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Re: Farmers and Conservation

Chris ,
I think your right. Amen

I publish a newsletter, "Conservation Update" for the SWCD district,  I try
to bring back the romance of the past and encourage others to see it from a
historical perspective as well.
I love what I do, it has value; and because it is something I value, I am
motivated each and every day.
This passion is contagious.

Another method I have used,  is to package up native seeds and give them out
at events, people love it.  Do they plant them? I don't know, but it opens
up an opportunity to share. And I'm sure some do plant, because they come
back for more!

There is a cultural clash, but it's in the children's hands, personally I
would like to celebrate a passing of the torch.
Carla

----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Hauser <cehauser@uiuc.edu>
To: <prairie@mallorn.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2000 4:33 PM
Subject: Farmers and Conservation


>
> I keep hearing that farmers are making pennies per acre per year.  Farming
> simply doesn't pay enough to raise a family.  It seems the most severe
> threat to the farming economy and the farming way of life is farming
> itself, basically over-production.  The farmers are producing too much and
> as a result, are not making any money from it because of the huge
> surplusses.
>
> We keep talking about helping the farmers out economically:  "give them
> jobs helping plant the prairie", "find ways to preserve the land and
> still keep them working" etc.  But the problem is not economic, farmers
> aren't farming to make money.  Otherwise, if farmers were serious about
> farming to earn a living, they would be happy to see land taken out of
> production to reduce the surplus.  (From an economic standpoint, they
> SHOULD all want to be the only farmer in America, because it would give
> them such an economic advantage.) Since they don't want this, there must
> be some OTHER reason why they oppose projects like these.  It seems to me
> that it's a cultural thing, and the problem is what Doug has pointed out:
> basically, that there is a culture clash between farmers and
> conservationists.
>
> So we have a cultural barrier.  To be most effective these projects
> involving farmers (or anyone else), we need to reach through that culture
> gap through cultural methods.  Like someone said before, we need to see
> things from a farmer's perspective.  When we argue for preservation and
> conservation, we need to aim the argument at the cultural background of
> the listeners.  Below are some ways we could effectively communicate with
> farmers the value of natural areas:
>
> 1.  I think a good way to start would be by thinking about exactly why we
> personally are so passionate about nature, prairies, etc.  When I
> personally understand why I get so excited when I see a remnant prairie...
> only then can I pass that passion on to someone else.
>
> 2.  Farmers are very production-oriented.  If we demonstrated that
> natural areas are "productive" and are important for so many
> reasons including habitat, water filtration, etc.  This is probably why
> Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever have been so successful, because
> "I can see that the 40 acres of Pheasants Forever land down the road
> is the ONLY reason there are pheasant on my farm. And, because that land
> is PRODUCING pheasants, it therefore has value, utility, etc."  For
> example, so many beautiful and benefitial plants, birds and insects are
> almost completely dependent on remnants.  That makes prairies valuable
> because they are preserving things that are valuable to me.
>
> 3.  The previous approaches are only partial fixes, though.  I think a
> better solution is through ethics, values, and spirituality.  When people
> value things for more than what they can get from them, and when people
> see that treating nature as a commodity is a wasteful, un-ethical, and
> un-Christian way to act, then they will think twice.  Nature is good for
> the soul, who can argue with that?
>
> Any other ideas?
> Chris.
>
>
>
> On Wed, 30 Aug 2000 MELYRID@aol.com wrote:
>
> >When we consider any type of project that involves the displacement of
> >farmers from the land, there is bound to be some opposition. With only 2
> >million farmers in the whole country, any activity that decreases or
erodes
> >that number even further will be viewed negatively.
> >    Even if it involves some training and re-education, we have to
consider
> >things from the farmer's point of view. We can't expect them to get
behind
> >conservation efforts if doing so means an end to their way of life.
Remember,
> >many of these people have families and are very independent sorts of
people.
> >If you threaten their way of life without providing an alternative, they
will
> >fight you all the way and they will never be behind the project. Most of
them
> >see any type of conservation program as a government land grab, not a
prairie
> >restoration program. They don't normally share the same set of ideals
that we
> >do. To many of them a well tended field of corn looks better than a patch
of
> >"weeds" (prairie) or "brush" (forest). You notice that they don't even
use
> >the same terminology when describing the same piece of ground. If you
desire
> >support for the project, then you must begin by building "grassroots"
support
> >for your project with the affected public. Give them alternatives and a
way
> >to support their families with dignity and they will also support your
> >project.
> >
> >Doug LeDoux
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>
>
>
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