|
WC Mn/Dakotas | Have heard of regenerative in the last few years. Predominantly a buzz word imho. Sounds like those trying to produce in such a way as to produce by means of very little to no input, or if you do it is an organic product. Largely no till. My neighbor growing up was a large (at the time) organic grower. He talked about it being sustainable vs conventional tillage/pesticide/fertilizer being unsustainable (this was in the 80s)
Industrial is not a term most growers i know would consider themselves to be, although I suppose it is not wrong. Conventional is a much more common term.
I think it is really more of a battle of terms and definitions and locations. My mom is from Southern MN where 300-700 acre farms were considered avg. My dad is from wc MN where avg farm was 3-4x that. Thats only 170 miles apart and it two different worlds. I know true family farms that are 8,000-20,000 acres, and there are true corporate farms that are smaller acre wise in other parts of the country. I flew for 4 brothers thus year that farm 50,000 acre in tx panhandle with the help of some family, some local hired hands and maybe 9 south Africans.
I think the largely uneducated consumer is after a label more more than most growers. It seems govt is as well. Most are satisfied by simply putting a word or phrase to what a grower is already doing. Why not label yourself or what you are already doing? But then why not just educate the consumer to begin with and avoid all these silly labels with less than clear definitions and all the "liability" issues that are bound to follow? I see it as further dividing an already small group/voice and ultimately hurting agriculture overall. But the customer is always right... | |
|
regenerative ag vs sustainable ag Need your opinion...
