Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 2: Designing Your Farm Dream
• Part 2 of 2: Make changes
• Tips

If you want to tackle resource-conserving land cultivation, there are certain steps you need to take to move towards that goal. If you are aiming for a resource-efficient farm, use these steps as criteria.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Designing Your Farm Dream

1. 1 Don't confuse the concepts of “resource efficient” and “organic”. An organic label implies that the products have been grown and fertilized without the use of synthetic chemicals (but there are exceptions).
   • Many people confuse conservation agriculture with organic farming. Both aim to use economically sound activities, but they are measured against a certain set of standards.
   • Organic agriculture, especially on a large industrial scale, can still damage the environment and threaten public health in various forms.Under the "flag" of the organic tag, ecosystems can be destroyed by widespread monoculture, applied pesticides, soil can be stripped of nutrients and organic matter, pollution is created, and inordinate amounts of fossil fuels can be wasted.
2. 2 Understand what it means to conserve resources sustainably. This is the cultivation of land in a separate area for the production of products for an indefinite period. To move in this direction, the farm must:
   • avoid irreversible changes in the land (eg erosion)
   • not remove any resources from the environment that cannot be replenished (for example, not using more water than regular rainfall can replace)
   • generate enough income to stay off the farm in the face of global consolidation of agricultural and infrastructure development
3. 3 Consider the source. Determine where your resources are coming from and whether you are taking in more than can be replenished through natural processes or your own actions.
   • Where do your resources and funds come from? Think about water, energy, soil conditioner, and feed (if you have livestock). Also think about long term capital investments such as structural building materials, tools, etc.
   • Keep in mind that no farm is isolated: complete self-sufficiency is not a requirement for Conservation Agriculture. Long term stability and performance are imperative. The more renewable and varied your resources are, the longer your farm will live.

Part 2 of 2: Make changes

1. 1 Recycle waste. There is no such thing as throw away. Everything is interconnected. Pay attention to the application of such actions: reduction, reuse and recycling. It is not only more resource efficient but also cheaper.
   • Examine every piece of garbage and waste your job generates and ask, "What can I do about it?"
   • If there is nothing you can do about it, try to think about who from the neighborhood might find it useful. Be resourceful.
2. 2 Encourage variety on the farm. Preference for "polyculture" over "monoculture" will result in less waste and generally lower fossil fuel consumption.
   • Use varieties and breeds that are well adapted to your local conditions, rather than breeding for maximum performance and storage (sacrificing stamina and taste).
   • Alternate crops and pastures. Use satellite planting and green manure to keep the soil constantly fertile to prevent loss of topsoil. Don't let any piece of land lose essential nutrients.
   • Keep those animals and plants that indirectly benefit the stability and productivity of the farm. For example, yarrow and stinging nettle will add nutritional value to plants growing near them and also increase the volatile oil content of plants grown specifically for oils. Plant basil to serve as an insecticide, and have guinea fowls to keep ticks at bay. While wandering around the farm (and the surrounding area), guinea fowls eat ticks left on the grass after watching the red beast. They also kill or drive away rattlesnakes.
   • If guinea fowls are not common in your area, raise ducks (if you have a pond) and / or chickens. Chickens eat crop scraps and plant waste. If they can't eat everything, they will still trample the waste into the ground, turning it into organic fertilizer rich in nitrogen (especially when added to feed).
   • Raise livestock and grow crops, create mutually beneficial relationships between them. The easiest way to do this is to use your livestock manure to fertilize crops and some crops to feed your livestock.If you cannot keep animals and grow crops, find a neighbor who specializes in one thing and make a profitable exchange.
3. 3 Encourage variety around the farm. Farm ecology doesn't end at the boundaries of your property.
   • Plant trees around the farm to act as a shelter from the wind and provide habitat for native birds (they can hunt insects that attack crops).
   • Be tolerant of natural predators that keep pests at bay (for example, gopher-eating snakes, aphid-eating ladybugs, insect-eating spiders that spread disease to crops).
4. 4 Diversify financially. An environmentally friendly farming operation will not benefit anyone if it cannot generate profits and maintain its productivity. However, if you, or someone else, is willing and able to sponsor a farm with an outside source of income or other external source of income, you will be doing the math while you are in the black.
   • Take advantage of the options available because the activity is direct marketing. This includes: FSA / subscriptions, farmers markets, roadside stands and even the internet.
   • Pricing produce is a clever way to differentiate between that farm's salad and another's. You take a salad and make it part of a delicious hamburger made with healthy meat that is grown on your own pastures and cover it with a slice of delicious red tomato grown in your garden. This is how you get up to reach out to a wider audience and rake in more profits. In other words, do not just grow different products, but do different things from what you have grown, and sell it to on-premises stores or restaurants (including via the Internet).
   • Satisfy any economic level and ethnic group in society. People of different incomes search for different products on the farm. Some ethnic groups value agricultural products that, for example, are not interested in the main part of society (for example, many Caribbean immigrants seek male, uncastrated goats for meat, as well as amaranth and common weeds that they use to cook Kalalu).
   • Publish. Tell everyone what you do on the farm. Organize educational tours and workshops. Keep your farm tidy, because if it ever comes to that, the local community may defend proposals for developing your farm.People may want your farm to be considered a true oasis of agricultural heritage.
5. 5 Find good, reliable workers. Find people who are committed to Conservation Agriculture (not just wallow in it) and are not afraid to get their hands dirty because they are guided by their brains.
   • Reducing dependence on fossil fuels means increasing dependence on human wage labor, and not just manual labor - you need smart workers who understand the complexity of the system you support and can upgrade it with every decision they make.
6. 6 Enjoy life. Farming is very hard work, but the most successful farmers know when to stop and work around the crisis. Remember why you are farming and why, in particular, you strive for it. Most people like to know that they are leaving the earth in better shape than they were in.

Tips

• Conservation agriculture on a large scale requires a very different approach than on a small scale. Adjust your sustainability accordingly.Do not try to produce 20 types of vegetables and raise seven types of livestock on a 12-hectare plot unless you have the hired strength, knowledge, and experience to manage it sustainably. Many farmers and pastoralists working on 20 hectares of land mimic grazing systems that promote soil and animal health through elaborate alternating systems.
• The farmers who are most successful in applying the ideas discussed are those who can gradually observe, experiment, observe, adapt and replicate. In addition to this, keep detailed notes on what works best, temperatures, rainfall, how much extra water was used, and other notes that will help you in the future. It is these farms that overcome various challenges and slowly but surely continue to grow in complexity and stability.
• If you find a great employee but cannot afford to pay him enough for a living, be flexible and resourceful. Consider sharing the profits and / or renting out to him.