Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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to do things. There is this one man who I call my organic coach. I go to
the meetings early and find him, sit down, and tell him what I am doing.”
In New York, Steve agrees. “My main sources of information seem to be
other farmers. I've found since we started going organic in 1990 that there
seems to be more extension people out there with interest and knowledge
on organics. Local USDA people have no knowledge on organics and show
no interest in learning as we're the only organic farm in the county. We're
always looking for info on controlling a couple of insects.”
Sharing information can have positive and negative aspects, however, as
Mary describes helping a new organic farmer in citrus. “People take up years
of our time. There was one that took up three years. At least twice a week,
four hours a day. We don't mind helping you. But listen, this is getting a
little old. And then as soon as they get certified, guess what they do? Stab
you right in the back, and I don't have time for that.”
In Colorado, Naioma describes a common issue in terms of sharing
information on organic markets. “It's not cut-throat. It's just we work hard
to developmarkets, sowe don't go there.We don't talk about it.”Their phone
bills are high because they contact so many various brokers, distributors,
and wholesalers to reach a price and product agreement. She says, “In this
atmosphere you guard your buyers. Even my brother and I don't share this
information - so what are you moving, millet or wheat? There is no sense
in me asking, because I'm not going to tell him next time he asks me what
I'm moving. Yes, it is very, very competitive.”
In California, Phil agrees that information is both shared and kept per-
sonal. “I think organic farmers used to share a lot more information. It
is becoming more like conventional, where people are guarding their in-
formation. There is competition out there. People are being careful about
being free with their information. In the early nineties, there was a lot more
camaraderie; there was a lot more information sharing. There are still things
that come up. It would still be nice to share information, but at least we have
a lot of stuff we have learned over the years. When problems come up, we
can usually figure some things out on our own.”
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Risk
Clearly it takes a certain acceptance of risk to try something as different
as organic farming when all your neighbors are conventional farmers. Es-
pecially with information on organic methods relatively hard to come by,
these farmers must be independent and confident. The Bensons agree that
risk is part of the game in organic farming. Cliff says,“Some of the decisions
I made when I was younger and, as I look back at it, really worked well. It
