Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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these weeds here and not over here? But you will see the weed patterns
change as the years go by. I have seen it.”
On their Florida grove, Mary says, “To properly maintain your trees and
have a quality product, you need the mineralization, you need a cover crop
for the nitrogen, and then some people think doing nothing is organic.”
Rob says, “We have the best dirt in the state for citrus. They call it the Fruit
Land Peninsula.”He says that his methods ensure that he'll have “nice good-
looking dirt” year after year. Allen describes some of his family's Colorado
farm: “This is good ground here.” His father, Cliff, says, “Buckwheat builds
fertility in the ground.”
In Illinois, Joel adds compost to increase his soil's fertility. “I do all of
my own composting. I compost all my manures, except the soupy stuff if
we get a lot of rain. But I generally combine it with high Calcium Lime and
then sheet compost it for the winter.” One of the college courses he took
“really helped me understand what is going on. Before, I knew maybe half;
I didn't really know why. So now I understand why.” Joel, like most organic
farmers, relies on compost to increase soil fertility. So in terms of costs, “You
figure that I have spent so much less on inputs, because my whole fertility
program is my compost and high Calcium Lime.” In California, too, Phil
says, “We make our own on-farm compost. We make two thousand tons
of compost a year. We have a compost turner.” Steve says that for his New
York crops, soil fertility is achieved with cover crop. “Our biggest one is red
clover and all of our small grains. We seed it basically when we plant barley
in the spring. Or if we planted wheat the fall before, we'll frost seed some
clover.”
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Weather and climate conditions play a crucial role in the management of
organic farms. For Florida citrus, Rob explains the impact of freezing tem-
peratures: “We could lose everything we've got in one night. We were right
on the borderline a week ago. I've got all early fruit here, and when I start
the month of December, I don't care if it takes twenty-four hours a day, I'm
going to get it off those trees and sell it as fast and as hard as I can. If I run
myself into the ground like I am right now, so be it, because it takes one
night and you are out of business. I would rather know I have the bread in
hand than have it sitting out here frozen on a tree, not worth a nickel and
watch it drop to the ground.”
In Colorado, where precipitation is only thirteen inches a year, and May
hailstorms are common, Allen says simply, “Mother Nature decides what
