As a farmer, do you see your self trying to be more...?

Question

'green'? you know, environmentally friendly.

Answer 1

Absolutely.  I try to do everything naturally, and use no chemical fertilizers at all.  For me, natural is best.

Answer 2

Many urban people think farmers pour on tons ofe herbicides, insecticides and commercial fertilizers.  Are they ever wrong!  Considering the exorbitant cost of these products, you aren't going to fine anyone using any more than is absolutely necessary.

As far as environmentally friendly, farmers know that their business IS the environment and try to take care of it.  Sure, there are always a few bad eggs that give everyone else a bad name, but you can find them in all walks of life everywhere.

Answer 3

Yes, although we are not organic. We try to be more friendly to the environment by using pesticides that break down easily in the soil, and only using them where they are needed. Also, by doing that, and trying to prepare the soil for planting in fewer passes, we try to save as much fuel as possible.

Answer 4

No, not really. We have always been as green as we could be, leaving our crop stovers on the surface, avoiding tillage. We carefully avoid driving on our soil when it might be specially at risk of compaction. We no longer have a field that tends to any water erosion, but we have a risk of wind erosion well controlled by tree stands.

We have neighbours who run feedlot operations so we can buy manure instead of using chemical fertilizers, but of course using that manure makes our farm non-organic. (We can not be 'certified organic'.)

No, we have always been just as green.