   A Visit to Wendell Berry’s Farm - August 2, 2006 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Associate Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County During the week of July 23 to 28, 2006, I attended the National Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is a gathering of about 2,000 County Agents from across the nation where we share successes and develop educational strategies for the future. These are my colleagues from across the nation and its territories and they represent a diverse array of educational expertise that includes crops, horticulture, forestry, animal science, and youth programs. I attended a sustainable agriculture field tour that traveled to northern Kentucky where our first stop was Wendell Berry’s farm in Port Royal. For those that don’t know, Mr. Berry is a well-known essayist/novelist, farmer, conservationist, and teacher. Many of his essays and works of non-fiction focus on locally-based agriculture, community connectedness, and land stewardship. Upon arrival, he greeted each of us individually and invited us down to the shore of the Kentucky River where he spoke for about 15 minutes regarding his views on today’s agricultural practices and how these must change if we are to succeed as a society in the future. Wendell Berry was born in 1934 and has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English. He has taught at New York University and the University of Kentucky. In 1965, he and his wife bought the Lane’s Landing Farm along the Kentucky River where they still live today. Mr. and Mrs. Berry are descended from five generations of farmers that lived and worked in this area. Lane’s Landing was a gathering place and shipping point for goods prior to the construction of railroads in the area. In the past, their 125 acre farm produced tobacco, corn, and small grains for livestock feed. Today, they grow grass to feed a flock of sheep, vegetables for their consumption, and timber for fuel wood. Mr. Berry made several points in his short talk to us. One was how current agricultural practices are increasingly reliant on inputs of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and fossil fuels and favor large monocultures. Corporate farming has replaced small diversified family farms and many of the crops we consume are imported from foreign countries. We have very likely seen the end of inexpensive fossil fuel and transport costs will drive prices even higher. In addition, fewer young people are involved in farming and agricultural knowledge is being lost to attrition. Corporate farming has also impacted small communities. Local businesses were once dependent on relationships between neighbors which included local farmers and a diverse array of crops sold in local markets. These relationships have eroded as big box stores with lower prices now dominate many of our communities. Even organic food production guidelines have been designed to fit a corporate farming model. In Yavapai County, small farms are being lost due to economic forces that value property based on urban development potential rather than goods and services provided to the community. The way I heard it, Mr. Berry sees the future of agriculture in smaller, diversified farms. These farms must be based on soil conservation and sustainable production practices. From the soil grows plants whose roots stabilize and decompose to provide organic matter. Grass is one of the best plants for this. From the grass comes feed for grazing animals that process it to create protein for our consumption and manure to again enrich the soil. In cold climates, winter feed must also be grown to sustain the animals when grass is not available. Vegetable crops should also be grown and preserved to provide year-round food. In his opinion, smaller, diversified farms are the key to our sustainable future. What is more important to our day to day lives than food? Mr. Berry stayed with our tour through lunch. He was quiet and unassuming. However, throughout the day, you could feel the influence he had on other local farmers. Among Wendell Berry’s writings on agriculture and sustainable communities are: The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture (1978); The Gift of Good Land; Further Essays Cultural and Agricultural (1981); The Art Of The Commonplace The Agrarian Essays Of Wendell Berry (2002); and others. He has also written books of poetry, short stories, and several novels. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information on gardening and pest control. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 ext. 14 or E-mail us at cottonwoodmg@yahoo.com and be sure to include your address and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or submit column ideas at the Backyard Gardener web site: http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. |