Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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crawling in a bin to clean it out and getting knocked down by a chemical
that's been left in there. It's good without that stuff around.”
Since they are organic farmers, they are not experts in chemical use, as
Naioma explains: “When you get out of the mode of chemicals, and we've
been out since the seventies, you are just out.We got a survey froma chemical
company, something like - do you recognize our product? What's the label
color for Roundup? It went on and on, a real intense survey. And I thought,
boy, have you hit the wrong people!” Allen agrees. “Well, the telemarketers
call and try to sell you a chemical, too. You tell them you are organic and,
click, they hang right up.”“And all themoney the chemical companies spend
on advertisements!” Naioma exclaims.
The Bensons are outside the conventional system and have developed a
complex farming operation with crop rotations, on-farm cleaning, loading
of grain, and extra “custom”work that Allen does for other farmers. First, in
terms of their crops, Allen explains, “Mother Nature does the best thing for
the rotation - controls it. I don't know what the rotation will be. It depends
ontheyearandifIhavewildgrass[weeds].Ijustplayitbyear.”Cliffsays
they do whole-year rotations rather than multiple crops within the same
year. This is due to the fragile ecology of this region; little rain, high winds,
short growing season, and thin soils add up. Allen describes a few of their
crops: “Buckwheat is a seventy-day crop; millet is ninety.” Cliff always has a
light-hearted comment to describe a rough reality. “You stub your toe, why,
then you wait until next year. That's why they call it 'next year country.' ”
Their crops are unusual for the area and ever changing. Cliff fondly
describes one crop: “Have you seen buckwheat? Black like a little coal and
then when it starts blooming in the summertime the whole field looks
like it'd snowed. It turns white.” Allen adds, “Looks like it snowed in July.”
Naioma says, “We were the first to plant buckwheat in Colorado. Cliff and I
went clear to Dakota to get the seed and so then didn't know how to handle
it and had to do a lot of calling around.” Naioma turned to her husband.
“I think you talked to someone in Tennessee on how and when to harvest.”
Cliff says, “I talked to several people around the United States, trying to
figure out how to handle it.” Bringing the conversation back to the present,
Naioma reiterates, “But it does bloom a beautiful white. It stays white for
ages. We have people pull in the yard, and they stop and jerk out a plant
and ask us, 'What is this stuff?' Any more of those people and we won't
have anything left of it!” Allen turns to the practical side of the buckwheat
crop. “It's an excellent green manure,” meaning it can be plowed under to
fertilize the soil. Cliff says, “Well, they said it was real fertile for the ground;
builds fertility in the ground. So when it volunteers the next year, we let it
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