July 16, 2025 • 18 mins
This week on The American Family Farmer, host and lifelong farmer Doug Stephan (www.eastleighfarm.com) shares critical updates impacting small farms across the country.
Doug opens the show with a look at the ongoing immigration enforcement issues that are threatening family farms. The American Farm Bureau Federation has expressed serious concern over reports of renewed immigration crackdowns that are removing essential, hardworking laborers from small farm operations.
Next, Doug dives into the challenges facing the beef cattle industry — including the reemergence of screwworm infestations coming up from Mexico, raising alarm for U.S. livestock. On top of that, an increase in tick activity is causing a surge in infestations across farms this season. Despite these concerns, there’s good news: the cattle market remains strong, with continued high demand.
Turning to the honeybee crisis, Doug reports that bee colonies are down by two-thirds, due to a combination of migratory stress, parasitic threats, and erratic weather — especially recent floods across the U.S. Given the vital role bees play in agriculture, Doug encourages anyone with the interest and ability to consider starting a colony of their own to support pollination and food production.
In his “Doug’s Opine” segment, Doug revisits his recent conversation with Julia Barton from the Organic Farmers Association (episode: "Empowering Organic Farmers: A Conversation with Julia Barton of the Organic Farmers Association"). He reflects on the challenges surrounding the “organic” label — a term that has been increasingly compromised by government red tape and industrial agriculture interests. Doug shares his strong belief that real organic farming should return to its roots — before chemical farming — and stresses the importance of knowing your farmer. As he says, if your organic food comes from a local farm, it’s far more trustworthy than products from big ag brands bearing the same label.
Doug opens the show with a look at the ongoing immigration enforcement issues that are threatening family farms. The American Farm Bureau Federation has expressed serious concern over reports of renewed immigration crackdowns that are removing essential, hardworking laborers from small farm operations.
Next, Doug dives into the challenges facing the beef cattle industry — including the reemergence of screwworm infestations coming up from Mexico, raising alarm for U.S. livestock. On top of that, an increase in tick activity is causing a surge in infestations across farms this season. Despite these concerns, there’s good news: the cattle market remains strong, with continued high demand.
Turning to the honeybee crisis, Doug reports that bee colonies are down by two-thirds, due to a combination of migratory stress, parasitic threats, and erratic weather — especially recent floods across the U.S. Given the vital role bees play in agriculture, Doug encourages anyone with the interest and ability to consider starting a colony of their own to support pollination and food production.
In his “Doug’s Opine” segment, Doug revisits his recent conversation with Julia Barton from the Organic Farmers Association (episode: "Empowering Organic Farmers: A Conversation with Julia Barton of the Organic Farmers Association"). He reflects on the challenges surrounding the “organic” label — a term that has been increasingly compromised by government red tape and industrial agriculture interests. Doug shares his strong belief that real organic farming should return to its roots — before chemical farming — and stresses the importance of knowing your farmer. As he says, if your organic food comes from a local farm, it’s far more trustworthy than products from big ag brands bearing the same label.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The American Family Farmer podcast, sponsored in part by Caldron,
the Safe, proven Way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. I'm Doug Stephan. This is
the American Family Farmer. So we start each week if
you have become a follower of fashion here on the
American Family Farmer with the news that affects in my mind,
(00:21):
the Family Farmer, and I get started with the immigration
problems the enforcement. The American Farm Bureau Federation expressing concern,
as is the National Farmers' Union over reports that immigration
enforcement has resumed. It was a big push early on
(00:41):
in the administration, and then sort of there was so
much disruption that it was stopped. I heard reports of
men and women being removed from farms and deported, but
they were told that the American the embassy or people
on back on their own terra firma would help them
(01:03):
become legal. And that was the case. I know somebody
here in Massachusetts who lost to three or four workers.
They were sent back to their country. They were given
help to fill out all the right paperwork become legal,
and then after all the paperworkers done and they got
themselves on the road to a green card. And being
here legally they came back, so maybe that's happening. It's
(01:26):
different upon it depends on what part of the country
you're in, frankly, but agriculture and labor, we certainly have
a problem caring for crops and animals, and because America
has become what it is in terms of making it
easier for people to collect money. Maybe under the Trump
(01:47):
years that will change, but for the moment, there are
lots of dedicated employees who are working alongside of farm
families that aren't in the farm family. They become members
of it or speaking. But the agricultural workforce program is
completely broken, and this is not meeting the needs of farmers.
