The Farmer's Been Talking Again

Two webinars and more!

I am not a stranger to providing both in person and virtual presentations on diversified farming, small-scale farming and the principles of agroecology. In fact, that’s something I’ve been doing for nearly as long as I have called myself a farmer. And now that I have worked with Pesticide Action Network for a while (my 4th anniversary of my hire is coming up in a few days), my repertoire and audience have both expanded somewhat.

While I have a couple more events coming up in April, the speaking season for me is coming to a close until it picks up again in the Fall. Still, if you are interested, you can join me for a PAN webinar on agroecology on April 3 at 1PM CDT by taking the RSVP link. I’ll have to share the link later on to the April 16th event where I will join members of partner organizations on a webinar where we discuss the issue of herbicide drift.

I thought some of you who read the Genuine Faux Farm blog might be interested to see what I’ve been up to. As a matter of fact, I’m going to use today’s post to provide you with links to some of these things. If any of this interests you, feel free to either view the recordings or read the article(s). If not, you can at least get a feel for what the farmer has been doing.

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PFI Webinars with Jill Beebout

Recently, I had the privilege to join Jill Beebout, of Blue Gate Farm, for two webinars hosted by Practical Farmers of Iowa. For those who may not know (or may not remember) Jill and Sean have been part of our peer mentorship farming group since 2011 (somewhere around there).

In addition to the Genuine Faux Farm and Blue Gate, this group included Grinnell Heritage Farm, Scattergood Friends School Farm and Wabi Sabi Farm. This group is one of the key reasons we have been able to stay in farming for as long as we have. While friends, family and our customers can be supportive and kind, there is nothing quite like having a support group of people who live what you live. While things have changed over the years, we count these people as part of our extended family.

I invite you to listen in as two farmers share stories and practical approaches for small-scale, diversified farms.  I have included the promotional text for each webinar so you can get a flavor for each one.

Turning Point: Key Moments for Two Farms Over Two Decades

Over the course of 20 years, practically anything can and will happen on a small-scale, diversified farm that specializes in growing vegetable crops, raising poultry and selling quality food locally. In this webinar, you’ll have a chance to hear two experienced PFI horticulture farmers talk about key moments and important decisions that made a difference, for good or bad, in their operations. Don’t miss this chance to learn vicariously through someone else’s experiences!

Balancing Pollinator Habitat and Wild Spaces with a Small-scale, Diversified Farm

Supporting plant and wildlife diversity on a small-scale farm is an important tool in the farmer’s toolbox. Creating habitat for pollinators and natural predators of crop pests can boost production, and a diversity of life on the farm leads to a healthier farm ecosystem. But the balancing act begins when some of the wildlife doesn’t align with the farm’s production and sales goals. Learn from Jill Beebout of Blue Gate Farm and Rob Faux of Genuine Faux Farm as they discuss ways they encourage the allies that help in their food production, and how they deal with adversarial relationships with deer, woodchuck, gnats and other critters.

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Sometimes the Farmer Gets Quoted

Another thing that has happened recently is that I have been interviewed for articles on topics for which I have some experience - for better or worse.

Cedar Rapids Gazette article

The first was authored by Erin Jordan of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The article is titled Cancer in Iowa: What role does agriculture play in Iowa’s high cancer rates? Erin was seeking my perspective as a person, involved in agriculture/horticulture, who has dealt with cancer. We had a very good conversation. But, as is usually the case, the conversation gets boiled into a single quotation!

And, no, I am not complaining about that. I think the article is a very good one that covers a lot of ground with very little space. And, just to give you a flavor, here is some of the opening material - excerpted from the article itself:

Iowa has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers in the nation and the second-highest cancer rate overall, behind Kentucky.

Iowa’s stubbornly-high cancer rate can’t be blamed on just one thing, but oncologists and public health researchers agree it’s time to look more closely at Iowa’s top industry to see how it might be contributing.

“If you did an aerial map of Iowa, we are — river to river and north to south — a bath of ag chemicals: herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, nitrates,” Dr. Richard Deming, a Des Moines oncologist, said at The Gazette’s Iowa Ideas conference last fall.

“We’re not yet at the point where we can say what every single chemical that ultimately gets into our water supply (or) onto our skin causes, but when you look at the amount of ag chemicals Iowans are exposed to compared to other states, I suspect that we’ll find that might also be one of the contributing factors.”

While I cannot definitively say that my kidney cancer was caused by pesticides, I can say that I frequently wondered if the continuous, low-dose exposure I had because I worked outside near fields where applications were routine might eventually come back to hurt me. And now that I have one fewer kidney, I find myself thinking about it more.

And I often wonder how many other people will also pay in ways that are far worse than my relatively minor cancer scare.

Civil Eats article

An article, written by Lisa Held of Civil Eats, also features the farmer in an article titled Inside Bayer’s State-by-state efforts to Stop Pesticide Lawsuits.

Essentially, Bayer (who purchased Monsanto) is tired of losing lawsuits making the claim that Round-up products have caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer. As a result, they are seeking ways to prevent people from taking them to court if their use of these pesticide products cause them permanent harm over time. One way they are attempting to do this is to make it impossible for a person in Iowa to take multinational pesticide companies to court in order to hold them responsible for injury.

At present, the proposed law is still being considered by the Iowa Senate. All I can say is that my annoyance with the Iowa Legislature and current Governor has increased as it becomes obvious that they value large, international, multi-billion dollar businesses more than they do the people that live, work - and become ill - in this state.

One of my personal views is that government should exist to help protect those who have less power when they are wronged or threatened by those with more power. Who has more power, Bayer and Syngenta, or a third-generation, family farmer who has worked for thirty-five years on the farm and is now fighting cancer? (note, the family farmer I am referencing is not me)

I can tell you from personal experience that the litigation process is not easy, often feels invasive, and is just NOT FUN. Typically people who go through this process truly have a reason to feel that they have been wronged and that something needs to be done. This is often the only way available for an individual to seek balance and justice with a corporation or more powerful entity. To take that away fits the description of kicking a person when they are down.

Let me make that clear by risking redundancy (and repetition). For most people, they have to truly feel that they have been deeply harmed to actually go through the process of litigation. These are people who are or have been struggling and are in need of help. If a case is truly frivolous, the courts typically see that and throw them out (yes, yes, I know there are always exceptions you can point to - assuming you have access to the facts and details).

The courts are there for a reason. And part of the reason is to provide an opportunity for a disclosure process that often uncovers truths that need to be seen. If a person is willing to go through this difficult process, then they should be given the space to do it.

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And Then, There’s Postal History

I also had the opportunity to present (virtually) about postal history to the Collectors Club of New York. The presentation can be viewed for a short time before it gets moved behind their paywall, so I will provide it here for those who are interested - for as long as it is available. The title is the US 1861 24-cent World Tour - despite what the labels say.

And now you know some of what I’ve been up to!

Have a fine remainder of your day.