Conscious Choice: Life-Force Agriculture

May 1999

Life-Force Agriculture

by Tom Meier

"Biodynamics is a science of life-forces, a recognition of the basic principles at work in nature, and an approach to agriculture which takes these principles into account to bring about balance and healing. In a very real way, then, Biodynamics is an ongoing path of knowledge rather than an assemblage of methods and techniques."
— Sherry Wildfeuer, Stella Natura

"Agriculture is not only about crops, markets, and profits. It’s about living in harmony with the earth," says Ruth Zinniker, who with her husband Dick, son Marcus, and daughter-in-law Petra runs the oldest biodynamic farm in North America, just outside of East Troy, Wisconsin.

Ruth Zinniker’s remark gets at the heart of biodynamic agriculture, a holistic system which sees the earth as a living organism and the farmer as a sacred steward bringing forth healthy and enlivened food for both humans and animals.

Biodynamics pre-dates modern organic agriculture by 20 years. And while Biodynamics is not at odds with organic, it takes a wider view. Whereas organic agriculture seeks to reduce or eliminate chemical use, Biodynamics does this and more. "Organic agriculture rightly wants to halt the devastation caused by humans; however, organic agriculture has no cure for the ailing Earth," says one writer. Biodynamics seeks that cure; its practitioners take active measures to improve the health of the soil, as well as the food that grows on it and the animals who roam upon it. Biodynamic farmers use natural "medicines," which they add to the soil and to compost. And they work with the life-giving forces in nature.

The system we know as Biodynamics was initiated by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the Austrian scientist, philosopher, and mystic who may be better known as the founder of Waldorf schools. Steiner’s genius studied nature by blending rigorous scientific observation with his own intuitive insights. A person of many interests, Steiner’s applied his approach to medicine, education, and architecture, as well as agriculture.

In 1924, a small group of highly educated farmers in Northwestern Germany became alarmed about serious decline in the quality of crops, the rise of plant diseases, and the loss of instincts of domesticated farm animals due to the progressive modernization of farming methods.

Ruth Zinniker’s father, Immanuel Voegele, was one of those farmers, who asked Steiner — actually begged him, she says — for help. Steiner was quite ill and nearing the end of his life, but he agreed to give a series of eight lectures at a private estate in Koberwitz, Germany, now Poland. The eager farmers dilligently made notes of everything Steiner said. Then afterwards they spent a few days compiling their notes into one volume. Biodynamic practitioners now call this volume "The Agriculture Course."

The course is no bible but rather a roadmap, because Biodynamics (Greek for "life energy") is not a rigid set of techniques, but rather a "path of knowledge" that relies on the farmer’s own intimate observations of nature.

From Theory into Practice

According to the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association in San Francisco, Biodynamics is "a scientific and practical technique for soil regeneration." Biodynamics holds that all health begins in the soil. So biodynamic farmers try to improve the organic life in the soil with manures and composting. They also practice crop rotation. They go beyond organic agriculture by adding fermented preparations to the soil and to compost. Made with manure and fermented herbs such as yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, oak bark, dandelion, and valerian, these preparations have been described as homeopathic medicine for the soil. They help build the organic matter in the soil and stimulate plants to develop vital bodies resistant to disease. Perhaps more importantly, they are available on most any farm; farmers can use their own materials or trade with other farmers to acquire them.

This is in keeping with one of Steiner’s chief principles: that farms should strive to become self-sufficient "organisms," each with its own unique individuality. The ideal is for the farm to generate everything it needs within the farm and become a self-contained, sustainable ecosystem. All the elements of the farm work together to support the whole system and little or no waste is created: animals eat the food grown on the farm, then their manure fertilizes the soil, and an upward spiral of enlivened soil, food, animals, and people evolves. All parts work in harmony and the whole farm can become healthier and healthier.

In contrast, conventional agriculture leads to a downward spiral. Each season, the soil becomes more and more depleted; more and more chemical inputs must be added to the soil in order to successfully grow food.

With soil erosion reaching an epidemic level in this country due to over-use of chemicals, Steiner’s ideal of the self-sustaining farm is particularly relevant. It offers a model for restoring health to the soil and to the whole farm. Biodynamic farms are ecologically sound farms, whereas conventional farms are often ecological disasters.