(02:09):
It's very expensive for farmers and we have no respect.
The whole agricultural system in our country is so broken,
and so domestic workers not applying for farm jobs and
many circumstances. There are a lot of aggressive hiring efforts
I've seen all over the country, but without the people
(02:29):
that are here from other countries, vegetables would be left
in the fields, fruit would not get picked, cows wouldn't
get milked. It's reality. That's why you see so many
people going to in terms of dairy on the big
farms anyway to robots, even some smaller farms. I know
who I know one fellow who is a friend of mine,
lost his barn four years ago. Taken them this long
(02:50):
to be able to put together a plan to build
a new one. It's expensive, but everything is robotic. Everything
about it is robotic, and he seems quite pleased. He
looks hundred and eighty cows and so this he thinks,
and sells his milk and all the products that he
grows on his farm in a store that he has
done very well in since his father started it a
(03:12):
number of years ago. At any rate, Congress has to
prioritize fixing the farm problem. The president needs to fix
the farm problem. The people work for ice and all
these other agencies. They need to get a clue, frankly,
to help harvesting crops were beyond planting. But this we
(03:37):
got the workforce, not by letting a lot of people
into this country illegally. That's not what happened. In terms
of what's happened in the last four years. I don't
like to make a political statement out of some of
this stuff, but the way the last four years before
the president administration, and I'm no lover of the president administration,
but the last one was a nightmare for farming and
(03:59):
farmers and for our country. So we've got to find
a middle of the road here, and that's one of
the things that hopefully the government has focused on. Good heavens,
what a mess, all right? So that speaking of a mess.
Next up here on the American family Farm in the
news department, the beef cattle and the problems that we
(04:20):
have the cattle market. We've been talking a lot about
the screw worm and what's going on there. There is
this screw worm. If you haven't heard me talking about it,
I haven't seen any about it re emerged from Mexico
in recent months, severe threat to farmers and also to
(04:40):
wildlife populations. So the state agencies, the FEDS have been monitoring.
The Secretary of the Secretary of Agriculture has gone to Mexico,
has talked about the threat and the precautions that agencies
are taking to prevent reinfestation of this thing that happened
(05:04):
a couple of decades ago. But you'll see a lot
of people say, well, this may be good because if
the deer experiences population decline, that'll be good there past
they eat, they get a hold of things, and you know, yeah,
that may be it, but this isn't the way to
get rid of them, frankly, because the stuff can transfer
(05:24):
from let's say the deer population to cattle. Wounds are
the source of infection, So off any of your cattle,
any of the animals you have, whether it be chicken,
anything that is flesh oriented is a target for this stuff.
(05:45):
And there's a problem with ticks as well. This year.
The tick is active this summer, very active. You see
it every summer, but there have been a surge of
infestations and cattle are first introduced to new pastures. I
have not noticed with my cows. I don't think. I
didn't think the tics could get through their skin, but
apparently they can in certain circumstances, so be aware of that. Meanwhile,
(06:11):
speaking of cattle news, as a strong cattle market, the
recent strength of and it happens I was taking with
my cattle dealer yesterday, the beef cow inventory is at
a sixty year low. Demand is very strong. Cow calf
operations are in the driver's seat and here in New England,
(06:31):
a lot of dairy guys any cow that offers any
suggestion of having a problem right to the market, it
goes and it gets beefed because some of these cows
are bringing as much as three thousand dollars ahead because
of what's going on in the beef market. So actually
(06:52):
this is one place where the market is bright in
terms of farmers surviving or making money. And there are
a lot of interesting implications coming from the screw worm
being a problem and ticks being a problem. So if
you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor this year,
keep your eye on some of these problems that are
(07:13):
developing with ticks and with the screw worm. I think
they talk to vets about it, but all the Farm
Bureau and National Farmers Union are on top of this
as well. Anyway, the most common places on the body
of the animal, and actually with you I've had I
(07:34):
can't tell you any bites bites I've had this summer.
