----- Original Message -----
From: "Hugh Lovel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 7:16 PM
Subject: Re: What is Magic?
>
>
>> So sandy land can be good, even though I'd prefer clay. I bet you could
> grow good potatoes on your sand anyway.
if anyone can put together a class, I'd like to see at least 30
> attendees and go two days. I want to make $2,000 out of it, so with the
> hall and some catering, that comes to close to $100 per attendee.
>
> One of the frustrations I feel is that most people are so plugged into
> advertising and the pictures and totally engineered sales pitches in the
> major farm magazines. The picture looks so cool to have lemons
wall-to-wall
> all bushy and green. But what is the point? Growing foliage or fruit? It's
> all so deceptive. The corn you showed me from in the past compared to the
> recent higher quality shows the true story, while, as you say the elevator
> doesn't pay any extra for the quality. That's pretty discouraging, knowing
> that if you grow responsibly you don't get(m)any breaks.
> I 'm going to have to plant the usual hybrids to see what kind of yields I
> can really get with them in terms of bushels, but that rankles because my
> main interest is quality, rather than quantity. They aren't the best corn
> strains.
>
> This leaves us at no winning development, does it not? But it is a win to
> KNOW we can do a different agriculture with homeopathics and radionics,
> despite the fact that the market doesn't give us much advantage. Our
slight
> advantage is that we know we can get our nitrogen out of the air and can
> make rain in timely fashion.
>
> I hope it's enough.
>
> Best,
> Hugh
>
Hi Hugh-
Just a couple comments from your earlier reply. We know that sand is a
difficult soil to work with and very easy to destroy. We've done that. But
it also seems to be soil that really responds fast with some better
treatment. As far as production on this soil it has really responded and we
do feel that the production is better quality-excellent test weights, good
storability, etc, and yes it is frustrating that the market does not care.
That has led us back to bringing cattle on the farm. We intend to learn to
put as much standing feed through our animals as we can. That includes
planting oats as a green manure crop early in March and grazing before corn
planting in May, grazing on cover crops planted behind wheat harvest,
grazing some standing corn etc, etc. This system looks like it combines
many good things. It can utilize green manure crops for both weed control
and soil improvement as well as providing feed for cattle while they in turn
are providing manure for the soils. And we are tending to view this place
as a feed farm instead of a cash grain operation. Our conventional system
in place of growing the grain, harvesting it, hauling to bins, storing,
putting back into a truck, hauling to cattle feedlots, putting in their bin,
putting into feed truck and feeding it, going in and scraping up the poor
quality feedlot manure and adding more energy to compost it (in the rare few
feedlots that try and do something with their manure) then putting it back
into a truck and taking back to the farm to put into a spreader to put back
on the field is totally insane. We are slow learners in this process of
changing our thinking but it has become glaringly obvious that the cattle
are a necessarey tool and hopefully if done right a profit center here. I
know big money has a hold on the cattle market as well, but the numbers we
run show us it can have potential if pursued carefully and is a huge asset
in the soil builing process. We plant no GMO varieties, and have focused on
running age pregnant cows that were very thin and destined for the hamburger
market. Easy to do this year due to the drought-many folks were culling
cows that would never been culled because they had no feed. These girls
have lots of "experience" in calving and have come here onto our scrap feed
(cornstalks, triticale in wheat stubble, alfalfa fields after freeze, etc)
and look terrific. And they have left us the blessing of much manure. So
we can't just focus on what the market does or doesn't offer. There is
always always opportunity.
As far as the rainmaking part, we are very intrigued. We have talked
very seriously about getting it worked out to have you come out. Our area
is very very dry. It is drier now than in the 30's dustbowl. Just wanted
you to know we are thinking of it. We are off to visit Lloyd Charles in
Australia (how exciting!) and will be gone for alot of December. Just
wanted you to know we are considering ways to have you out.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Michelle Wendell