Rhythm of the Seasons

Steiner taught that the earth is a living organism that "dynamically interacts (’breathes’) with its cosmic environment through the cycle of the year." In the summer, according to Steiner, the earth is more open to its cosmic environment; in the winter it turns inward and a kind of digestion of forces takes place that allows the earth to continue its life processes.

Steiner said that a number of other rhythms and cycles, such as the moon cycle, also influence life on earth. Biodynamic farmers try to plant crops according to some of these rhythms. Many use a book called Stella Natura (The Stars of Nature) to learn when to plant various varieties of crops based on these "geocosmic rhythms." Although this may sound like antiquated folk wisdom, the influence of planting according to lunar rhythms has been studied extensively by Dr. H. Spiess in Germany. Speiss concluded — based on years of trials with rye, peas, beans, carrots, radishes, and potatoes — that planting according to lunar rhythms boosted yields. Nevertheless, Walter Goldstein, research director at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy Wisconsin, cautions that this philosophy still is highly controversial, even within biodynamic farming.

Better Food?

The goal of Biodynamics is to improve soil and plant quality, but the data suggests that Biodynamics can and does improve yields as well, debunking the myth that high yields can be achieved only by applying chemicals and synthetic fertilizers. In an extensive study on 21 different crops in five countries, the yields of most crops grown biodynamically increased. As if to reinforce the credibility of the study, some yields did decrease. But the average yield for all biodynamic crops combined was higher than that for chemical crops.

Goldstein states that food quality is difficult to verify scientifically. Nevertheless, he says a signigicant number of studies point to higher nutritional quality in biodynamically grown food. One longterm study has shown that biodynamic produce has less "crude protein" than conventionally grown products, but that "the protein that is there is of higher quality, having a higher essential amino acid index value for human nutrition." Goldstein also says that biodynamic produce has been shown to keep longer than produce conventionally grown. This speaks to the heartiness and overall vitality of the plants.

Steiner foresaw a loss of food quality over the century and predicted that this would cause an increase in health problems. Goldstein explains, "We do not know whether the increase in degenerative diseases that has afflicted humanity has anything to do with what he meant. But in any case it is clear that humanity is taking part in a huge experiment with food grown by chemical farming that does not have any controls."

The Zinniker Farm History

Ruth Zinniker’s father was one of the first to try out the new method of agriculture outlined by Steiner in his lectures; that made him one of the original biodynamic farmers. After World War II, the family fled from East to West Germany, where they took possession of a farm the Nazis had once occupied. There, her father continued his biodynamic research. The world’s first Waldorf school was also on the premises. Later the family moved north to another biodynamic estate south of Hannover that also housed a Waldorf boarding school.

Ruth had an uncle living in the states who invited her to come to New York. She ended up working at a biodynamic guest farm in Pennsylvania. In 1958 she met Dick Zinniker at a biodynamic conference and visited the Zinniker farm in East Troy.

Dick’s father, Max Zinniker, had come from Dornach Switzerland, where Steiner’s famous Goetheanum building had been erected. He had been a hired farm hand who moved from job to job — until his uncle, who sold wine to churches in Chicago, asked Max to come work for him. Max Zinniker and his wife Matilda eventually moved to Glencoe to work as estate gardeners for a wealthy couple. Eventually, the Zinnikers joined the Anthroposophical Association, which is dedicated to furthering the work of Rudolph Steiner. As Max began to learn the principles of Biodynamics, he began to practice them on the estate. In 1942 he bought 100 acres near East Troy Wisconsin, and in 1943 the family moved north to the country.

At the time Ruth visited the Zinniker farm, she was looking forward to going back to Germany to work with her father. But sitting on the porch of the Zinniker farmhouse, she says she heard an inner voice that said, "This is my place." In 1959 her father died, and the next year, she returned to Germany to help her mother build a house. Ruth wanted Dick to come to Germany. "He had relatives in Switzerland, and it was a good opportunity for him to see them." He came, they married in 1961, and then the new family returned to Wisconsin.