The longhorned tick affects cattle and you need to check
the groin area around their neck and their eyes. It's
really something. But farmers a big, you know, having a
big problem with this as the animals are so as
a matter of fact, there may be more of a
(07:55):
problem with a farmer than it is with the animals,
So keep your eye open for that problem. All right,
honeybees in our focus on the news desk here in
a matter of moments, right now, I want to remind
you of the benefits of having Caltron available for you
to lose weight and keep it off. People ask all
the time, Hey, what happens under the circumstances if I
(08:19):
am trying to lose weight and I use these medications
that are around now, can I use Caldron? The answer
is absolutely yes. You want health, you want a good environment.
My heavens, this is a fabulous product that I've been
talking about for years and years and years and years.
It's kind of a nice thing to be helping people
to get healthy and to see the results of it.
(08:40):
I talk to the folks, and you hear me talking
to Elizabeth Miller on this program all the time and
the other programs that I do. So may I suggest
you just take a quick look at toploss dot com,
the website for Caldron. It's all the newly designed. It's
much easier to use. Understand how this works, why it's
good for you, and get on the program. And when
(09:01):
you decide you're going to buy. For example, this weekend,
there's a big special on a couple of different products
that you can see when you go to top loss
dot com. Use the Doug code DOUG when you check out,
you get focused on whatever the deal of the day
is or the weekend, and you also get free shipping.
So that's toplass dot Com losing weight the natural and
(09:22):
safe way. It's the product Calitron that everybody's talking about.
Back on the American Family Farmer with the latest on
the national honeybee colony system. Well, the situation we talked
I think a month or so ago with someone who's
in the honeybee business looking at some of the national
averages here in the South. With the weather, especially in
(09:45):
Texas this week, honeybee colonies are down by two thirds
and one of them one of the reasons is the
migratory stress. The parasites are a big problem, and the
weather is a big problem. Can you imagine and how
many bees were lost on these farms that were flooded
down in Texas this past week unbelievable. So if you
(10:08):
look around the country, it's more a problem down in
the Texas area. In the central southeast. There's a decline
of forty to fifty percent around the country. That's not uncommon.
The function of the commercial migratory honeybee colonies has been
the weather. The heat gets to them, cold weather. So
(10:33):
if you're in the business, there are a lot of people.
I have a development that I'm working on here and
some of the people are living there asked me if
they could keep a bee calling. Yes. I said, of course, yes,
it's great, and so if you I mean it may
not help to you the whole world, but every little
bit helps, and breeding efforts are now trying to reverse
(10:55):
the whole decline in honeybee colonies. You can go online
to any number. Is a great website associated with the
Texas A and M Colleges. The agro life extension services
there are very good. But there are these be hobbyists
who have Facebook pages all over the place. You can
(11:18):
check that out. Survey how it is that the pests
that bother the honeybees are handled as well. So please
make you educate yourself. Start a b colony if you
want to. I think that's a great thing. On any
farm there ought to be a honeybee colony, all right,
So that's the update on the diseases, the cattle, all
(11:40):
the honeybees. I think that's enough bad news. Let's get
to some good news. Elizabeth Miller is here from Caltrin
the fact. I want to underscore that this has proven
to work in ninety days. That's why you folks at
Caltrin sell the product in ninety day increments. It does
nothing but work. Let everybody know how well it works.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Absolutely, And I was going to say, also, you know,
we take care of our customers too, so if you
ever wanted to reorder, we're not jacking up the price.
We're not doing anything crazy trying to get more money
out of you. We are here to help. If you
order something and you like that special that you got,
and you call back later and you want to order,
you don't see it on the website, we will absolutely
still honor that special. We are good about taking care
of our customers, making sure our customers are happy with
(12:23):
the product. You get a team of support, you get
a dedicated personal on culture and consulting. We've all been
here for a really long time though. We're good at
our job helping people lose weight the right way.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Use the discount code. Dougdug and you get free shipping
among all the other benefits. It's just nothing but good.
Toplives dot com. This is Doug Stefan. You're listening to
the American Family Farmer. Back on the American Family Farmer
(12:53):
the podcast americanfamilyfarmershow dot com you can get You can
hear it on radio stations all over the country for sure.
