Administrative Law Judge Beverly Heydinger
Office of Administrative Hearings
Suite 1700, 100 Washington Square
Minneapolis, MN 55401.
Beverly.Heydinger@state.mn.us
Fax: 612-349-2665
The most important tool of an organic farmer is his healthy, mineralized soil.
It is called organic farming because we obtain plant growth through the use of organic (natural, rather than synthetically created/altered) materials. Organic farmers cannot take chemical short-cuts to overcome problems such as poor soil tilth, poor soil fertility or infestations of weeds or insects.
Organic farmers cannot add the soluble commercial nutrients commonly used by conventional farmers. Instead, they must access nutrients in the soil by working with and enhancing the natural soil system.
This soil food web is an incredibly intricate system requiring billions of tiny creatures in the soil interacting with plants. This soil life (which includes six basic categories: the microscopic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes, plus the larger arthropods and earthworms) is found almost exclusively in the top few inches of the soil. In a healthy soil, all of these soil creatures interact in ways so complex modern science is still striving to understand it.
Successfully converting a conventional to an organic farm is neither simple nor quick. The time and tools required to start farming organically vary, depending on soil type and farming history, but generally three to five years is needed, with soils improving year by year.
These healthy, fertile soils grow healthy plants, the organic farmer’s main defense against crop diseases and pests.
Taking apart this well established, natural soil system and then mechanically putting it back in place will certainly disrupt the vital biological world the organic farmer has taken years to create, nurture and protect.
There are no shortcuts to reclaiming such damaged soils to the higher requirements of organic farming. It will take time and money, requiring re-mineralization through natural practices such as composting, crop rotations, and green manure crops.
Another important factor is restoring the biodiversity of soil life, which is essential to keeping crops healthy and productive. Soil biodiversity is obtained over a period of years by providing soil life with a variety of food sources, plant roots and the management of air within the soil.
Loose, crumbly ground allows plant roots access to nutrients. Tearing a soil apart and putting it back together will require extra time to restore this healthy tilth, rather than just changing a farm management system.
I am sure glad this is not being done on my farm. It’s not an easy process to re-establish a healthy working organic farming system.
Gary F. Zimmer
Midwestern Bio-Ag
10851 HWY ID, Box 160
Blue Mounds, WI
1-800-327-6012