that in the information age 'info is money' and
>>>while we may be sharing our information in the best spirit of mutual
>>>support, there are parasitical people amongst us who are NOT sharing in the
>>>same spirit.... and are yet trying to make a buck off what we give them...
>>>I for one am not into supporting more exploitation.
>>>
>>>Any thoughts?
>>>
>>>Beth
>>>
>>>
>>Ray R. Weil
>>Professor of Soil Science
>>1103 H.J. Patterson Hall
>>University of Maryland
>>College Park, MD 20742
>>USA
>>
>>telephone: 301 405 1314
>>FAX:       301 314 9041
>>e-mail:	   rw17@umail.umd.edu
>>
>>
>>-------- End original message --------
>>
>>
>Ray R. Weil
>Professor of Soil Science
>1103 H.J. Patterson Hall
>University of Maryland
>College Park, MD 20742
>USA
>
>telephone: 301 405 1314
>FAX:       301 314 9041
>e-mail:	   rw17@umail.umd.edu
>
>
Ray R. Weil
Professor of Soil Science
1103 H.J. Patterson Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
USA

telephone: 301 405 1314
FAX:       301 314 9041
e-mail:	   rw17@umail.umd.edu