A lot of the concentrated ag areas radio stations are
carrying this program. But it's good for it has a
good general audience as well because people are interested in
food supplies, so there's lots of focus on eating well.
And our discussion on organics this week brings me around
(13:17):
to thinking about farming and the people who are directing
the Organic Farmers' Association, Ms Barton, who is here I
think is one of the great great witnesses to how
organic is sustainable, how you can become better, and they're
working to make it easier to become an organic farmer
(13:42):
in all the states around the country. So you know,
organic for me is a market I believe very strongly,
and I don't like the process because it's very complicated
and expensive. And as you've perhaps heard this lady Sam.
If you didn't, you go back and listen to the
podcast America and Familyfarmershow dot com. If you didn't hear
(14:02):
me talking with Julia Barton about the move by the
farmers who run the organization to change the policies so
that it's easier. You know what has happened. Frankly, in
case you didn't know it, the organic market, the label
has become bastardized because of the four or five huge
conglomerates that saw the money being made in organics because
(14:25):
that's what people want, so they have all but ruined
it for the people who are loyal and true to
the policies or organic farming, I think, and turn things around.
What they're doing in cooperation with the USDA is to
create forums, farmers getting together to change the new organic
(14:46):
rules and so not only here in our country but
around the world. Organic farming, as I pointed out, goes
back to before we had chemical farming. It's not like
it was new. I think mss Barton used the term
indigenous people around the world, those people who started farming
(15:07):
when they're growing there. You know, hello, without farming, we'll
we're in bee here. Nobody could live without farming. So
they have taken it upon themselves to make it easier
to make the government see how a lot of people
have found loopholes the big companies have and that has
ruined it for the smaller farmers that are really leading
(15:28):
the way to fixing the challenges and finding solutions to
this need for organic farming. It all ought to be organic.
We need to get away from all the chemicals that
are killing people. And I don't say that as a Pollyanna.
I'm not somebody who's a crusader. I just know that
as a farmer, I don't want to be giving people
(15:49):
feeding people stuff that's not good for them. And a
lot of farmers, frankly are maybe they don't even know
that they are. But at the behest of Montsatro and
Dow and DuPont and the others that you know, produce
stuff that farmers say, well, it makes the crops heavier
and we make more money because we can grow more crops. Yeah,
but at what cost. That's the thing that a lot
(16:10):
of people who don't understand how to grow that. People
who are using the food, they just know that they
want that more organic, so they'll go for it no
matter where it is. And my point here is that
labels don't mean a thing anymore for the most part
when it comes to organic if you look at where
it comes from. If it's local, that's fine. But if
(16:30):
you see it connected to one of the big ad
conglomerates like Cargill or eight Am, you're not really getting organic.
You're just not And there's been a lot of feedback
on this. Organic farmers are getting together so that they
can have their synergistic connections. What the practices are here,
(16:51):
we'll share with the practice is there. I always talk
about my and if you listened earlier on I talked
about the witches brew that I create in my farm
of chicken manure and cow manure and sometimes I can
get pig manure mix it with my compost that we
have where we have one of the largest compost facilities
in the eastern part of Massachusetts. And I'm very proud
(17:11):
of what comes out of there. It's very healthy. I
used it to plant corn this year and the stuff
is coming up extraordinarily well. I hadn't used it before
quite the way I used it this year. I planted
it on top of I just put addressing of this
organic matter which is the compost on top of the field,
and then I planted into it and it really helped
(17:33):
jumpstart what normally was a four or five day process
to get the seeds out of the ground. Now two.
So it's kind of cool anyway, So I pass along
the information on the Organic Farmers Association and the new
rules Organic Farmers Association DORG. It pays to be listening
(17:53):
every week to the American Family Farmer. Check us out
on the podcast americanfamilyfarmershow dot com wherever you get your podcasts.
The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in part by Caldron,
which is the safe way for you to lose weight
and keep it off.
