NC

"Plow Sharing"

A monthly newsletter devoted to sustainable farming practices ecological principles, and increasing the profitability of our farming community.

August, 2000 Issue

Controlling Weeds and Pests
Organic Food Boom: 10% of European Farms Will Be Organic by 2005
Small Scale Sustainable Hog Producers Forum Reaches Out
Farming 2000 & Beyond Workshop Series: Cooperatives
Farewell, Adieu, Until We Meet Again

Summer weeds, I think, are the worst. Maybe its the heat but it drives me crazy I have read some articles on the value of weeds. Where these notes written by defeatists who gave up the good fight and now are trying to rationalize their guilt while the rest of us struggle and wrestle ourselves ragged? Or can weeds, despite their unsightliness, be of some use? Anyway, while I was trying to find where I had filed these articles to read again and convince myself to join their ranks, I came across this site and would like to share it the resources with you. check it out.

CONTROLLING WEEDS AND PESTS

article found on internet farming site
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_pest.html

Weeds What are weeds? There are lots of vehement definitions -- they're pests, enemies, noxious, evil, treacherous, say gardeners and farmers. The biosphere's view, which might be more important, is that gardeners and farmers who fight weeds are the enemy because they damage the soil.
Weeds are the frontline troops nature uses to repair damaged soil. If you don't want to fight weeds then don't damage the soil. "Weeds are evidence of nature struggling to bring about natural succession," says Preston G. Sullivan, Technical Specialist with the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) in "Principles of Weed Management for Croplands". "When we clear native vegetation and establish annual crops, we defy ecological succession. Man is, in effect, holding back natural plant succession, at great cost in weed control."
Sullivan says the answer is more biodiversity: "Stability through biodiversity is one of nature's fundamental rules." In effect, the weeds are trying to turn your land back into a forest. "What are the main principles underlying Nature's agriculture? These can most easily be seen in operation in our woods and forests. Mixed farming is the rule: plants are always found with animals: many species of plants and of animals all live together." (From Chapter 1, Introduction, "An Agricultural Testament", by Sir Albert Howard)
Increased biodiversity and good soil fertility maintenance solve weed problems. Some weeds grow to cover an exposed soil that's vulnerable to erosion and run-off -- nature hates exposed soil. So cover it yourself, with a mulch. Other weeds are deep-rooting plants that go down to the subsoil to collect fresh minerals when the topsoil runs out of them. Composting will maintain topsoil minerals.
"Most of the plants that I call weeds are involved in the primary stages of natural succession," writes Kim Wilkinson in AgroForester. "They are medicine for the soil, repairing it and revitalizing life. Succeeding weeds is about stepping-up the process of succession. Weeds are experts in the process of succession, and great soil indicators as well, so I always look to them to learn what is appropriate. This means mulching and filling the space with appropriate plants (groundcovers, crop trees and other vegetation), creating a healthy system with no room and no need for voracious weeds to modify it. Some of the most aggressive weeds need full sun and low fertility to thrive; by increasing shade, organic matter and soil health they will disappear." ("Working with Weeds in the Tropics -- If You Can't Eat Them, Succeed Them!") http://www.agroforester.com/articles/Working_with_Weeds.html
Striga -- witchweed -- is one of the worst weeds in the world. It's a parasitic weed of cereal crops and it can cost subsistence farmers in Africa two-thirds of their crops. Striga roots invade the roots of cereal plants and consume the host plant's sap. By the time the flowers appear, it's already too late: the damage is done. Each striga plant yields thousands of seeds, which survive in the soil for up to 20 years. Biological controls are now being used, but striga is basically the same as other weeds, and the same rules apply: "Striga thrives under conditions of low soil fertility and decreasing plant diversity." (ECHO Development Notes, Issue 59, February 1998)
"Experiments in western Kenya show enormous potential for some common weeds to increase soil fertility in cropland. Fast growing weeds that produce a lot of biomass are collected both on- and off-farm and used as green manure. Compared to commercial fertilizers, application of high amounts of Tithonia or Lantana green manure had very good results on growth and yield of maize. An additional benefit of the green manure was a significant reduction of the presence of the parasitic weed Striga (by almost 70%)" -- Rik Thijssen, "Weeds and trees", ILEIA Newsletter Vol. 11 No. 3 (October 1995): "We Love Weeds".
"The best way to dispose of a weed is to make use of it, to promote it to the level of wanted plants," says Thijssen. Some Third World farmers simply wouldn't survive without their "weeds"! Thijssen's article explains why: http://www.oneworld.org/ileia/newsletters/11-3/11-3-20.htm
Weed control resources
Principles of Weed Management for Croplands -- Agronomy Systems Guide, by Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA). "Weeds are invited guests into agricultural fields as the result of management decisions and defying nature's principles. Managing croplands in tune with nature's principles makes for fewer and less costly weed problems. Strategies which utilize allelopathy, intercropping, crop rotations reduce weeds considerably." A weed-free design, other weed control strategies. About 8,000 words, and well worth the read. "First, Free Your Brain". http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/weed.html
Insects and Weeds on the Web -- many resources with information on biological controls and how to control pests and weeds organically, at the Don't Panic Eat Organic site. http://www.rain.org/~sals/bugs.html
"Weeds -- Guardians of the Soil" by Joseph A. Cocannouer, Devin-Adair, 1950. Professor Cocannouer, who taught biology and conservation for 50 years, demonstrates how the controlled use of weeds is sound ecology, good conservation and a boon to the gardener. Weeds as indicators of soil conditions, weeds as companion plants.
"Weeds: Control Without Poison" by Charles Walters Jr., 2nd Edition 1991, Acres USA Expanded edition of a classic book on weeds -- specifics on a hundred weeds, why they grow, what soil conditions encourage them or stop them, what they say about the soil, and how to control them without poisons. Walters is the publisher of Acres USA, the journal of eco-farming. He takes an ecology-centred, scientific approach to weeds and their use and control. From Fertile Ground Books: http://www.agaccess.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/~fg/st_prod.html? p_prodid=ACR012&sid=22zsARv
"The Gardener's Weed Book: Earth-Safe Controls" by Barbara Pleasant, 1996, Storey Books, ISBN 0882669214 Safe and natural weed control. Identifies more than 70 common garden weeds, with tips for weed management and putting weeds to use. Weeds, grassy weeds, vining weeds, family relations. From ECHO's Global Bookstore: http://echonet.org/shopsite_sc/store/html/ Gardenersweedbook.html

This past year, ORGANIC has been dumped on by the press and industry. BioTech has launched a PR campaign to influence consumers. I thought this AP article was a nice morale booster for those optimists still left out there...

ORGANIC FOOD BOOM: 10% OF EUROPEAN FARMS WILL BE ORGANIC BY 2005

Headline: Going Organic
Wire Service: APn (AP US & World)
Date: Mon, Dec 27, 1999
By PAUL AMES
Associated Press Writer

STAVELOT, Belgium (AP) -- Jean-Pierre Bastin beams with pride as he shows off his dairy herd grazing on the lush hilltop pastures his family has farmed for four generations deep in the Ardennes forest. But a grimace wipes away the organic farmer's smile at the mention of the health scares staining the reputation of Europe's farm products. "It's revolting. We're doing our best to produce quality food, and there are farmers out there who'll do anything for money. It gives us all a bad name," Bastin says, his breath clouding the chill morning air.
Bastin, 44, is part of a new breed of European farmer bucking the trend toward intensive, industrialized agriculture, which many people blame for the mad-cow crisis in Britain, Belgium's dioxin scandal and revelations of French cattle fattened on sewage sludge. Feeding on mounting consumer distrust of such chemical-dependent farming, Europe's organic agriculture is growing faster than a hormone-injected steer. The sector once dismissed as the pasttime of crackpots and idealists has grown into a business worth some $7.3 billion a year in the European Union and around $15.6 billion worldwide, says Dr. Nicolas Lampkin, an agriculture specialist at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth. A report Lampkin prepared for the EU this year said the number of organic farms in the bloc had soared from just 6,300 in 1985 to more than 100,000 in 1998.
Even with that spectacular growth, organic farmers are struggling to cope with demand, Lampkin says in a telephone interview. "The food scares have played a role, but there's a more general expectation for better food standards, higher quality among consumers ... they want to avoid genetically modified organisms in particular," he says. By 2005, Lampkin expects 10 percent of all agricultural land in western Europe will be organic, farming that uses only animal or fertilizers and does without chemical pesticides, growth hormones and the like. Austria has already passed 10 percent; Switzerland and Sweden are not far behind.
Bastin made the switch to organic in 1994. "I'd had enough of chemical fertilizers. I wanted to work more with nature, closer to the soil," Bastin explains as he feeds armfuls of hay to his black-and-white Holstein-Friesian calves. "My grandfather did it that way, why can't I?" Bastin, who sells his milk to a nearby organic cheese maker, says there are 15 organic dairy farmers in the Ardennes region of high plateau and wooded valleys close to the German border in eastern Belgium, and 50 more are in the process of converting their land to organic production. Lampkin says the rapid development of organic production was facilitated by EU legislation in the early 1990s that set common standards across the 15-nation bloc and allowed for government subsidies to help farmers break their dependence on artificial fertilizers and pesticides.
The Belgian government paid Bastin $308 for each of his 135 acres during the two-year statutory conversion period before his farm could be licensed as organic. Farmers can also get higher prices for organic goods. Although Bastin's 45 cows produce less now that they are on an organic diet, pint-for-pint, he gets triple the price for his milk now.
In Belgium's Delhaize supermarket chain, six organic eggs sell for the equivalent of $1.56, double the price of non-organic. Three organic leeks are $2.09, compared to $1.25 for a bundle of five grown conventionally Delhaize is among a burgeoning number of European supermarkets that are taking organic retailing out of the hands of the small farm stores that have long pioneered bio-products. "Organic products are becoming the number one choice for more and more customers, and we have had to expand our range of lines to over 500," says Andrew Sellick, organic buyer at Britain's Tesco PLC. Tesco says organic sales will top $162 million this year, compared to just $8 million three years ago. As big business muscles into the organic sector, some people fear the original farmers' dedication to organic production will be undermined as the sector expands to take on those motivated more by profits than ecological ideals. Europe's organic watchdogs disagree. "It's very tightly controlled," says Jerome Geels at the Belgium branch of Ecocert, one of the bodies authorized by governments to certify organic producers. Although Ecocert's inspectors are increasingly overworked by the bio-food boom, Geels says farmers can still expect up to 10 unannounced inspections a year to ensure standards are respected. Organic farming pioneers view the expansion with mixed feelings. Concern about competition from big business is mingled with satisfaction over what activists see as benefits for the environment, health and rural employment. "I always said that when organic products took off in the big supermarkets we would have won," says Henri Paque, who went organic on his 111-acre farm 20 years ago. Paque, 53, watches his son serve a line of customers from the nearby city of Liege choosing from an organic range in his farm store that includes his home-produced cabbage, pumpkins and turnips as well as an array of organic cheeses, bio-beer and even vegetarian dog food. "I may not have gotten rich out of this, but I'm rich in my heart," Paque says. "You know, there are farmers who have to wear a mask when they go to their fields, when they should be breathing the good, clean air."

