All About This Regenerative Agriculture Practice
Imagine a farm that hums with life: lush fields overflowing with fruits and vegetables interplanted among flowering herbs, meadows dotted with free-roaming animals, and compost heaps teeming with life. A place where the insects are welcomed and the stars play a role in sowing and harvesting.
So what is this verdant paradise?
Welcome to a biodynamic farm.
Rooted in the idea that farms are living, interconnected systems, biodynamics recognizes that each farm is its own contained ecosystem, with the interactions between components – cultivated land, forested buffers, fallow fields, livestock, wildlife, and people – contributing to the overall health of the system.
But what exactly does that mean? Let’s dig in and explore how this agricultural approach cultivates more than just crops.
What is it?
Biodynamic farming takes a holistic approach to agriculture, acknowledging the important link between resilient soil and healthy animals, and high quality produce and other farm products. Anthony Mecca, Co-Director of the Biodynamic Association says, “Biodynamics creates more nutritious and better tasting foods, herbs for potent healing medicines, luxurious fibers, and more, all while bringing greater vitality and beauty to the landscape and helping the practitioner build meaningful relationships with nature and other human beings.”
Biodynamic farming emerged in the early 20th century out of growing concern for the increased use of synthetic fertilizers and the rapid expansion of industrial agriculture. Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, whose work also gave rise to the Waldorf educational system, began promoting the idea that both scientific principles and spiritual connection could be found within the farm landscape. He encouraged farmers to cultivate an astute awareness of their individual farm, and that by doing so, one could create a self-sustaining system that was economically, environmentally, and ethically sound.
Biodynamic farming principles
Biodynamic farming is far more than just skipping the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Here are some key principles of biodynamic farming:
Farm fertility is self-contained and self-sustained
Biodynamic farms look to generate and cycle all of their own nutrients. No fertilizers, synthetic or organic, are imported into a biodynamic farm. Instead, farmers use compost, animal manure, cover cropping, living mulch, and crop rotation. All of these practices build soil that boasts a loamy, balanced structure that allows for proper water drainage and aeration, and is rich in organic matter and beneficial microorganisms.
Biodynamic farms also utilize specialized additives, made from farm-grown herbs or fermented manure. These biodynamic “preparations”, as they’re referred to, are sprayed on to fields or compost piles to boost beneficial microorganisms and promote overall healthy plant growth.
Animal health and wellbeing is essential
All farm animals are cared for in a way that prioritizes both their physical health as well as their innate behavior. Animals on a biodynamic farm are fed natural, appropriate foods and are allowed to free range outdoors. Cows keep their horns and chickens keep their beaks.
Pests and diseases are treated holistically
Pests and diseases are viewed as signs of deeper imbalances on the farm, and biodynamic farmers prioritize bringing their system back into ecological balance over annihilating a pesky weed or insect. Much of the focus here is on prevention, with companion planting and physical barriers frequently used to deter pests. Synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides are not applied on a biodynamic farm.
Biodiversity is a priority
By cultivating a wide variety of plants and animals, biodynamic farms not only boost their resiliency, but help contribute to global biodiversity. Diversity strengthens a farm’s ability to adapt to seasonal and environmental change. It’s not just a matter of planting a mix of vegetables and fruits; beyond the for-market crops, native plant assemblages, wildflower meadows, and other conserved areas around the farm can help support pollinators and other wildlife. Certified biodynamic farms must devote at least 10% of their total area to biodiversity.
Farming activities follow cosmic rhythms
Biodynamic farming looks beyond a basic seasonal calendar. Biodynamic farmers also track and note the cyclical rhythms of the Earth, moon, and planets to help them plan for different farm tasks. Cultivating, planting, and harvesting are often timed in accordance with lunar cycles and planetary movements.
What are the benefits of biodynamic farming?
Biodynamic farming offers a huge number of benefits to both people and planet.
- Improved soil quality: Composting, cover cropping, crop rotation, and specially-prepared herbal and compost preparations work hand in hand to enrich farm soil. Biodynamic farming has been shown to enhance soil quality and biodiversity.
Carbon sequestration: Soils can play an important role in storing carbon, which in turn, helps to mitigate climate change. Cover cropping, composting, and other regenerative practices help enhance this sequestration.
Cleaner waterways: Without the use of synthetic fertilizers, less phosphorus and nitrogen enters adjacent streams, rivers, and lakes via runoff. Cover cropping and forested buffers prevent erosion by holding valuable topsoil in place.
Increased biodiversity: Open-pollinated seeds, wildflower buffers, and absolutely no synthetic pesticides help to support a farm ecosystem that is rich in different fungi, insects, plants, birds, and mammals, both wild and domestic.
Higher quality produce: Biodynamic practices can improve both the flavor and nutritive properties of farm-produced food. Mecca puts it simply: “Everything feels, tastes, looks, and smells more rich, healthy, and real.”
How is biodynamic farming different from organic and conventional farming?
While organic farming also prioritizes soil health and shuns synthetic agro-chemicals, biodynamic farming goes a step further, by incorporating specialized compost and soil preparations and striving to be entirely self-contained. Organic farms can import nutrients by way of fertilizer, although organic fertilizers do need to be derived from natural sources, like animal byproducts or mined minerals. Biodynamic farms also plan farm activities around cosmic and planetary cycles.
Conventional farming, on the other hand, is generally focused on maximizing yields, be it bushels of wheat or gallons of milk. This often comes at the expense of sustainability, animal welfare, and environmental health. Synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides play a big role in conventional farming, and there is little concern for biodiversity within the farm.
For Mecca, the choice to grow biodynamically was an obvious one: “I worked on both organic and biodynamic farms and the difference was starkly clear in all regards! Biodynamics creates healthier soils, plants, animals, and human beings. When I started my own farm, the choice was clear.”
Overall, biodynamic farming stands as a testament to the power of working within the environment instead of against it. While its principles may sound a bit overwhelming to some, Mecca assures us that biodynamic growing is for everyone, in any place, and at any scale. “Once you actually start, it feels like second nature,” he says.
By forming a close connection with the land, farmers and growers are able to work creatively and adjust practices when issues arise. “Work on observing and asking questions – question the paradigm of our relationships with nature and each other.” say Mecca. “Nature is intrinsically giving – we are NOT at war but seeking to understand and collaborate.”