The American Family Farmer podcast, sponsored in part by Caldron,
the Safe, proven Way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. I'm Doug Stephan. This is
the American Family Farmer. So we start each week if
you have become a follower of fashion here on the
American Family Farmer with the news that affects in my mind,
(00:21):
the Family Farmer, and I get started with the immigration
problems the enforcement. The American Farm Bureau Federation expressing concern,
as is the National Farmers' Union over reports that immigration
enforcement has resumed. It was a big push early on
(00:41):
in the administration, and then sort of there was so
much disruption that it was stopped. I heard reports of
men and women being removed from farms and deported, but
they were told that the American the embassy or people
on back on their own terra firma would help them
(01:03):
become legal. And that was the case. I know somebody
here in Massachusetts who lost to three or four workers.
They were sent back to their country. They were given
help to fill out all the right paperwork become legal,
and then after all the paperworkers done and they got
themselves on the road to a green card. And being
here legally they came back, so maybe that's happening. It's
(01:26):
different upon it depends on what part of the country
you're in, frankly, but agriculture and labor, we certainly have
a problem caring for crops and animals, and because America
has become what it is in terms of making it
easier for people to collect money. Maybe under the Trump
(01:47):
years that will change, but for the moment, there are
lots of dedicated employees who are working alongside of farm
families that aren't in the farm family. They become members
of it or speaking. But the agricultural workforce program is
completely broken, and this is not meeting the needs of farmers.
(02:09):
It's very expensive for farmers and we have no respect.
The whole agricultural system in our country is so broken,
and so domestic workers not applying for farm jobs and
many circumstances. There are a lot of aggressive hiring efforts
I've seen all over the country, but without the people
(02:29):
that are here from other countries, vegetables would be left
in the fields, fruit would not get picked, cows wouldn't
get milked. It's reality. That's why you see so many
people going to in terms of dairy on the big
farms anyway to robots, even some smaller farms. I know
who I know one fellow who is a friend of mine,
lost his barn four years ago. Taken them this long
(02:50):
to be able to put together a plan to build
a new one. It's expensive, but everything is robotic. Everything
about it is robotic, and he seems quite pleased. He
looks hundred and eighty cows and so this he thinks,
and sells his milk and all the products that he
grows on his farm in a store that he has
done very well in since his father started it a
(03:12):
number of years ago. At any rate, Congress has to
prioritize fixing the farm problem. The president needs to fix
the farm problem. The people work for ice and all
these other agencies. They need to get a clue, frankly,
to help harvesting crops were beyond planting. But this we
(03:37):
got the workforce, not by letting a lot of people
into this country illegally. That's not what happened. In terms
of what's happened in the last four years. I don't
like to make a political statement out of some of
this stuff, but the way the last four years before
the president administration, and I'm no lover of the president administration,
but the last one was a nightmare for farming and
(03:59):
farmers and for our country. So we've got to find
a middle of the road here, and that's one of
the things that hopefully the government has focused on. Good heavens,
what a mess, all right? So that speaking of a mess.
Next up here on the American family Farm in the
news department, the beef cattle and the problems that we
(04:20):
have the cattle market. We've been talking a lot about
the screw worm and what's going on there. There is
this screw worm. If you haven't heard me talking about it,
I haven't seen any about it re emerged from Mexico
in recent months, severe threat to farmers and also to
(04:40):
wildlife populations. So the state agencies, the FEDS have been monitoring.
The Secretary of the Secretary of Agriculture has gone to Mexico,
has talked about the threat and the precautions that agencies
are taking to prevent reinfestation of this thing that happened
(05:04):
a couple of decades ago. But you'll see a lot
of people say, well, this may be good because if
the deer experiences population decline, that'll be good there past
they eat, they get a hold of things, and you know, yeah,
that may be it, but this isn't the way to
get rid of them, frankly, because the stuff can transfer
(05:24):
from let's say the deer population to cattle. Wounds are
the source of infection, So off any of your cattle,
any of the animals you have, whether it be chicken,
anything that is flesh oriented is a target for this stuff.
(05:45):
And there's a problem with ticks as well. This year.
