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            Research Report Summary
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A project facilitated by the Research and Development Group of the Bio Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association
Gill Cole has a B.Sc. Agriculture and a Diploma in Agricultural Economics from Reading University, England, and has worked on agricultural development projects in Africa and South America. Work in New Zealand as a policy analyst for MAF Policy, introduced her to organic farming through summarizing submissions on a public discussion document on organic farming policy. Since then, she has combined contract work in policy analysis and research for a number of government departments, gaining experience of organic and biodynamic farming through working on farms, the Taruna Course in Biodynamic Agriculture, administrative work in the Bio Dynamic Association and Bio-Gro offices, various developmental projects and biodynamic management of a herb nursery and mixed garden. She is currently studying for a Master's degree at Massey University in soil science and human nutrition and is a member of the Council and Research and Development Group of the Bio Dynamic Association.
The terms organic agriculture and organic farming systems are used in a generic manner in this report and include many aspects of biodynamic agriculture, that are covered in more detail in a separate section of the report. Chapter Two Frank van Steensel studied tropical and subtropical agriculture, majoring in soil science, at IAC College in Deventer, The Netherlands. During this time he developed a keen interest in sustainable agriculture, and particularly the importance of the soil. Frank worked as a consultant and teacher for an integrated rural development project in Honduras, Central America, observing the value of participatory research and training with farmers. In 1992, Frank and his spouse Josje, immigrated to New Zealand where he continued his own training at Massey University, under the supervision of Dr Neil MacGregor. After he graduated in 1995 with a Masters of Agricultural Science (Soil Science) he started Eco-Agri-Logic, an independent consultancy for the organic sector. One of his keen projects has been to facilitate in the establishment of Wairarapa Organics Inc., and has been the co-chair since its conception in early 2000. Currently Frank teaches the "National Certificate in Organic Horticulture" in the lower part of the North Island. He is a member of the Council and Research and Development Group of the Bio Dynamic Association. In 1996 Frank and Josje started converting 18 acres of grass desert in the windy Wairarapa into a Centre for Ecological and Holistic Development. This self-sufficient property is developed along permacultural lines with main crops of olives and other tree crops. In June 2001 they became the first in New Zealand to produce certified biodynamic olive oil (under transition).
While different levels of organizations have different, unique features, they are all linked by transcending functions, such as energy, growth, evolution, feed-back control and other common denominators. These lead to emergent properties. Properties expressed by the whole but not by the sum of its parts. It is a result of the functional interaction of the components and cannot be predicted by studying the components in isolation or decoupled from the whole (Odum, 1997).
Due to historical and socio-economic reasons, mainstream agricultural systems generally undervalued the functions of the soil. The soil is a living system with its own "nature" but it is also an expression of its environment (nurture). Understanding of the system using a purely materialistic description (physical/chemical or literally 'science') will be limited unless we include the time-space continuum, or, in other words, the systems development in our description. In a purely physical-chemical system, environmental influences are very limited and can be explained by linear thinking that leads to a description in terms of cause and effect. To a large extent this is what is still happening in research. Living systems are harder to explain by linear thinking. This point can be clearly made by trying to answer the following questions: 1. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Answering these questions in a linear fashion is hard; we need to take into account the time-space continuum or developmental road or (co) evolution (without a chicken, no egg, without a kidney, no human being, they have evolved together under the influence of the larger environment).
