I had the good fortune to visit the Hoch Orchard and Gardens farm near LaCresent, Minnesota yesterday. Harry and Jackie Hoch have an organic operation and it was very interesting to see how they operate. We were learning about disease and insect pests of apples. It was a good place to visit because they had a little bit of everything in that regard, but there were no huge infestations of anything.
The Hoch's do make use of the limited chemical arsenal which is available to organic producers, but they also make use of cultural practices such as sanitation. Harry has this theory that he needs to create a very diverse habitat so that he supports predator insects.
Some people seem to think that organic producers tend to be hobby farmers, but these people were making their entire living on this small fruit farm. They emphasized that they used creative approaches to marketing in order to make a profit. It was really enlightening to get to see this operation.
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2 comments:
The Hoch's organic operation shows that with thought and hard work it can be successful. Growing crops organically is another piece of the diverse agricultural production puzzle. We need to take the best of ALL agricultural methods if we want to maintain world leadership in the growing of food, while being stewards of our natural resources.
Soil Consulting and Crop Consulting in Illinois. You may call it soil testing, soil sampling, or soil health management, but it is more than that. These are my daily or weekly travels in soil and crop consulting and my observations in the agricultural world.
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