Jottings from the Hands that Feed Us

Sustainability and Featherstone Farm

By Jack Hedin

There's been so much discussion recently about the word "sustainability" that I hesitate to weigh in with another definition. And yet, as our farm reconstitutes itself in the wake of flooding last season, we have considered this notion over and over, and allowed it to guide our decision making. Two distinct notions of sustainability have emerged from this process, and they are the subject of this article.

First, there is the definition of sustainability in the here and now, defined by the ability of farmers (with their all too mortal knees, backs and spirits!) to continue what they do year in and year out. At Featherstone Farm, we had concluded days before the flood last August that our farm model at that time was unsustainable. Too much stress, too much risk, too much inefficiency and too little to show from our efforts - it all added up to burnout, and fast!

So, we decided to change our farm plan significantly. We changed our mix of crops and markets, moving away from large plantings of highly perishable, risky crops for unreliable wholesalers and toward smaller, more diverse plantings for the co-ops and CSA customers. We made more investments than ever in our employees, in an effort to minimize the seasonal layoffs that reduce sustainability for so many of them. Most important, we decided to leave behind the old, marginal warehouse and cool wet ground of the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op - our home for over 12 years - to find a more suitable place to grow vegetables.

Featherstone Farm's new home will be on a sandy steppe west of Rushford, in the Root River watershed. We have rented cropland in the area for the past three years, and we are confident that it will be a 100% more sustainable home in terms of minimizing risk and stress for all of us on the farm. So far, at the time of this writing, in the wettest spring in living memory, we are right on track with our April plantings in the warm, dry sands of Rushford! With a good deal of luck, and investment from public and private sources alike, we will be opening a new, state-of-the-art vegetable warehouse on the new site later this summer!

A second notion of sustainability has driven our planning as well, and this is an even more ambitious goal. This definition of sustainability looks at the agricultural paradigm that we practice at present and evaluates its viability over a much longer period of time. Energy, fertility and tool systems are all part of such a calculation. I have to admit that our present farm model at Featherstone Farm, organic certification notwithstanding, does not measure up by this standard. The diesel fuel use alone is outrageous, considered through the lens of long-term sustainability.

The answer to this, I concluded a couple of years ago while reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, is to use our successful 20th century organic farm model as a platform from which to experiment with a new paradigm, one more appropriate for the 21st century and beyond. True sustainability will be the only measure for this new system. It is explained much more fully in an article in the new Featherstone Farm cookbook: Tastes from Valley to Bluff. While the first steps in this experiment are likely years away, as we will continue to produce vegetables as we do for a very long time, the opportunity to sow the seeds for the new paradigm is right now, as we make a transition to a new home. I'm delighted to say that we will be acquiring a perfect site for this "Featherstone Farm of the Future" this fall.

None of what we do would be possible without the vigorous support we receive year in and year out from the Wedge Co-op and its wonderful members. I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for this support. Thank you, and have a great summer!