In biological terms that also means that the organ (soil life) functions well and therefore the body (soil) is able to perform. A healthy body can be maintained only if its organs perform their task. Chapter Three Hella Bauer-Eden's interest in sustainable agriculture developed while working for a non-governmental development aid agency in Bonn, Germany in 1986-1988. Studying International Agricultural Development at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, she received broad training in plant and animal production, agricultural economics, policy and extension. Hella travelled extensively and gained practical farm experience working on dairy farms throughout New Zealand in 1993-94. After immigrating to New Zealand in 1995, Hella continued her training and involvement in the dairy industry. She graduated from Humboldt University, with a Master of Science in Agriculture in 1999, having completed her thesis 'Feasibility study of organic milk production in Nelson, New Zealand.' Through her long-term involvement in sustainable agriculture Hella has a wide-ranging network of national and international contacts with agricultural organisations, research institutes and individuals involved in organic farming and research. See also Chapter Nine. Dr Phillipa Nicholas completed her PhD in Plant Science at Massey University in 1999 and has since been employed by Dexcel, a dairy research organisation, in Hamilton, New Zealand. Dr Nicholas works in the Farm Systems group at Dexcel, specialising in the environmental impacts of dairy farming, and more recently organic dairy farming. In July 2001 she took a year's leave from Dexcel to take up a research position modelling organic dairy farm systems at the Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Wales. On her return to Dexcel in 2002, Dr Nicholas wishes to use the skills and experience gained in Wales to extend and promote the organic dairy industry in New Zealand. Chapter Four Gavin Kenny completed his Masters thesis research in the Biological Husbandry Unit at Lincoln College. He subsequently completed a PhD in Agricultural Meteorology, which led to an involvement in climate change research. Gavin spent 2 years in the UK with the Environmental Change Unit at Oxford University, where he managed a Europe-wide project on the effects of climate change on European agriculture. He then joined the International Global Change Institute (IGCI) at the University of Waikato at the beginning of 1993. Since this time he has worked on projects in New Zealand, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands, with an increasing involvement in professional training and development assistance work. From 1993 to 2000, Gavin was also a biodynamic/organic small farmer, developing a one-hectare block on the slopes of Mount Pirongia in the Waikato. Over the last 4 to 5 years, Gavin has been networking with the organic sector in New Zealand and has helped initiate a number of project proposals, including a recent successful application to the Sustainable Farming Fund. Since the beginning of 2001 he has worked as an independent consultant. Chapter Five Marion Koppenol, teacher, is one of the three founding members of the Bio Dynamic Association Research and Development Group . She is fluent in four languages and reviewed several of the non-English reports. Her special interest is research on the biodynamic hornsilica preparation and on food quality. She has worked at Weleda NZ in the manufacturing of anthroposophical and homeopathic medicines. Chapter Six Dr Hugh Campbell is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CSAFE) in the School of Social Sciences at Otago University. He has been programme leader of a Public Good Science Fund programme Greening Food: Social and Industry Dynamics, since 1995. He has conducted evaluations of industry development strategies deploying organic and IPM systems in kiwifruit, pipfruit, wine, honey and processed vegetable production. He has also conducted regional development studies of Canterbury, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Nelson. Ms Margaret Ritchie is a part-time researcher attached to the Centre for the Study of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CSAFE) in the School of Social Sciences at Otago University. She has a Master's degree in Horticultural Science from Massey University and has spent some years working on agricultural aid and development in countries like Bhutan. Margaret has conducted a number of prior studies for CSAFE, including regular surveys of the organic retail market in Dunedin. Chapter Seven Dr A. Neil Macgregor is an academic member of the Soil and Earth Sciences Group in the Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University. He graduated BSc and MSc from the University of Otago, and PhD from Cornell University (USA). He has held faculty positions at the University of Arizona (Tucson) and the University of Wisconsin (Madison), and research and technical advisory positions with the Institut National Recherche Agronomique, Montpellier (France) and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria). He