Can You Farm? Restoration Agriculture Turning Rules of Farming on Their Head

One of the reasons we headed up to Wisconsin is because my wife is into the nascent farm movement that is happening around the country.  Joel Salatin wrote a book, You Can Farm about how entrepreneurs can learn to farm.

Most of the coverage entrepreneurial farming gets is vertical farming inside cities, rooftop gardening, and organic crops.  It rubs people the wrong way, but Walmart ($WMT) is the largest organic retailer today.  I think the movement to farm in cities is great, but if we are going to change the world and how it eats, the movement has to start in the country where the land is.

We visited a farm that is engaging in restoration agriculture.

The farm at first glance looks similar to many farms but it isn’t.  For example, they dug holes at the top of hills to collect rainwater.  They dug small irrigation ditches to take the water down the hill and out to crops.  They let cows hang out on the top of the hill and the cows poop.  The poop runs downhill with the water and fertilizes crops.  Frogs and toads start to populate the water holes.  They eat a lot of the bugs and pests that are normally around farms.

Most people would think to collect rain at the bottom of a hill and pump it back up.  Instead, this farmer is letting gravity and other forces of nature work for him.  Farming jujitsu.

Almost every crop that is planted is a constant hypothesis tested experiment.  The approach to farming reminds me of the way Toyota manufactured cars.  This farmer had cattle, pigs, chickens, nuts, fruit and vegetables.  The approach to farming is extremely innovative.  He is way out on the bleeding edge.

Advocates say it is better for the environment.  Aside from that, they get more calories per acre farmed.  That is a different standard than bushels per acre.  Calories per acre might be a better way to measure production.

Many food advocates want to get rid of factory farming.  But so far, most of the organic producers took factory farming methods and used them to farm organic crops.  It might work, but in the measurement of yield per acre it will always be second rate.

Additionally, the USDA and the FDA are coming down hard on farm innovation.  Their rulebooks were written for factory farms.  When people think out of the box, the government regulators don’t know how to handle it.  They see danger everywhere.  Instead of looking at the science, or the outcome, all they do is try to enforce their rules.

Innovation breaks rules.

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