Dear
Jeff,
Regarding transitioning to organic, the biggest obstacle
to overcome—besides the change of style of farming or
thinking of farming—is the abundance of notes to be
logged in.
In my opinion if you want someone to participate in your
program, you should make it easy as possible for them. How
about software that utlizes Excel, Lotus, or whatever, that
could be slightly changed to meet personal needs. Fill out
a log every day, and let it generate the reports. It seems
to me that if the state wants to increase organic participation,
then how about having software from the state to facilitate
us. I have enough things to be good at without having to master
computer science, too. Should we (farmers) either reinvent
the wheel or pay others to make software? One of the first
things one has to do is hand out money to several people to
get certified. Someone always has their hand out to the farmer.
Ricky Klein
North Carolina
Dear Ricky,
I just finished up sending in my own re-certification forms
and can relate to your concerns and comments. The main reason
no one has put together the forms in a prescribed way is because
there is no prescribed way to collect the information. The
federal rule allows each certifier, and each farmer for that
matter, to collect the necessary information in the manner
that is most convenient for them. This is to build flexibility
into the system to allow for the great diversity of cropping
systems, production styles, livestock, greenhouse and certification
practices out there in the real world. Many certifiers do
have their forms available electronically, where they can
be downloaded and filled out with the use of a computer. But
many farmers don't want to use a computer, so a paper and
pencil are still viable recordkeeping tools.
We use a computer-based system utilizing Microsoft Access
as the platform to construct our own recordkeeping forms for
our field operations and soil and water test results. We then
ask the computer to write a report based on our input data,
and we get what we need for our certification as a printout.
There is no getting around recordkeeping in almost any type
of agricultural system. Our conventional neighbors need to
get pesticide credits, keep detailed records of what they
sprayed, where they sprayed and when they did it. They may
even need to notify certain residents in the area they are
spraying to warn them of the operation. We all need to track
our animals as they move through the system and assign lot
numbers to grain shipments. It seems to be part of the business
of agriculture.
The trick is to do exactly what you are doing. Take notes
as you go and record them in some sort of organized system—with
or without the use of a computer. Don't wait unil the last
minute and try to remember what you did eight, nine or even
12 months ago. By keeping track of this information, you'll
find that you actually begin to learn a lot more about your
farm, your soil and your entire operation. And as you learn,
you'll see places to make improvements that benefit all of
us.
We are currently working on a transition training course
as an online teaching tool that will use a series of electronic
forms to collect the necessary information to fill out an
Organic System Plan. We're hoping this will alleviate many
of the headaches you describe, and you won't need to become
a computer wizard to make it work.
Jeff
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