Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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Learning
In terms of educational background, organic farmers vary. Some have stud-
ied agriculture in college. Conventional agriculture is the only type taught,
according to Phil, Joel, and Steve. Several have mechanical or construction
backgrounds, such as Allen, Joel, and Rob, which is helpful in maintaining
farm equipment. Rob says, “Hell, I'll grow anything I want to grow if I put
my mind to it. Citrus is what I know the best.” Mary says, “I'm not topic
smart. I've got common sense. Everything I have learned is self-taught. So I
am not as likely to forget what I have learned.”
Steve is from New York, but he has “the equivalent of three years of ag
education at Iowa State. Most of the courses I took there were centered on
livestock and ag engineering.” Joel says that after high school he went to a
community college “and took an ag mechanics program, and then I went
into the Peace Corps in St. Lucia in the Caribbean for three years. Then I
came back and got my engineering degree and then came back to the farm.”
Phil got a degree in ag science and management in the seventies, but “didn't
learn of organic until probably the latter half of the eighties.”
Regardless of their formal education, these farmers are learning con-
stantly, as they fine-tune their farming techniques and tailor them for their
specific location. They actively seek information to answer their specific
cropping and livestock questions, and they apply new information to their
own on-farm experiments.
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adition
Allen Benson is the fourth generation to farm this part of the northeastern
Colorado plains. When asked, “Why are you in farming?” his dad, Cliff,
explained, “I like it better than anything else I've done.” His mom, Naioma,
replied, “Tradition. It's our land, our life. For the love of the land. It is
twenty-four hours a day. Farming determines your life: when you eat, the
number of children you have, when and if you can take a vacation, and so
on. It's an occupation and vocation.”
In Illinois, Joel grew up on a farm, and he wonders how long his family
will stay in farming. “My son is twelve and my daughter is eight. I don't
know. He likes tractors and stuff like that, but he doesn't say much about
it yet. They are young, and I won't push them into it. The only problem is
when you don't own the farm. That is always a question in the back of your
mind: are they going to get a chance on this place?” The region is starting
to feel the pressure of suburbanization creeping westward from Chicago,
making land prices soar.
