In the 50 years that we’ve been informing farmers about safe alternatives to synthetic industrial agriculture, many terms have come and gone: organic, biological, sustainable, ecological, regenerative, and more. Charles Walters coined the term “eco-agriculture” back in 1970 because he wanted to juxtapose the concepts of “ecological” and “economical.” It was the belief of our founder that unless agriculture is ecological, it cannot be economical.
The foundational principles of ecological agriculture are, on the one hand, very simple — and intuitive. Putting them into practice can be challenging, though, because they require the grower to assess and make decisions on a variety of interrelated, complex relationships between living and non-living things. Some of these principles include the following:
- Simplistic nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilization means malnutrition for plants, animals and people, because either a shortage or a marked imbalance of plant nutrients prevents balanced plant health, and therefore animal and human health.
- Plants and soil microbes live in an amazing symbiosis. Plants send exudates into the ground through their roots, signaling their nutritional needs to beneficial bacteria, protists and fungi. These microorganisms take nutrients in the soil and convert them into forms that the plant can use and feed it to the plant. Having the proper nutritional balance enables the plant to provide its own protection against attack from insects and from harmful bacteria and fungi.
- Insects and other predators are nature’s disposal crew; their task is to eliminate sick plants. They are summoned when they are needed, and they are repelled when they are not needed.
- Weeds are an index of the character of the soil. It is therefore a mistake to rely on herbicides to eradicate them, since these deal with symptoms, not causes.
- Crop losses in dry weather or during mild cold snaps are not so much the result of drought and cold as nutrient deficiency.
- Synthetic agricultural chemicals attempt to salvage unhealthy crops so that animals and people can eat them — with harmful consequences for present and future generations of plants, animals and people.
- Synthetic herbicides and pesticides do not exist in nature’s blueprints for living organisms. Since they have no counterpart in nature, they will not likely break down biologically in a reasonable timeframe, and many are known to cause severe damage to the environment and to human health.
Conventional NPK farming — which is often advocated and enforced by national and state departments of agriculture — leads to decreased plant nutrition; insect, bacterial and fungal attacks; weed takeover; crop loss in dry weather; and, ultimately, decreased human health. The answer to pests and to weeds is found in plant nutrition management and in nurturing biologically active soil.
The ecological method of farming we at AcresUSA advocate is extremely simple: feed the soil and the plant the proper nutrition, and the result is healthy plants, animals and humans. Yet it is also more challenging than conventional NPK methods, as it forces growers to analyze and make decisions based on a huge number of complex variables. It requires more observation and more thoughtfulness than many have been led to believe is necessary.
Many today are beginning to understand and implement the tenets of ecological agriculture. As we convert and transition our farms, we need education and a new way of thinking in order to thrive. AcresUSA seeks to provide just this.
For more than 50 years, AcresUSA has been a home for followers of this way of thinking, and we welcome all who seek to learn eco-agriculture practices and invite you to join our vibrant community of producers.