has presented seminar series at the University of the South Pacific, Alafua (Western Samoa), and Makerere University, Kampala (Uganda). He is a member of OPENZ (Organic Produce Exporters of NZ). His primary lecturing and research activities are in cell biology, soil biology and biochemistry (e.g. biological nitrogen fixation), and microbial ecology; and in coordination of the course, Organic Farming Systems. Research activities and interests have centred on the use and stability of microbial inoculants, and the biology and ecology of land-use systems (waste disposal systems and composting, nutrient cycling, biology of organic farming systems, soil quality). He is author/co-author of over 80 publications and presentations. Chapter Eight Gary Blake completed an M.Sc, Physical Geography, at the "University of Canterbury, post graduate Hydrological Studies at the Technical University, Budapest and a Teaching Diploma, Auckland College of Education. He has extensive practical and theoretical experience in many aspects of resource management and environmental impact. The Ministry of Works and Development provided many experiences including the opportunity to learn Hydrology, the value of the river catchment as a planning unit and research into soil/water/plant relationships. With Tonkin and Taylor, Consulting Engineers, river basin and water resource studies were completed in Malaysia and Indonesia, together with a period at FRI, Malaysia, to study the impact of logging on tropical rainforest. An extensive period of secondary science teaching has enabled experience to be passed on to students in the laboratory. Today he and wife Jan are developing their Thames Coast farm for education and tourism activities. Hella Bauer-Eden's interest in sustainable agriculture developed while working for a non-governmental development aid agency in Bonn, Germany in 1986-1988. Studying International Agricultural Development at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, she received broad training in plant and animal production, agricultural economics, policy and extension. Hella travelled extensively and gained practical farm experience working on dairy farms throughout New Zealand in 1993-94. After immigrating to New Zealand in 1995, Hella continued her training and involvement in the dairy industry. She graduated from Humboldt University, with a Master of Science in Agriculture in 1999, having completed her thesis 'Feasibility study of organic milk production in Nelson, New Zealand.' Through her long-term involvement in sustainable agriculture Hella has a wide-ranging network of national and international contacts with agricultural organisations, research institutes and individuals involved in organic farming and research. Chapter Ten Peter Bacchus has had a long experience of biodynamic farming. He was brought up on a biodynamic dairy farm, and served apprenticeships on other dairy farms. He studied and worked on bio-dynamic farms and in a nutritional research laboratory in Switzerland, working with some of the most prominent biodynamic farming consultants and learning the sensitive chrystallisation and climbing chromatography research methods. He has worked as a medicinal herb grower for Weleda N.Z. and he developed a large scale composting business. He converted a commercial glass house to the biodynamic method which included successful control of white fly and fungal problems that occur in a glasshouse situation. He has been involved with a large scale possum control trial using biodynamic methods. He is now working as consultant and laboratory researcher for Garuda Consultants and Garuda Homeopathics. He was a Councillor for the BioDynamic Farming and Gardening Association from 1963 to 1985, was re-elected in 2000, and is currently the Chairman of the Association. Chapman, G. Vol. 1 No. 1 1942. 'To the Rescue of the Soil.' Compost Club Magazine Hoare, B., Watts, M. & Cowperthwaite, V. Vol. 58, No. 6 'Organic 2020.' Soil and Health Robinson, D. M. Vol. 9, No. 1 1950. 'A Milestone in the History of New Zealand.' Compost Society Magazine. Mitchell, S.F. Dr. June July 1971. 'Eutrophication of New Zealand Lakes.' Soil and Health. Stanton Hicks, Sir C. Dr. Aug Sept 1971. 'Ecology and Us.' Soil and Health Harvey, G. Autumn 1988. 'Bio-Technology.' Soil and Health. Tane, H. Vol. 58, No. 5. 'Landscape Ecostructures for Sustainable Societies.' Soil and Health Marian, S. Vol. 9, No. 1 1950. 'Charcoal as Fertiliser.' Compost Magazine. Wright, J. Spring 1983. 'Treated Sewage.' Organic Growing.' Morris, D. Aug-Sept 1971. 'The Hazards of Atomic Radiation.' Soil and Health. Taylor, A. & Patrick M. Winter 1988. 'Water, Waste and Waitangi.' Soil and Health Wheeler, C. April/May 1996. ' Mad Cows - What are they trying to tell us.' Soil and Health. Editorial. Vol 18 No. 4 1959. 'Concern at DDT Contamination.' Compost Society Magazine. Appendices biomass:all organic matter including living organisms like the bacteria and fungi Go to top of Appendicies Return to top of Chapter Ten Return to Table of Contents
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