Dick Zinniker explains: "Starting out we were told‘You won’t be in business ten years from now.’ That was 56 years ago. The funny thing is that we haven’t done anything different, just improved on what we started with. Now people are saying:‘Gee, you’re something special,’ or‘Hey, let’s go see that guy.’ My job has been to prove, in the great scheme of things — for 50 years anyway — that it can be done."

The Zinniker Farm Today: New-Fashioned Subsistence Farming

Today the family survives as a small dairy farm with a herd of only 29 cows. They grow crops only to feed the cows (and themselves), not to sell for cash. Ruth explains that their secret is that they produce everything the farm needs to run itself: "The income is low but the expenses are low too, and we have no debts."

This low-income farm is able to support their whole family because it lives lightly off the land and has become the biodynamic ideal of a self-sustaining unit.

Rather than following the modern model of buying expensive machinery and lots of off-farm fertilizers, the Zinnikers rely on old machinery and manure treated with biodynamic preparations to enrich the soil. Another way the Zinnikers keep their costs down is by helping their animals stay healthy. The cows graze freely every day and eat biodynamically grown feed. Recently their total vet bill was only $311 for the whole year.

To gain income, the Zinnikers "sell" cows and chickens to small groups of families and a handful of individuals. Then these families lease the animals back to the Zinnikers, who provide the families with milk, meat, and eggs. Ruth’s son Marcus works the crops with his father Dick, and daughter-in-law Petra handles the egg production.

Life for the Zinnikers is hardly any bucolic ideal; it still offers a lot of hard work for little economic return. Dick says, "There is a lot of pain in farming. You really have to like it. There’s so little margin in the crops. I produce 330,000 pounds of milk. There’s not a lot of cash."

But still, for the Zinnikers, farming is more than making a living — it is a way of life. The family grows more than 90 percent of their own food; they have have no mortgage payments, farm debts, or chemical bills. Their requirement for cash are small compared to most of ours considering that half of the average American’s income goes to food and housing. Instead of depending on cash, the Zinnikers rely on the wealth of the earth to support them. As subsistence farming, rather than for-profit farming, it’s a way of life that "disturbs nature as little as possible," says Dick. And though they’re not wading in cash, Ruth says she feels very rich.

Though small, the Zinniker farm is known worldwide, and it is an active center for biodynamic activities. They frequently host interns and visitors from all over.

Diversity of Biodynamic Farms

Not all biodynamic farms are small subsistence family farms like the Zinnikers’. Other, larger biodynamic growers take a different approach.

Fred Kirschenmann farms 3,000 acres in North Dakota using biodynamic principles, making his the largest certified biodynamic farm in North America. Kirschenmann’s farm is highly mechanized and operates as a for-profit enterprise. He grows a variety of grains for human consumption — spring wheat, lentils, soybeans, alfalfa, sweet clover and flax. He also raises beef cattle. Yet he still manages to operate without buying many off-farm inputs, producing most of what the farm needs right on the farm.

On the large side there’s also the Ambootia Tea Farm Estate in Darjeeling India with 4500 worker residents and 750 acres under cultivation. Shashank Goel from Ambootia says that the estate is indeed a self-subsistent unit. Ambootia is very big, yet the farming methods the growers employ are ancient: most of the work is done by hand without machinery. (Click here for an in-depth look into how they do it at Ambootia).

David and Edie Griffiths run Seven Stars Farm, which produces nationally distributed biodynamic yogurt. Theirs is a medium-size dairy farm with 70 cows and approximately 250 acres on which they grow grains to feed the animals. Edie says that with 35 employees, they run their farm like a business with a highly mechanized milking operation. But they do manage to grow most of the grain for their cows, bringing in only 10-15 percent of their feed from off the farm.

John Peterson owns Angelic Organics near Caledonia, Illinois, and his is the largest CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm in the state. Peterson farms according to biodynamic principles and serves over 1,000 families. His farm has become more mechanized in the past few years, but Peterson asserts that biodynamic ideals should be adapted to the unique needs of each farm.

Although there are many different kinds of biodynamic farmers, they all share a basic passion for living in harmony with the land. Whether milking by hand or sitting on top of a brand new tractor, biodynamic farmers are practicing the same thing: care and reverence for the earth and the cosmos. Goldstein notes that, despite the size and type of biodynamic farms, "They all pretty much want to produce food for the consumer in a way that they feel is responsible. They’re conscious people who want to produce healthy soil and healthy crops."

