Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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- then that is when your yield comes fourth.' He said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Except for you, everyone else is yield first!' And we went back and forth on
that. He knew what he was doing, I will give him that. But he could have
tried some other things.”
For his oral exam to earn his master's degree, “I just said a prayer, and
said God, obviously I can't remember everything, so please only let them
ask questions about what I know. So I just took those three courses of the
professors that were there and studied their material real hard. So I really hit
the nitrogen cycle hard. He just drilled me on it. And I knew pretty much
all of it. I looked like a champion. I think he was surprised. And one started
asking me about composting, and that was right down my alley because I
do composting. And then just a few more questions. So I got the thing. It
is not on the wall here, but it is somewhere in the office. But I don't think I
am going to bother with the Ph.D. I think I am done. In fact, I know I am
done.”
Joel is running an experiment on his cattle with various feeds. “I have a
grant that I amworking on right now with feeding trials with beef. The idea
is to have the flavor and taste of grain fed with the low cholesterol of grass
fed. And the numbers look very good. Iowa State University is doing the
testing for me. I tried at U of I, but that wasn't on their agenda. They haven't
changed, nope, not in that respect. I thought it would be nice to work with
my alma mater, but they are still wearing their chemical glasses.” Joel is
keenly aware of the problems of modern industrial agriculture. Describing
organic methods, he notes, “Well, we should get more of us doing this, but it
is like pulling teeth. My one neighbor said if he doesn't do well this year, he's
going under. He won't even consider organic. He won't even say the word
organic
. I don't think I have ever heard him mention it. Hey, take twenty
acres and just try it. See what happens. You can always sell the beans on
the conventional market if it is a failure. If you are running twelve hundred
acres, you can find ten acres somewhere. You won't lose money because you
are not putting the expenses into it. That is what people don't realize. You
don't have the money for fertility costs and that. You just do a rotation.”
The yield versus profit dilemma is clear-cut for Joel. “Everyone around
me, I think, is farming over a thousand acres. So one of my goals is to
make as much money - net - as the guy farming a thousand acres. I hope I
can attain it. I know I will. That is my goal on three hundred acres. And I
know that is going to be possible.”He is often asked to advise newer organic
farmers. “You have got to get the small grains or alfalfa into your rotation.
I tell them not to be looking at yield. Look at your bottom line. How much
you spent on fertility, how much you worked the ground, and all of those
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