culter - 1/14/2013 17:06 The problem with listening to "consumers" about farming, is that most consumers know absolutely nothing about farming. They have been led to believe they know, but in reality, they don't. I can hardly believe some of the crazy stuff I have been told by many "informed" consumers. Nowadays, just about everyone thinks they are a farmer, or at least know how to farm. I know for a fact that some of the biggest organic suppliers have invested millions promoting their products and recruiting customers. They propagandize about the benefits of organics, and also about the problems with conventional farming (they usually lump all non-organic farming methods into this category). Most of the information is misleading to say the least, and some I have heard and read are outright lies. I won't go into specifics. I know that a lot of the practical innovations in organic farming come from past conventional farmers who switched. All of the conventional farmers I know come from farming families and most are good at what they are doing. They are very scientific in their approach and do routine soil-testing -- something I rarely see organic farmers around here do. The rift between organic and non-organic producers exists in large part because most organic producers will not admit that there is a lot of misinformation out there, and that they can learn a lot from their conventional neighbors. I also believe that many conventional farmers resent being told how to farm by people who don't have any real history of farming.