Proper manure
{Continued from Page 21]
supporters, evidence of the
above statement is “visible
everywhere”. They
proposed that "“the mixed
farm, adapted to the
ecosystem, is the basic unit
of a healthy rural area,
guaranteeing the self
renewing and lasting fer
tility of the land. They add
farther that biodynamic and
organic farms that are
founded on a way of thinking
that is in tune with living
forces, have had significant
success in combatting the
many weaknesses and
negative side effects which
are supposedly found in.
present production methods.
Furthermore, they claim
that “the threats to the
environment that might
stem from agriculture
cease, the quality of the
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The “threats” Koepf and
his cohorts see in present
farming methods are
primarily chemicals and
production trends which will
stress the soil beyond its
limits. Koepf claims that
pushing the soil beyond its
natural production limits is
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and other “crutches.”
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methods he suggests is that
dairy and livestock farmers
store and compost their
animal manures if they want
to. get the most out of it and
that they begin to save the
urine portions as well, rather
than allowing them to drain
away. “Proper manure
handling on the farm implies
storage,” the professor
lectured.
The primary concern of a
biodynamic approach to
agriculture, Keopf said, is
over the inputs which are
required to maintain fertility
of the soii and nutritional
quality in the goods which
are harvested from it. Along
with it are considerations for
the environment, energy,
and the national economy.
“Try to build a self
sustaining farm with local
resources,’.’ he advocated.
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The biodynamic approach
to agriculture considers the
soil not just from an
agricultural viewpoint, but
from its mineral content as
well.-The idea, says Koepf, is
the look at the complete
picture and then work with
the soil in such a Why so that
natural balances are
maintained.
“The fatal error,” Koepf
went on, is believing that the
problems of production have
been solved.” He says that
man too often has the illusion
that he has unlimited power
over Nature. That is just not
true, warns the foreign
professor.
Many farmers today are
forced to grow “good” crops
because of the economic
pressures they’re faced
with, Koepf explained, and
their top production is
frequently harvested at the
soil’s expense.
Asked about weed control,
Koepf quipped: “Weed
control means proper plant
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday. September 3,1977
husbandry, which is
cultivation.” The professor
was also questioned on
sludge utilization, to which
he replied: “It should not be
used beyond what’s
produced on the farm.”
One Pennsylvania-farmer
who tries to live by the
concepts embraced by Koepf
and his cohorts is Paul
Keene, owner and operator
of Walnut Acres in Snyder
County. The subject of the
last three articles of this
series on organic farming,
Keene’s philosophy is to
know and control each of his
fields as best he can with his
own resources. It doesn’t
work completely, however,
since he doesn’t have enough
manure coming from his
livestock to fertilize all of his
cropland. He beats that
problem by utilizing all of
the “wastes” from his
cannery and occasionally
buying manure from other
farmers in the area. A third
alternative - and a regular
part of his program - in
volves plowing cover crops
under every third or fifth
year.
A former manager of one
of the farms at the Kim
faerton Farm School when he
lived there as a student,
Keene says of his farm;
“We’re getting the soil back
into a natural balance.”
Among other things, he
believes that a proper
balance is Nature’s way of
enabling plants to resist
insect attacks. “We don’t
have to spend much time
controlling insects here,” he
told Lancaster Farming in
an interview this Summer.
Paraphrasing Goethe, the
German philosopher and
writer, Keene says that if a
person lives by Nature’s
laws and respect them, he’ll
258 million eggs layed
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1977, up one per cent from
the previous month and two
per cent above a year
earlier, according to the
Pennsylvania Crop
Reporting Service.
The July average of 12.5
million layers was two per
cent above a year earlier.
Egg production per 100
lavers during July totaled
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be happy and healthy.
However, if you go against
them, then whatever hap
pens to you is your own fault.
“It’s on that basis that we’ve
been operating,” Keene
explained.
Keene believes that in
sects, for example, have a
'proper place in Nature’s
scheme of things. He sees
them as a means by which
weak plants are destroyed
and only the strong ones
survive. If a plant is infested
by bugs, Keene believes it’s
because of a weakness with
that plant. A good plant
husbandryman should then
ask himself “What have I
done wrong to have a weak
plant?” According to sup
porters of this theory, the
bugs are the plant diseases
are preceded by weaknesses
in the soil or plant itself.
Keene related how he once
had several rows of squash
painted, and one - just one
row - was attacked by in
sects. His explanation is that
that particular row was
weak and Nature did not
want it to produce seeds.
Again, it’s simply a matter
of survival for the fittest.
The organic farmer’s
theory is that a declme in the
health of the soil is also a
decline in the amount of
organic matter within it.
Keene acknowledges that
some soils are deficient or
better than others, and
admits his own farm isn’t up
to the standard he’d like to
see someday.
“We’ve been taught to
strive for quantity, but there
are things which are more
important than that such as
quality or balance,” Keene
remarked.
More on this subject will
appear in upcoming issues of
Lancaster Farming.
2,058 eggs, compared with
2,043 a year ago.
The nation’s laying flocks
produced 5.3 billion eggs
during July 1977, up two per
cent from the previous
month but three per cent
below a year ago. The
number of layers during
July averaged 266.7 million,
compared with 269.8 a year
earlier. Egg production per
100 layers was one per cent
below July 1976.
PH: 717-299-2571
29