Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
We have also demonstrated that it is important to have different ways of produc-
ing a product and different models for the ways of being a farmer/orchardist because
choice and redundancy make for greater resilience. A greater range of types of peo-
ple with a variety of knowledge and backgrounds will enter farming/orcharding if
there are different models or ways of being a good farmer/orchardist. In the kiwifruit
sector this is more apparent because people becoming kiwifruit orchardists come
from many different backgrounds and experiences. They bring these experiences
with them (Hunt
2009a
) and seek acceptable ways of using this knowledge to do
something different. For example, in the first quote below an organic orchardist
describes the practices of his neighbor, while the following two give their reasons
for having “tidy” orchards.
I might mow here three times a year. I give the neighbor this side [a hard time]. He's just got
a new mower and it's like a bowling green, you know [
] got an hour to spare and he's
out killing the place. But to me, the longer grass - there's creatures in it as well, you know -
bugs and birds and bits and pieces running round out there [
:::
] (male, organic orchardist).
I try to run a pretty good hygiene program on my orchard [
:::
] keeping the canopy
very tidy, and keeping the floor of the canopy tidy. No high weeds that will form a bridge
for insects to multiply. Mowing my orchard often, but not too often [
:::
:::
](male,IPM
orchardist).
[
:::
] [the] shelter's nice and trimmed and it's even [
:::
] being tidy is important to me
:::
that's part of the health of the place, I believe (male, IPM orchardist).
Organic farming doesn't happen in isolation - organic orchardists have neighbors.
The orchardists here contribute to the resilience of orcharding by being sources
of diversity as the first orchardist provides an alternative way of looking after his
orchard from the other two. The quotes also show redundancy - orchards do not
exist just for the purpose of growing kiwifruit. In the first quote, other things are
allowed to exist alongside the kiwifruit vines! In the other quotes the orchardists
get satisfaction from the tidiness of their orchards. In terms of good farming, the
quotes also demonstrate that all models are socially acceptable - in the first the
two neighbors appear to have a relationship such that they can tease each other and
they presume that each is a “good” orchardist (Hunt
2010
). In addition, an owner
of an orchard has access to many different ways of getting the work done on the
orchard, all supported by the kiwifruit industry structure. For example, the owner
may do much of the work just getting in contract labor for the big pruning jobs, or
the owner may only mow the orchard and have a manager who organizes the rest of
the work. An owner may live on the orchard or may live anywhere in the world!
The protocols surrounding kiwifruit growing are fairly narrow so it is important
that people are still able to see themselves as autonomous, having choices. In
dairying, a focus on giving status to those who produce the most milk solids (and
therefore earn the most) is dominant (Jay
2007
) and as organic production is likely to
be considerably less productive (Greer and Hunt
2011
), this can result an “outsider”
status being assigned to organic dairy farmers, as the following, contrasting quotes
indicate, even though in practice, the premium structure may mean that they earn
just as much as a conventional farmer.
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