To Certify or Not to Certify

Today the biodynamic movement is international. Biggest in Europe, it is also strong in Australia, New Zealand, India, and South America.

Some of these farms are biodynamically certified by the international certifying agency called Demeter (the Greek goddess of agriculture), which has chapters in at least 20 countries. Started in Germany, Demeter is most widespread there, followed by the Netherlands. But certifying agencies exist on every continent. Chuck Beady, executive director of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, reports that there are about 1250 certified biodynamic farms in Germany. According to Anne Mendenhall, Director of the U.S. Demeter Association, approximately 50 farms in the U.S. are Demeter certified.

But this doesn’t mean that Biodynamics is not popular and growing in the U.S. Most of the farms who are certified are larger farms that operate like businesses and whose customers trust the Demeter certification label on their products. This is the case with Seven Stars Yogurt, according to Edie Griffiths. The Kirschenmann farm is another large farm that is Demeter certified.

But for every farm that is Demeter certified, there are many who practice Biodynamics without formal certification. The Zinnikers are not certified because they already have a loyal customer base who knows and trusts them, says Ruth. And the Zinnikers own insistence on quality makes certification unnecessary. Anne Menendall reports that some of the small farmers get certified for "altruistic reasons. It certainly is not a decision based in business reasons. They want to support the growth of Biodynamics and they see certification as one way to do it. I’ve even had a person get certified who runs a half-acre garden."

The Proof is in the Eating

Apart from scientific and environmental benefits, there are plenty of anecdotes about the superiority of biodynamic food. "This bread helps you think," a store worker in Chicago once told Christopher Mann, co-founder of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. The worker was not alone in that assessment. In an informal study with consumers at the University of Helsinki, participants reported that "biodynamic food furthers one’s mental growth."

Goldstein says that he often hears people say that biodynamic food tastes better. And he cites a study done in Sweden with potatoes where those grown biodynamically were found to taste better than conventionally grown, especially after being stored for awhile.

Edie Griffiths of Seven Stars Yogurt Farm says she gets letters from customers all the time, praising the yogurt. And an anonymous member of Michael Fields biodynamic CSA in East Troy told me, "I have never seen or tasted vegetables like the ones I get in my basket every week. There’s so much vitality in the food. Before I started eating this stuff, I didn’t know what real quality meant. I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but I feel like I can never eat regular grocery store produce again." Acknowledging that organic produce is better than chemically grown food, the member asserted, "I even taste a big difference between organic and biodynamic food." You can see for yourself whether or not you agree. Biodynamic food is available in natural food stores and even over the internet.

Goldstein recalls, "Steiner emphasized that in order to avoid further destruction of our environment and of agriculture it is important that we become aware of the spiritual aspects of life on earth and begin to work with them more consciously." Biodynamic agriculture is an attempt to do just that. As Ruth Zinniker observes, "The focus of other farmers is becoming narrower and narrower, while ours is becoming wider and wider." Expand your horizons; try biodynamics.

Resources

Angelic Organics, Caledonia, IL; 815-389-2746. The largest CSA farm in Illinois, Angelic produces organic and biodynamic produce for over 750 shareholders in the Chicago area.

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, San Francisco, CA; 415-561-7797. They offer books and resources on biodynamic agriculture. At their web site there’s a list of certified biodynamic food products.

GlunzWine, 1206 North Wells, Chicago; 312-642-3000. This Old Town fixture offers a selection of biodynamic wine from France.

Josephine Porter Institute For Applied Biodynamics, Inc., Woolwine, VA; 540-930-2463. They produce biodynamic preparations for farmers and home gardeners.

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy, WI; 414-642-3303. In addition to helping farmers switch to organic and biodynamic farming systems, they offer courses in gardening and an annual Urban/Rural conference that brings together consumers and farmers.

Nokomis, East Troy, WI; 414-642-9665. Natural food store and baker of biodynamic bread. Distributed throughout the upper Midwest.

Spiritual Food for the New Millennium, Bethesda, MD; 888-384-9642. They offer a biodynamic food mail order service. You can even join an online CSA and receive fresh produce on a weekly basis.

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