The tick is active this summer, very active. You see
it every summer, but there have been a surge of
infestations and cattle are first introduced to new pastures. I
have not noticed with my cows. I don't think. I
didn't think the tics could get through their skin, but
apparently they can in certain circumstances, so be aware of that. Meanwhile,
(06:11):
speaking of cattle news, as a strong cattle market, the
recent strength of and it happens I was taking with
my cattle dealer yesterday, the beef cow inventory is at
a sixty year low. Demand is very strong. Cow calf
operations are in the driver's seat and here in New England,
(06:31):
a lot of dairy guys any cow that offers any
suggestion of having a problem right to the market, it
goes and it gets beefed because some of these cows
are bringing as much as three thousand dollars ahead because
of what's going on in the beef market. So actually
(06:52):
this is one place where the market is bright in
terms of farmers surviving or making money. And there are
a lot of interesting implications coming from the screw worm
being a problem and ticks being a problem. So if
you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor this year,
keep your eye on some of these problems that are
(07:13):
developing with ticks and with the screw worm. I think
they talk to vets about it, but all the Farm
Bureau and National Farmers Union are on top of this
as well. Anyway, the most common places on the body
of the animal, and actually with you I've had I
(07:34):
can't tell you any bites bites I've had this summer.
The longhorned tick affects cattle and you need to check
the groin area around their neck and their eyes. It's
really something. But farmers a big, you know, having a
big problem with this as the animals are so as
a matter of fact, there may be more of a
(07:55):
problem with a farmer than it is with the animals,
So keep your eye open for that problem. All right,
honeybees in our focus on the news desk here in
a matter of moments, right now, I want to remind
you of the benefits of having Caltron available for you
to lose weight and keep it off. People ask all
the time, Hey, what happens under the circumstances if I
(08:19):
am trying to lose weight and I use these medications
that are around now, can I use Caldron? The answer
is absolutely yes. You want health, you want a good environment.
My heavens, this is a fabulous product that I've been
talking about for years and years and years and years.
It's kind of a nice thing to be helping people
to get healthy and to see the results of it.
(08:40):
I talk to the folks, and you hear me talking
to Elizabeth Miller on this program all the time and
the other programs that I do. So may I suggest
you just take a quick look at toploss dot com,
the website for Caldron. It's all the newly designed. It's
much easier to use. Understand how this works, why it's
good for you, and get on the program. And when
(09:01):
you decide you're going to buy. For example, this weekend,
there's a big special on a couple of different products
that you can see when you go to top loss
dot com. Use the Doug code DOUG when you check out,
you get focused on whatever the deal of the day
is or the weekend, and you also get free shipping.
So that's toplass dot Com losing weight the natural and
(09:22):
safe way. It's the product Calitron that everybody's talking about.
Back on the American Family Farmer with the latest on
the national honeybee colony system. Well, the situation we talked
I think a month or so ago with someone who's
in the honeybee business looking at some of the national
averages here in the South. With the weather, especially in
(09:45):
Texas this week, honeybee colonies are down by two thirds
and one of them one of the reasons is the
migratory stress. The parasites are a big problem, and the
weather is a big problem. Can you imagine and how
many bees were lost on these farms that were flooded
down in Texas this past week unbelievable. So if you
(10:08):
look around the country, it's more a problem down in
the Texas area. In the central southeast. There's a decline
of forty to fifty percent around the country. That's not uncommon.
The function of the commercial migratory honeybee colonies has been
the weather. The heat gets to them, cold weather. So
(10:33):
if you're in the business, there are a lot of people.
I have a development that I'm working on here and
some of the people are living there asked me if
they could keep a bee calling. Yes. I said, of course, yes,
it's great, and so if you I mean it may
not help to you the whole world, but every little
bit helps, and breeding efforts are now trying to reverse
(10:55):
the whole decline in honeybee colonies. You can go online
to any number. Is a great website associated with the
Texas A and M Colleges. The agro life extension services
there are very good. But there are these be hobbyists
who have Facebook pages all over the place. You can
(11:18):
check that out. Survey how it is that the pests
that bother the honeybees are handled as well. So please
make you educate yourself. Start a b colony if you
want to. I think that's a great thing. On any
farm there ought to be a honeybee colony, all right,
So that's the update on the diseases, the cattle, all
(11:40):
the honeybees. I think that's enough bad news. Let's get
to some good news. Elizabeth Miller is here from Caltrin
the fact. I want to underscore that this has proven
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Speaker 2 (12:01):
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(12:23):
the product. You get a team of support, you get
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Toplives dot com. This is Doug Stefan. You're listening to
the American Family Farmer. Back on the American Family Farmer
(12:53):
the podcast americanfamilyfarmershow dot com you can get You can
hear it on radio stations all over the country for sure.
