Ahoussney: Created page with "'''Biodynamic agriculture''' is a farming principle originally developed by Rudolf Steiner that emphasizes "a holistic understanding of agricultural process..."

2015-02-04T17:56:07Z

Created page with "'''Biodynamic agriculture''' is a farming principle originally developed by Rudolf Steiner that emphasizes "a holistic understanding of agricultural process..."

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'''Biodynamic agriculture''' is a [[farming principle]] originally developed by [[Rudolf Steiner]] that emphasizes "a [[holism|holistic]] understanding of agricultural processes". Such as the principle of [[organism, not organization]]. One of the first [[sustainable agriculture]] movements.

Richard Harwood, former C.S. Mott Chair for Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University, calls the biodynamic movement the "first organized and well-defined movement of growers and philosophies [in sustainable agriculture] (Harwood 1990; p.6).</ref> it treats [[soil fertility]], plant growth, and livestock care as [[ecology|ecologically]] interrelated tasks,<ref name=OrgAg/><ref name=Duram2010>{{cite book |pages=347–349 |last=Ikerd |first=John |chapter=Sustainability, Rural |editor=Leslie A. Duram |title=Encyclopedia of Organic, Sustainable, and Local Food |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=0313359636}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=my0y382A1ocC&pg=PA233 |page=233 |last1=Abbott |first1=L. K. |last2=Murphy |first2=Daniel V. |title=Soil Biological Fertility: A Key to Sustainable Land Use in Agriculture |publisher=Springer |year=2007 |isbn=140206618X}}</ref> emphasizing [[spirituality|spiritual]] and [[mysticism|mystical]] perspectives. Proponents of biodynamic agriculture, including Steiner, have characterized it as "spiritual science" as part of the larger [[anthroposophy]] movement.<ref name=OrgAg2/><ref name=PaullJ>{{cite journal|last=Paull|first=John|title=Attending the First Organic Agriculture Course: Rudolf Steiner's Agriculture Course at Koberwitz, 1924 |journal=European Journal of Social Sciences' |year=2011 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=64–70 |url=http://orgprints.org/18809/1/Paull2011KoberwitzEJSS.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Paull2011>Paull, John (2011) [http://www.organic-systems.org/journal/Vol_6(1)/pdf/6(1)-Paull-pp27-41.pdf "Biodynamic Agriculture: The Journey from Koberwitz to the World, 1924-1938"], ''Journal of Organic Systems'', 2011, 6(1):27-41.</ref>

Biodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches – it emphasizes the use of [[manure]]s and [[compost]]s and excludes the use of artificial chemicals on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include its treatment of animals, crops, and soil as a single system; an emphasis from its beginnings on local production and distribution systems; its use of traditional and development of new local breeds and varieties; and the use of an [[astrology|astrological]] sowing and planting calendar. Biodynamic agriculture uses various herbal and mineral additives for compost additives and field sprays; these are sometimes prepared by controversial methods, such as burying ground quartz stuffed into the horn of a cow, which are said to harvest "cosmic forces in the soil", that are more akin to [[sympathetic magic]] than [[agronomy]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}}

Biodynamic farming - Revision history

Ahoussney: Created page with "'''Biodynamic agriculture''' is a farming principle originally developed by Rudolf Steiner that emphasizes "a holistic understanding of agricultural process..."