SMALL SCALE SUSTAINABLE HOG PRODUCERS FORUM REACHES OUT

July 17 saw an all day meeting of farmers and ag researchers/specialists getting together to discuss the questions about small scale hog production. The aim was to bring together producers with state and university people to talk about marketing, processing, value-adding, and other concerns that are hampering the opportunities of farmers to farm.
Many examples were brought out about farmers, using pastures and rotational grazing to raise hogs in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly manner that also makes good business sense. Farmers as far away from Tennessee and Virginia showed up to share their concerns and examples to all gathered there.
Dr. Charles Talbott of NCA&T, the chief organizer for the forum, took a group of farmers out to his research field at the A&T farm to view pasturing hogs. Besides the pasturing aspects, with hogs sheltered under open sided shelters, there were plots with various crops being grown for the hogs to use for finish grazing. Corn, various grains, and vegetables are grown in plots that will be fenced in for the hogs to graze after a season on the pasture. It is well known that some of the best gourmet pork found on the world's markets are from hogs finished out on selected types of foods. In this way, Dr. Talbott is looking to find the loss flavor of pork.
The conference was a first step in trying to reach out to farmers concerning small scale hog production. Other workshops, focusing on more specific issues are planned. Many of these will take place at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Assoc. Winter conference to be held in Wilmington in early November (11/3-5). Paul Willis, an organizer of a hog production and marketing cooperative in Iowa will be a featured speaker. Paul works with the renowned Niman Ranch in Iowa that produces a great deal of all-natural meat products that can be found in the specialty markets such as Well Spring and its parent company stores, WholeFoods.
For more information, contact Dr. Talbott at 336-334-7672 or CFSA at919-542-2402

FARMING 2000 & BEYOND WORKSHOP SERIES: COOPERATIVES

FARMING 2000 & BEYOND workshop series will take place on the third Monday of August (8/21). It will be held at the Chatham Co. Cooperative Extension Ag Center auditorium, 45 South St. Pittsboro from 5-8pm. The topic this month will be on Cooperatives: The Nuts & Bolts of Starting One and Is a Cooperative the Right Marketing Tool For You?
Delane Johnson of the USDA office of Rural Economic Development will discuss how cooperatives work, the formation process, members responsibilities, and more. Dr. John O'Sullivan, Small Farming Specialist from NCA&T will talk on the marketing aspects of cooperatives, and Ken Daniels of the Northern Piedmont Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative will talk about their formation and experiences of running a cooperative.
There is a $3 registration for a picnic style dinner. Pre-registration is recommended by August 17. Contact the Chatham Co. Extension Center 919-542-8202 or Debbie Roos at the Lee Co. Extension Center 919-775-5624.

FAREWELL, ADIEU, UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN...

There is no easy way to say good bye. But unfortunately, I must do just this. This has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I am leaving Chatham Co. and Extension. Due to personal reasons beyond my control, I am forced to make the decision to leave here and pursue another direction. I will miss being here. Working for the people, working for the agricultural interests of the farmers has meant so much to me. It is with a heavy heart that I must take my leave. Keep the ideals of independent small farmers alive. Keep the principles of organic and sustainable agriculture a reality. Let your voices be heard.

Peace.

Robert Hadad
Agriculture Agent
Chatham County Cooperative Extension
PO Box 279
Pittsboro, NC 27312
For more information call 919-542-8202

Any mention of product brand names, companies, organizations, or points of view by individuals does not reflect on or speak for North Carolina State University, North Carolina A & T State University or North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.

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Paulette Thomas
Secretary II

Date Created 08/10/00.