- Press Release
- April 8, 2010
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Thicke Steps into Current Iowa Ag Secretary’s Backyard
by Press Release
Thursday, April 8, 2010
SPENCER, IA – Before the sun rose on northwest Iowa Wednesday, Francis Thicke was shaking hands and greeting potential voters at Sisters Mainstreet Cafe in Spencer.
Thicke, unchallenged in the Iowa Democratic primary, is campaigning to unseat current Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey (R-Spirit Lake) in November’s general election
The organic farmer, scientist and educator, from Fairfield, suggested that Northey’s focus is on the current agricultural climate – Thicke said it’s time to focus on the future. “I see Iowa agriculture facing some major challenges that we’re not prepared to meet….I think farmers are concerned about the future because farming has not been profitable.They’re looking for something to make it more sustainable and stable.”
“He’s really not looking forward….He’s not giving us a vision of where we need to be, or how to get there when the oil prices go through the roof.” READ MORE
2 Comments
How is organic farming looking to the future?
Good question, and one that is frequently asked. Here is how I responded to a similar question in the past:
We often hear proponents of industrial agriculture proclaim that if sustainable or organic farming were widely adopted there would be mass starvation around the world. There are several flaws to that argument.
The first flaw is the assumption that converting to sustainable or organic farming means returning to the methods of 100 years ago. Clearly, that is not the case. While we can learn and apply some things from earlier traditional farming methods, advances in technology and increased understanding of biology and ecology have taken organic farming far beyond the farming methods of 100 years ago. Then, all farming was “conventional,” because the distinction between organic and conventional had not yet been made. Since then, conventional and organic farming methods have diverged, and both have become much more productive.
Innovations in farm equipment over the years have benefited both organic and conventional farmers. For example, in the 1960’s when my brother and I would cut hay using a tractor hitched to a converted horse mower on the farm we grew up on, it took the two of us about an hour to cut one or two acres. Today—on my organic farm—I can easily cut, condition and windrow 10 acres of hay per hour by myself. In the 1960’s it took our family crew of four a long hard day to bale 50 tons of hay; today I can bale 50 tons in two hours, by myself. Also, today’s organic farmers use mechanical weeders and guidance systems on cultivators to control weeds much more efficiently and precisely than possible in the 1960’s.
But the greatest advancement for today’s organic farmers has been an increased understanding of biology and ecology, and how to design and manage organic farms to efficiently utilize the energy and organizing power of nature’s ecology. For example, as discussed earlier, new scientific understandings of grassland ecology help grass-based farmers better manage grazing in order to increase biodiversity and productivity.
Also, new scientific advancements in understanding the ecology of insects, weeds, and plant diseases are helping organic farmers manage pests through the use of crop rotations, beneficial insects, pest mating disruptions, and other cultural practices that circumvent the need for chemical pest controls.