Canadian farmer saves family farm by going organic

[JohnyCanuck]

A Picture and A Thousand Words

<snip>

This man, broad shouldered and strong from three decades working the land, sat with tears welling in his eyes as he faced the prospect of losing his farm 100 years after his grandparents had homesteaded it.

Hamilton felt he was failing all past Hamilton men and women who had passed on to him a life he loved, and all future Hamiltons who would never have the chance of living such a life.

<snip>

I reconnected with Hamilton again this year in the middle of his seeding season; as busy as he was, once again he was eager to talk. He's planting peas, wheat and flax, and expects to get about twice the price his conventional farming neighbours will receive for their crops. His yields may be lower, but once he counts in the higher prices and lower costs, he figures he'll be well ahead.

<snip>

He's still dodging bills from time to time and the John Deere dealership is still on his back about equipment payments, but Hamilton is no longer worried that he's on the verge of losing his farm. In fact, his brother-in-law and a few neighbours have seen how things are going for him and have taken the plunge into organics themselves.

Toronto Star Article:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1118441412644&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

[Warpy]

1. He's not going to have those low yields for long

because a lot of long term studies have suggested that once organic faming gets well established, the improved conditioning of the soil brings those yields back up, sometimes exceeding yields on chemically farmed land.

Good luck to him. We need more people brave enough to kick Monsanto and Union Carbide the hell off their land.

[gaia_gardener]

4. Yep, Rodale's field tests

showed yields equal to or greater for all the crops they trialed.

Of course one could argue that Rodale might not have been quite objective and their biases might have skewed the results, but ...

I grow organically and always end up with way more than I can use. And more than my neighbors.

[oblivious]

2. Thanks for posting that happy story.

[Benhurst]

3. ...

:thumbsup: