Ecology and Farming

a joint operation since we moved out here in 1978.
It’s just the way it is. There’s darn few things that I
do that my wife can’t do, and I can’t say that about
me, because there’s things she does that I flat can’t
do. It’s part of what I consider to be the definition
of a family farm, which is that partners move the
operation forward together. When we made the
conversion to organics, we sat down and talked
about it. When we sell the grain or lentils or peas or
whatever, we talk about it. Is this the right thing to
be doing, selling to this person or that person, or is
this price adequate to pay the bills? It’s a joint effort.
What is the importance of having organic farming
become more institutionalized in the Farm Bill,
and do you have any specific plans in that regard?
I think that where we’re at in Organic Agriculture
is just to make that the Farm Bill includes the
flexibility to let people farm organically. On a
personal basis, I just hope we can encourage the kind
of markets in conventional agriculture that we have
in Organic Agriculture, and I hope we can maintain
the kind of markets and improve upon them so we
have competition in the marketplace. I think that
it is critically important for the Farm Bill from the
conventional and the organic standpoint. Ultimately,
I want a farm program that helps encourage financial
sustainability that increases long-term competition
in the marketplace. All of these elements apply
to both conventional and Organic Agriculture . I
want a farm program that really focuses on energy
policy for this country that will help it achieve
energy independence. I think we have tremendous
opportunity in renewables here in the United States,
which helps agriculture across the board, organic and
conventional. Traditionally, people in production
agriculture have gotten there money from the
marketplace. I want to keep it that way in organics
and encourage it in conventional agriculture, too.
How do you feel about the dumping of US products
due to subsidies on developing countries?
Well, I think we need to have trade agreements
that work for people here in the United States and
for our trading partners abroad. Subsidies are an
interesting argument, because there are different
levels of subsidies all over the world, and they
come in all different forms . Some are actual cash
payments, others are subsidies to transportation
industries, and the savings are passed on to people in
agriculture. Here’s my focus is that we have to have
trade agreements that work. You can’t be driving
your trading partners’ people into poverty; that’s
not a good trade agreement. But by the same token,
trade agreements shouldn’t drive your own people
into poverty or out of business and into bankruptcy
either. You need to make sure you’re looking at both
sides of the equation. Quite frankly, a lot of these
trade agreements right now help out the selected
few. I don’t think they’re in production agriculture,
and they’re probably not in developing countries
either. In the end, what needs to be protected,
preserved and enhanced in this country is family
farm agriculture. I think it’s critically important from
a United States standpoint for food security and
food availability throughout the world. When our
agricultural base starts becoming more corporatized,
and it’s becoming that way more and more, I think
that’s a risky situation both economically and from
the perspective of food security. There are subsidies
all over the place. I know what it costs to raise a
bushel of grain and a lentil. I can tell you if there
weren’t subsidies right now (because there’s no
competition in the marketplace), that there would be
a mass exodus from the land. It’s a two-sided coin. I
hate subsidies with a passion. I’d love to have all our
income come from the marketplace. I think that if
there’s good competition in the marketplace it could
be that way. You know as well as I do that there’s
too much monopolization in the food industry right
now, as with a lot of other industries.
There’s been a lot of criticism throughout
the world about organic products from China
and some developing countries, entering the
marketplace, it being suggested that there are not
adequate controls. How do you feel about that?
I’ve never been to mainland China. I don’t know
the challenges that they face. I know that they are
many, but I do feel strongly in strong standards that
are verifiable and transparent. If the transparency
isn’t there, I don’t think the certification should
take place. There are games that can be played and
1 Feature Interview Ecology & Farming | SEptEmbEr - DEcEmbEr 2006