From jgruv@wam.umd.edu Tue Nov 2 00:11:15 1999 Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 19:16:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Joel Brooks Gruver To: sanet Subject: spirituality as the foundation of sustainable agriculture Hello to all... Debate about what motivates farmers to choose management practices is a perennial thread that will weave its way through the SANET archives as long as SANET exists... The recent request for discussion about how spirituality relates to sustainable agriculture has motivated me to share a few thoughts. I think that "spirituality" is at the root of why farmers develop and adopt stewardship oriented management systems. While economics and government regulations are certainly key factors that drive managment decisions, I believe that nearly all farmers that have developed and adopted "stewardship oriented management systems" (not just select conservation management practives) are motivated by a deep conviction that they are farming in a way that is good for their land. When I use the term "stewardship oriented management systems", I am refering to management systems implemented by farmers that at some level, are consciously attempting to sustain and/or improve their farms natural resource base. These farmers may not be familiar with the lingo of ecology, yet they use management systems that both benefit from ecosystem processes and maintain the integrity of these processes. I recommend that all of you read the following publication: Moore, P., Nopar, D., Paddock, J. and R. Kroese. 1988. Excellence in agriculture : interviews with ten Minnesota stewardship farmers. Land Stewardship Project, Stillwater, MN, 105p. Some of the interviewed farmers are organic, others are not... all use management practices that they think are good for their land. Many of the farmers are religious people that are guided in their stewardship of the land by their religious principles. Stewardship farmers make management decisions that are constrained by economic and regulatory realities... however, the dominant constraint which bears upon every management decision is their sense of right and wrong. An individuals sense of right and wrong may be grounded in a specific religious tradition, in core convictions arrived at through self-discovery or any number of influences. The bottom line is that one's sense of right and wrong is something spiritual that is beyond profit, survival of the fittest or fear of punishment. I think that some of the activists in the organic movement would be very surprised if they had a conversation with some of the long term no-till farmers that I collaborated with during my Masters degree research on farmer perceptions of soil quality. These farmers are deeply interested in stewardship of their land and are fervent believers that they have greatly improved the soils on their farm through long-term no-till (with herbicides and synthetic fertilizers). My analysis of their soils showed that nearly all the long-term no-till soils had high levels of soil health indicator parameters e.g. organic matter and microbial biomass and aggregate stability. As in any business, some farmers are guided in their actions by strong principles while others are trying to get away with whatever they can. I accept that different farmers have different concepts of the best management practices for their land. Sustainability is inherently diverse in form. Farmers, scientists, politicians, people... that are not guided in their actions by strong principles are the bane of sustainability. Joel Gruver Soil Quality Research University of MD To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail