David Vetter (farmer)

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David Vetter is an organic farmer and leader in the sustainable agriculture movement. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

David Vetter grew up on his family's farm in Marquette, Nebraska. In 1953, his father Donald Vetter decided to stop spraying pesticides on his fields. He questioned the chemical's real value in farming. He found that they did not give him much higher returns, while he believed they caused significant harm to the soil and killed wildlife. [5] He was considered strange by his neighbors for his beliefs and farming practices. [6]

Vetter received a BS in Soil Science/Agronomy from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a Master of Divinity from the United Theological Seminary. [3]

While he was in the seminary, he met Fred Kirschenmann. He introduced Kirschenmann to the science of organic farming, inspiring Kirschenmann to return to farming himself. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Career

After completing his education, Vetter returned to his family's farm in 1975. [11] The farm was certified organic in 1978. [12]

Vetter realized that he needed to help build a processing infrastructure and a marketing program in order to sell and distribute his products to the consumer. In 1980, David and his father Don, invested $170,000 to build a small grain-cleaning plant. [11] David and his father Don established Grain Place Foods in 1987 to provide a place for other organic farmers to go and get their grain cleaned and marketed. [13]

Vetter is a founding member of the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society. He also chaired the first Organic Crop Improvement Association's International Certification Committee. [3]

The Vetter family started the Grain Place Foundation after Donald Vetter's death in 2015. [14] [15]

As of 2019, the farm employs 2 hands-on farmers with Dave handling the overall management. Grain Place Foods employs approximately 20 full time employees and Dave is the CEO. [16] As of 2020, the family grows a variety of crops on a 9-year rotation. [17]

Film

Vetter and his family were featured in the 2018 documentary film Dreaming of a Vetter World. The film tells the Vetter family story and how management of soil is critical to sustainable agriculture and even in combating climate change. The film was entirely shot, directed and narrated by the director Bonnie Hawthorne, who lived on the Vetter farm during filming. Jo Andres, Steve Buscemi, and Robert Houston were executive producers. [18]

Awards and honors

In 2016, the Rodale Institute named him an "Organic Pioneer" [19] and he received the Organic Leadership Award from the Organic Trade Association. [20] He was named as the Rodale Institute's 2016 Farmer of the Year. [3] In 2011, David and his family were named Organic Farmers of the Year by the Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service (MOSES). [21]

Personal life

Vetter is married to Rogean. Together they have three children: Allison, Darci, and Madison. [21]

Related Research Articles

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to agriculture:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic farming</span> Method of agriculture meant to be environmentally friendly

Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Organic farming continues to be developed by various organizations today. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are generally prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and ivermectin. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming advocates claim advantages in sustainability, openness, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, food security, and food safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masanobu Fukuoka</span> Japanese farmer and philosopher (1913–2008)

Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his natural farming and re-vegetation of desertified lands. He was a proponent of no-till, herbicide and pesticide free cultivation methods from which he created a particular method of agriculture, commonly referred to as "natural farming" or "do-nothing farming".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable agriculture</span> Farming approach that balances environmental, economic and social factors in the long term

Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services. There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business process and farming practices. Agriculture has an enormous environmental footprint, playing a significant role in causing climate change, water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and other processes; it is simultaneously causing environmental changes and being impacted by these changes. Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects to soil, water, biodiversity, surrounding or downstream resources—as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. Elements of sustainable agriculture can include permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of organic gardening and farming</span> Overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic movement</span>

The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural practices began to appear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soil Association</span> British registered charity

The Soil Association is a British registered charity, working to transform the way Britain eats, farms and cares for the natural world. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certification of organic foods, and against intensive farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Howard</span> English botanist (1873–1947)

Sir Albert Howard was an English botanist. His academic background might have been botany. While working in India he was generally considered a pathologist; this more than likely being the reason for his consistent observations of the value of compost applications being an increase in health. Howard was the first Westerner to document and publish the Indian techniques of sustainable agriculture. After spending considerable time learning from Indian peasants and the pests present in their soil, he called these two his professors. He was a principal figure in the early organic movement. He is considered by many in the English-speaking world to have been, along with Rudolf Steiner and Eve Balfour, one of the key advocates of ancient Indian techniques of organic agriculture.

Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No-till farming</span> Agricultural method which does not disturb soil through tillage.

No-till farming is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till farming decreases the amount of soil erosion tillage causes in certain soils, especially in sandy and dry soils on sloping terrain. Other possible benefits include an increase in the amount of water that infiltrates into the soil, soil retention of organic matter, and nutrient cycling. These methods may increase the amount and variety of life in and on the soil. While conventional no-tillage systems use herbicides to control weeds, organic systems use a combination of strategies, such as planting cover crops as mulch to suppress weeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic horticulture</span> Organic cultivation of fruit, vegetables, flowers or ornamental plants

Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of organic farming</span>

Traditional farming was the original type of agriculture, and has been practiced for thousands of years. All traditional farming is now considered to be "organic farming" although at the time there were no known inorganic methods. For example, forest gardening, a fully organic food production system which dates from prehistoric times, is thought to be the world's oldest and most resilient agroecosystem. The industrial revolution introduced inorganic methods, most of which were not well developed and had serious side effects. An organic movement began in the 1940s as a reaction to agriculture's growing reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The history of this modern revival of organic farming dates back to the first half of the 20th century at a time when there was a growing reliance on these new synthetic, non-organic methods.

Booker T. Whatley was an agriculture professor at Tuskegee University, Alabama, and a pioneer of sustainable agriculture in the post-World War II era. He also aimed to "generate an agrarian black middle class".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rodale Institute</span>

Rodale Institute is a non-profit organization that supports research into organic farming. It was founded in Emmaus, Pennsylvania in 1947 by J. I. Rodale, an organic living entrepreneur. After J.I. Rodale died in 1971, his son Robert Rodale purchased 333 acres and moved the farm to Kutztown, Pennsylvania.

The Student Sustainable Farm at Rutgers is located at Rutgers' Horticultural Research Station in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on the G. H. Cook campus of Rutgers University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural farming</span> Sustainable farming approach

Natural farming, also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming", or "do-nothing farming", is an ecological farming approach established by Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008). Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer and philosopher, introduced the term in his 1975 book The One-Straw Revolution. The title refers not to lack of effort, but to the avoidance of manufactured inputs and equipment. Natural farming is related to fertility farming, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, agroecology, agroforestry, ecoagriculture and permaculture, but should be distinguished from biodynamic agriculture.

Bhaskar Hiraji Save, known in India as the "Gandhi of natural farming", was an educator, entrepreneur, farmer, and activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regenerative agriculture</span> Conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems

Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Holden</span>

Patrick Holden, is a UK organic dairy farmer, campaigner for sustainable food and farming, and co-founder with Anthony Rodale of U.K. The Sustainable Food Trust and U.S. Sustainable Food Alliance. Holden features in regular broadcasts and talks at public events and is an active member in the food and farming community.

Fred Kirschenmann is an American professor, organic farmer, and a leader in the sustainable agriculture movement. He is board president of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and the former director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. He is considered "one of the most prominent spokesmen for the sustainable farming movement."

References

  1. ↑ "CropChoice.com News". www.cropchoice.com.
  2. ↑ Erica Jobman (June 3, 2011). "NSAS: Growing Sustainable Agriculture in Nebraska". Archived from the original on 2020-11-24.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Land Conservancy of McHenry County, MCC to host screening of new documentary about organic farming pioneer". Daily Herald. August 19, 2019. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  4. ↑ Lilliston, Ben (July 16, 2007). "Farmers Fight to Save Organic Crops". Progressive.org.
  5. ↑ "Organic & Non-GMO Forum 2019". ong.highquestevents.com.
  6. ↑ Ken Roseboro (2006). The Organic Food Handboo. Basic Health Publications. p.  19.
  7. ↑ Groves, Martha (1997-07-21). "Bringing Farms Back to Nature". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  8. ↑ "Video". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  9. ↑ Furbank, Lani (October 26, 2016). "Ten Questions with Fred Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow at Leopold Center".
  10. ↑ "Organic Pioneer Sees Hope for Movement's Future". National Geographic. June 11, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Janet Bachmann; Lance Gegner (November 2002). "Grain Processing: Adding Value to Farm Products" (PDF). ATTRA . National Center for Appropriate Technology . Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  12. ↑ "The State of Organic Grain | Ecological Farming Association". eco-farm.org.
  13. ↑ Hoffschneider, Kerry. "Seeds". York News-Times.
  14. ↑ Messenger, Kerry Hoffschneider, Midwest. "From the ground up: Organic growers sprout fresh ideas for future of agriculture". AgUpdate.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ "Grain Place Foundation". Grain Place Foundation.
  16. ↑ "Dreaming of a Vetter World to Show During Iowa Organic Conference". News.
  17. ↑ "Meet the Regenerative Organic Certified early adopters". New Hope Network. September 9, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Documentary features Marquette organic farm family". The Grand Island Independent.
  19. ↑ "Organic Pioneer Award Winners".
  20. ↑ Association, Organic Trade. "2016 Organic Leadership Award to honor organic mentor". www.prnewswire.com.
  21. 1 2 "Institute for Human and Planetary Health". ihph.doane.edu.
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