Biodynamic agriculture

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Biodynamic agriculture, or biodynamics comprises an ecological and sustainable farming system, that includes many of the ideas of organic farming (but predates the term). It is based on the anthroposophical teachings of Rudolf Steiner, particularly on the eight lectures given by him in Schloss Koberwitz in Silesia, Germany in 1924 (nowadays close to Wrocław, Poland), shortly before his death. At the time Steiner believed that the introduction of chemical farming was a major problem. Steiner was convinced that the quality of food in his time was degraded, and he believed the source of the problem were artificial fertilizers and pesticides, however he did not believe this was only because of the chemical or biological properties relating to the substances involved, but also due to spiritual shortcomings in the whole chemical approach to farming. Steiner considered the world and everything in it as simultaneously spiritual and material in nature, an approach termed monism. He also believed that living matter was different from dead matter, a viewpoint commonly referred to as vitalism.[1]

The name "biologically dynamic" or "biodynamic" was coined by Steiner's adherents. A central aspect of biodynamics is that the farm as a whole is seen as an organism, and therefore should be a closed self-nourishing system, which the preparations nourish. Disease of organisms is not to be tackled in isolation but is a symptom of problems in the whole organism.

[edit] History

Agricultural work arising out of the beliefs of Rudolf Steiner is based at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. Not long after Steiner's lectures on agriculture in the 1920's an agricultural research group was formed to test and verify the claims of Steiner and others regarding the nature of life and health of soil, plants and animals. Originally this research was under the direction of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Eugen and Lilly Kolisko.

The Demeter International association for the certification of farms and processors that follow the biodynamic method was initiated in 1928. The U.S. Demeter Association was formed in the 1980's and certified its first farm in 1982.

In the U.S., the Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, Inc. was founded in 1938 as a New York state corporation.

In Australia the first B-D preparations were made by Ernesto Genoni in Melbourne in 1927 and by Bob Williams in Sydney in 1939. There are now two biodynamic associations in Australia. The Biodynamic Agriculture Association of Australia (BDAAA) was established in the mid 1950s by Alex Podolinsky in Victoria with 27 farmers. By 1980, the BDAAA members were farming over one million acres (4000 km²) producing almost every type of agricultural product [2].

Today biodynamics is practiced in more than 50 countries worldwide.

[edit] Organic Fertilizers

Steiner prescribed eight different preparations for fertilizers which were allowed for use in biodynamic agriculture, and gave great details of how these were to be prepared. Inorganic or mineral fertilizers are not allowed, with the exception of quartz in substance 501 (see below). The substances are numbered 500 through 507, whereof the first two are used for preparing fields whereas the latter six are used for making compost:

[edit] Field preparations

Field preparations, for stimulating humus formation:

  • 500: (horn-manure) a humus mixture prepared by stuffing cow manure into the horn of a cow and buried into the ground (40-60 cm below the surface) in the autumn and left to decompose during the winter.
  • 501: Crushed powdered quartz prepared by stuffing it into a horn of a cow and buried into the ground in spring and taken out in autumn. It can be mixed with 500 but usually prepared on its own (mixture of 1 tablespoon of quartz powder to 250 litres of water) The mixture is sprayed under very low pressure over the crop during the wet season to prevent fungal diseases. It should be sprayed on an overcast day or early in the morning to prevent burning of the leaves.

Both 500 and 501 are used on fields by stirring the contents of a horn in 40-60 litres of water for an hour and whirling it in different directions every second minute. About 4 horns are used for each hectare of soil.

