Rudolf Steiner, Geoff Mollison and others see a farm as a whole – a self-contained organism where one-part complements and or supports another and each has its own functions and needs. A whole ecosystem that is as self-nourishing as possible – buying in as little as possible and feeding out excess as food for the community that cares for it. This is an ideal. Depending each farm, the number of acres, the type of soil, the weather, water and other resources such as the capacity of the farmer/farming team and the food needs of the community around it, this becomes more or less achievable.
Consciousness in the Farm Organism:
Each of our tenant farms – Tablehurst, Huxhams Cross Apricot Centre, Oakbrook, Springham and associate farm St Giles shared their perspectives on the Farm Organism and the key principles that underpin their everyday biodynamic practices and running business. The common denominator that all farms agreed upon was the term “consciousness”. It was echoed that the centre of the farm organism are the individuals “bringing the consciousness into the detail”. Each farm expressed various ways of going about this but essentially it boils down to a few key principles:
- Farm workers and the core team seek consensus on the values and mission of the farm. The team or farmer should be encouraged to share this through different media with the wider community – hosting farm community days, farm walks, educational workshops etc.
- Bringing the consciousness into detail takes time. A strategy that reflects the farm’s vision, values and aims is essential to understand the direction of the business and how best to achieve this. Key principles were given as –
– Communications are constant and open amongst one another
– Key/designated staff members take responsibility of management of facilities and buildings
– There are processes of selecting and networking with good partners and outsourcing tasks to trusted contractors
– There are timely processes for monitoring and baselining the wildlife and habitat development
All these areas build toward a shared consciousness from the outset which allows the process of establishing land-based partnerships with others (new entrants and farm starts) much easier.
There is no prescriptive path toward achieving consciousness of a farm organism but instead a variety of approaches that reflect each individual farm context – including geography and culture of place and people.
Enterprise Stacking – diverse applications for unique situations:
There is a great deal of variation in how each farm structures its different enterprises, each reflecting the unique practical, financial and legal setup of the farm organism.
Some of our biodynamic farms are small, having a few cattle, some good pasture, a few chickens and maybe a veg patch. Other sites are big and have cereals, beef cattle, a dairy herd, sheep, pigs, layers and broilers, field veg, polytunnel crops, and do processing too. We wanted to know how each farm carries out and holds these different activities so that they work as much in balance as possible, and so that good rotations benefit soil and produce alike, in such a way that one part provides feed and fertility for another.
The answers vary, for example:
- Our larger sites such as Tablehurst have a mixed farm model across 400 acres where most of the produce is sold onsite in the shop and cafe. The diversity of enterprises requires over 30 members of paid staff and a strong volunteer base. Running each enterprise optimally comes with its own challenges. There is tension between specialisation of a few enterprises on a larger scale and/or developing a collection of smaller scale diverse enterprises on the same piece of land. Tablehurst consistently revaluates the challenges of supply and demand. With little distribution of their produce going beyond the farm gate, the team have to ensure that the shop and cafe functions optimally and the demand for produce doesn’t outweigh supply.
- Enterprise Stacking at Oakbrook looks different with individual enterprises that act as separate businesses financially. Mutual agreements of how the site operates as an entity have to be found between the micro dairy, zero dig, bee observatory and agroforestry sites etc. Each enterprise has its own challenges around finding a committed, skilled labour force, and as a whole need to address aspects such as wastewater run-off issues from the micro dairy, infrastructure needs for water, electrics, paths and barns, that function and the use can be shared among all enterprises.
- Then of course, there are wider considerations for all farms of how to communicate the farm’s vision to the public, and getting this messaging right where it reflects the culture and vision of each individual enterprise. Building a regenerative culture of the whole that is inclusive of the sum of its parts is no easy task.
There are pros and cons to how each farm structures different enterprises. The approaches taken across our biodynamic sites show there is no single right way of modelling this. In fact, the differences are what makes each farm unique in its delivery of food production, community engagement and climate-friendly nature contributions.
If you are looking to build a career in farming or gain access to land, get in touch with us to arrange a chat. Please also reach out to any of our tenant farms for volunteering opportunities. Other jobs and internships across the biodynamic and organic movement can be found here
Written by Amber Lawes-Johnson
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