A lot of the concentrated ag areas radio stations are
carrying this program. But it's good for it has a
good general audience as well because people are interested in
food supplies, so there's lots of focus on eating well.
And our discussion on organics this week brings me around
(13:17):
to thinking about farming and the people who are directing
the Organic Farmers' Association, Ms Barton, who is here I
think is one of the great great witnesses to how
organic is sustainable, how you can become better, and they're
working to make it easier to become an organic farmer
(13:42):
in all the states around the country. So you know,
organic for me is a market I believe very strongly,
and I don't like the process because it's very complicated
and expensive. And as you've perhaps heard this lady Sam.
If you didn't, you go back and listen to the
podcast America and Familyfarmershow dot com. If you didn't hear
(14:02):
me talking with Julia Barton about the move by the
farmers who run the organization to change the policies so
that it's easier. You know what has happened. Frankly, in
case you didn't know it, the organic market, the label
has become bastardized because of the four or five huge
conglomerates that saw the money being made in organics because
(14:25):
that's what people want, so they have all but ruined
it for the people who are loyal and true to
the policies or organic farming, I think, and turn things around.
What they're doing in cooperation with the USDA is to
create forums, farmers getting together to change the new organic
(14:46):
rules and so not only here in our country but
around the world. Organic farming, as I pointed out, goes
back to before we had chemical farming. It's not like
it was new. I think mss Barton used the term
indigenous people around the world, those people who started farming
(15:07):
when they're growing there. You know, hello, without farming, we'll
we're in bee here. Nobody could live without farming. So
they have taken it upon themselves to make it easier
to make the government see how a lot of people
have found loopholes the big companies have and that has
ruined it for the smaller farmers that are really leading
(15:28):
the way to fixing the challenges and finding solutions to
this need for organic farming. It all ought to be organic.
We need to get away from all the chemicals that
are killing people. And I don't say that as a Pollyanna.
I'm not somebody who's a crusader. I just know that
as a farmer, I don't want to be giving people
(15:49):
feeding people stuff that's not good for them. And a
lot of farmers, frankly are maybe they don't even know
that they are. But at the behest of Montsatro and
Dow and DuPont and the others that you know, produce
stuff that farmers say, well, it makes the crops heavier
and we make more money because we can grow more crops. Yeah,
but at what cost. That's the thing that a lot
(16:10):
of people who don't understand how to grow that. People
who are using the food, they just know that they
want that more organic, so they'll go for it no
matter where it is. And my point here is that
labels don't mean a thing anymore for the most part
when it comes to organic if you look at where
it comes from. If it's local, that's fine. But if
(16:30):
you see it connected to one of the big ad
conglomerates like Cargill or eight Am, you're not really getting organic.
You're just not And there's been a lot of feedback
on this. Organic farmers are getting together so that they
can have their synergistic connections. What the practices are here,
(16:51):
we'll share with the practice is there. I always talk
about my and if you listened earlier on I talked
about the witches brew that I create in my farm
of chicken manure and cow manure and sometimes I can
get pig manure mix it with my compost that we
have where we have one of the largest compost facilities
in the eastern part of Massachusetts. And I'm very proud
(17:11):
of what comes out of there. It's very healthy. I
used it to plant corn this year and the stuff
is coming up extraordinarily well. I hadn't used it before
quite the way I used it this year. I planted
it on top of I just put addressing of this
organic matter which is the compost on top of the field,
and then I planted into it and it really helped
(17:33):
jumpstart what normally was a four or five day process
to get the seeds out of the ground. Now two.
So it's kind of cool anyway, So I pass along
the information on the Organic Farmers Association and the new
rules Organic Farmers Association DORG. It pays to be listening
(17:53):
every week to the American Family Farmer. Check us out
on the podcast americanfamilyfarmershow dot com wherever you get your podcasts.
The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in part by Caldron,
which is the safe way for you to lose weight
and keep it off.
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