Report on: Issues and Opportunities Meeting: ‘Adapting to Changes in the Way We Do Business’

Charlottetown Confederation Centre, March 13, 2006

Organic farmers are helping to contribute to the realization of Fred Kirschenmann's goals

The 2006 ADAPT Council AGM and National Issues and Opportunities meeting attracted ACAAF representatives from every region of the country as well as industry participants from all sectors of the value chain including producers, retailers, chefs, processors, marketers, researchers plus interested consumers provincial government representatives and staff from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in both Ottawa and Charlottetown. Over 130 participants congregated at the Charlottetown Confederation Centre on Monday March 13, 2006 to hear an array of interesting speakers offer advice on how to “Adapt to Changes in the Way We Do Business, “ and to celebrate the many successful initiatives to which the PEI ADAPT Council contributed with funding from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, ACAAF Program. It was the best attended meeting the Council ever hosted.

Fred Kirschenmann, Farmer and Distinguished Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Centre for Sustainable Agriculture led off the day with a message, “If you want to, you can still farm.” However, his message was framed in the context of threats, opportunities and challenges that new and existing farmers must recognize.

For agriculture to be sustainable four types of capital are required:
1. Ecological capital. (land must be used well? ecological health)
2. Human capital. (people who use the land must know it well)
3. Social capital. (must be highly motivated to use it well)
4. Financial capital. (must be able to afford to use it well)

He categorized four types of capital that are limiting people from farming “well.” First among these mentioned are ecological threats to human and environmental health and he advised us not to be misled into believing that an easy solution lay in adopting alternative forms of energy without first adopting the highest forms of energy conservation and stewardship.

What does it take to “maintain” productivity? “. . .If agriculture is to remain productive it must preserve the land, and the fertility and ecological health of the land; the land, that is, must be used well. A further requirement, therefore, is that if the land is to be used well, the people who use it must know it well, must be highly motivated to use it well, must know how to use it well, must have time to use it well, and must be able to afford to use it well.” ?Wendell Berry, “Nature as Measure” 1990

The second form of capital Kirschenmann outlined was human impact caused by the lack of knowledge, awareness and political will to implement the progressive changes that are necessary to allay further catastrophe.

United Nations “Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report, 2005”
Developed by 1,360 leading scientists from 95 countries. Core Finding: Over the last half century, humans have polluted or over-exploited two-thirds of the earth’s ecological systems on which life depends, dramatically increasing the potential for unprecedented and abrupt ecological collapses. Approximately 60% of the ecosystem services evaluated are being degraded or used unsustainably. Most ecosystem changes were the direct or indirect result of changes made to meet growing demands for ecosystem services ? in particular the growing demands for food, water, timber, fiber and fuel. The third, Social Capital is a limitation caused by social decay, the loss of community and sense of belonging to a place; a need which our ancestors recognized as vitally important.

“The real question, for anyone truly concerned about our future, is not whether change is going to come, but whether the shift will be peaceful and orderly or chaotic and violent because we waited too long to begin planning for it.” ? Paul Roberts, 2004. The End of Oil

The fourth area of concern was the shifting economic capital, changing values and the overwhelming realization that the status quo was not sustainable. Here he recommended that everyone read the new book by John Thackara, titled: In the Bubble, MIT Press, 2006.

How Shall We Now Approach the Future?
“Is it possible to replace current technologies based on fossil energy with proper interactions operating between crop/livestock and other organisms to enhance agricultural production?” If the answer is yes, then modern agriculture, which uses only the simplest biotic responses, can be transformed into an alternative system of agriculture, in which the use of complex biotic interactions becomes the key technology.” --Masae Shiyomi and Hiroshi Koizumi, Structure and Function in Agroecosystem Design and Management. 2001

When Kirschenmann returned in the afternoon he spoke with a message of hope and optimism. He provided numerous examples of farmers who are forming networks and empowering themselves with shared values and new market opportunities. Rather than selling a commodity these new and “renewed” farmers are selling a story about themselves and their crops. They offer a romantic ideal and a sense of personal trust which reconnects the consumer to the producer of their food.

During the morning session, he told the story of a Japanese rice farmer who practiced a traditional way of growing rice. By eliminating the use of pesticides he was able to reintroduce ducks, which ate the insects; and fish, which provided nutrients to the field. As a result his production costs went down. The quality and yield of the rice went up and rather than producing just one crop, the rice paddy also produced duck meat, eggs and fish; as well as fruit from trees which were able to be reintroduced around the perimeters of the rice paddies.

The point being made was not to grow rice but to understand the symbiotic relationships of the rice, duck and fish as a metaphor for systems that can work anywhere when you mimic nature. Kirschenmann was challenging us to use knowledge to enhance the beneficial relationships that occur in nature rather than attempt to dominate nature with artificial inputs.

In the afternoon, Kirschenmann defined what he calls the dying “Agriculture of the Middle;.” a sector which makes up the majority of farmers. He identified them as being too big to take advantage of niche markets and direct sales to consumer, and too small to compete with global multinationals whom can consistently supply cheap products to markets anywhere in the world.

“Agriculture of the Middle” is a sector that is witnessing the demise of farming due to low returns in commodity pricing and the absence of market power. The solution for those who want to continue to farm, explained our guest speaker, was for mid size farmers to form networks, co-operatives and value chains which give them ownership and renewed power with value added products that can supply both regional and, when necessary, global markets.

Principles to Guide Us Toward a Post-industrial Agriculture. Farms of the future will need to:
1. be energy conserving,
2. feature both biological and genetic diversity,
3. be largely self-regulating and self-renewing,
4. be knowledge intensive,
5. operate on biological synergies,
6. employ adaptive management,
7. feature ecological restoration rather than choosing
between extraction and preservation, and
8. achieve optimum productivity by featuring multi-product,
synergistic production on limited acreage and nutrient density.

“It was inevitable and no doubt desirable that the tremendous momentum of industrialization should have spread to farm life. It is clear to me, however, that it has overshot the mark . . . it is generating new insecurities, economic and ecological, in place of those it was meant to abolish. In its extreme form, it is humanly desolate and economically unstable. These extremes will some day die of their own too-much, not because they are bad for wildlife, but because they are bad for the farmer.” –Aldo Leopold, "The Outlook for Farm Wildlife,” 1945

The information above was first contained in the PEI AFDAPT Newsletter and OACC was kindly given permission to post it here by

Phil Ferraro, Executive Director, P.E.I. ADAPT Council
c/o The Farm Centre, 420 University Avenue, Room 103
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Canada C1A 7Z5
Phone: (902) 368-2005
Fax: (902) 368-2520
Email: adapt@pei.aibn.com