[edit] Compost preparations

Compost preparations, used for preparing compost, employ herbs which are frequently used in medicinal remedies:

  • 502: Yarrow blossoms (Achillea millefolium) are stuffed into urinary bladders from Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), placed in the sun during summer, buried in earth during winter and retrieved in the spring.
  • 503: Chamomile blossoms (Matricaria recutita) are stuffed into small intestines from cattle buried in humus-rich earth in the autumn and retrieved in the spring.
  • 504: Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) plants in full bloom are stuffed together underground surrounded on all sides by peat for a year.
  • 505: Oak bark (Quercus robur) is chopped in small pieces, placed inside the skull of a domesticated animal, surrounded by peat and buried in earth in a place where lots of rain water runs by.
  • 506: Dandelion flowers (Taraxacum officinale) is stuffed into the peritoneum of cattle and buried in earth during winter and retrieved in the spring.
  • 507: Valerian flowers (Valeriana officinalis) is extracted into water.
  • 508: Horsetail (Equisetum)

One to three grams (a teaspoon) of each preparation is added to a dung heap by digging 50 cm deep holes with a distance of 2 meters from each other, except for the 507 preparation, which is stirred into 5 litres of water and sprayed over the entire compost surface. All preparations are thus used in homeopathic quantities, and the only intent is to strengthen the life forces of the farm.

[edit] Dealing with pests and weeds

Biodynamic agriculture uses techniques reminiscent of the fertilization for pest control and weed control, most of these techniques include using the ashes of a pest or weed that has been trapped or picked from the fields and ceremonially burnt. Steiner sees pests and weeds as a result of imbalance between life forces emanated from the earth.

Since Steiner viewed the full moon, Venus and Mercury as cosmic powers influencing the fertility of plants, the biodynamic techniques for pest control involves blocking the fertility influence from said planets on different pests. Steiner dictates that this is achieved in different ways for pests and weeds:

  • Pests such as insects or field mice (Apodemus) have more complex processes associated with them, depending on what pest is to be targeted. For example field mice are to be countered by deploying ashes prepared from field mice skin when Venus is in the Scorpius constellation.
  • Weeds are combated (besides the usual mechanical methods) by collecting seeds from the weeds and burning them above a wooden flame. The ashes from the seeds are then spread on the fields, which will according to biodynamic philosophy block the influence from the full moon on the particular weed and make it infertile.

[edit] Studies

There have been some attempts to scientifically compare organic and biodynamic farming, and others comparing biodynamic and conventional farming. The differences with organic farming are generally small, those with conventional farming more significant.

An April 16, 1993 a research article in Science magazine compared soil quality and financial performance of biodynamic and conventional farms in New Zealand. The article reported that, "The Biodynamic farms proved in most enterprises to have soils of higher biological and physical quality: significantly greater in organic matter, content and microbial activity, more earthworms, better soil structure, lower bulk density, easier penetrability, and thicker topsoil." [3]The study compared biodynamic farms with adjacent conventional farms, but didn't attempt to compare farms of similar size, or with similar crops.

[edit] Skeptical view

Opponents of biodynamic agriculture argue that similar or equal results can be obtained using standard organic farming principles and that the biodynamic preparations more resemble alchemy or magic akin to geomancy[4][5].

[edit] Certifying organizations

The largest certification organisation for biodynamic farms is Demeter International and its national member organisations. Other certifying organisations exist; in the USA this has led to the BDA (Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, Inc.) who are responsible for the Demeter system in the U.S. and for the trademarked term biodynamic.

In France Biodivin certifies Biodynamic wine.

[edit] Non-certified approaches using biodynamic principles

Further information: Non-certified biodynamic approaches

There are other approaches to biodynamics not certified by Demeter that employ some unique agricultural techniques, including those of Hugh Lovel, Greg Willis and Glen Atkinson.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Steiner, Rudolf: Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture: A Course of Lectures. , Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, 1993, Kimberton, PA. 310 p, ISBN 0-938250-37-X
  2. ^ A Brief History of Bio-dynamics - an Australian Perspective, Biodynamic Growing Volume 1, BDAAA Literature, Sydney, Australia, pp 34-36
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ [http://www.nitrogen.de/bub/faz.htm /Article from the German newspaper F.A.Z.}
  5. ^ [2]
  • "Soil Quality and Financial Performance of Biodynamic and Conventional Farms in New Zealand", John P. Reganold, Alan S. Palmer, James C. Lockhart and Nate Macgregor, Science, April 16, 1993, Volume 260, pp. 344-349. http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/newsltr/v6n2/sa-13.htm
  • "Soil Fertility, Renewal and Preservation", Anthroposophic Press, NY, 1938, p. 150

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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