A MESSAGE TO OUR CUSTOMERS:
HOW WE GROW YOUR FOOD
As your local farmer, the Shenot family feels that it is your right as our loyal customers to know something about how your food is produced. First, we would like to discuss some terms that are commonly thrown around that sometimes create confusion among consumers. “Conventional”, “Organic”, “Biotechnology”, “IPM”, and “Sustainable” are all terms that refer to an agricultural method or philosophy.
CONVENTIONAL
Conventional farming practices became very popular around the early to middle 1900’s when advances in chemistry, as well as, mechanical technology were booming. Suddenly, farmers’ yields were soaring due to the increased use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Fields became depleted of organic matter due to the fact that they weren’t being rotated with cover crops. Eventually, farmers began to take notice that Mother Nature was suffering the consequences after many years of these excessive practices.
ORGANIC
Organic farming has been practiced since the first man domesticated a plant for food. Modern organic farming is defined as food being produced using methods that utilize primarily naturally occurring products. A common misconception is that organic food is not sprayed, when it is actually sometimes sprayed twice as much using naturally occurring compounds. Any pesticide used must be registered under an organic label. An example of this would be ‘lime-sulfur’, an organically accepted fungicide. Soil fertility is mostly limited to animal manure or ‘green manure’, a plant-based compost. Insect control is achieved in a variety of ways. There are only a few organically registered insecticides so most control is achieved by preserving or introducing predatory insects to eat or parasitize pest insects. Another method is using pheromones to disrupt the mating cycles of pests, thereby stopping multiple generations.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Genetically modified foods, commonly referred to as “GMO’s” are growing in popularity and also raising some eyebrows with concerned consumers. Science now gives growers the ability to grow vegetables, grains and even livestock with built-in “pest guards” that make them immune to disease, can produce their own insecticides, and be unaffected by synthetic herbicides. Rather than engage in a debate about whether or not this is a good idea, I will just say that the crops grown on Shenot’s soil are in no way genetically modified.
WHAT WE DO
Today, we the 5th and 6th generation of Shenots are farming the same piece of earth as our ancestors did over 150 years ago. It is our goal to see the farm last for at least 6 more generations. This is where the term, ”Sustainable” plays an important role. Sustainable farming practices employ methods that may be considered “organic” and may also be considered “conventional”. Since neither organic nor conventional are always a perfect fit for long term sustainability, we have chosen to take the best of both worlds, implementing an integrated pest management program (IPM) approach. This IPM plan can be very complicated as tillage, crop rotation, pest monitoring, temperature, rainfall, pest life cycles, and pesticide toxicity all must be factored into the plan.
FERTILITY
Our soil represents our single greatest asset as farmers. If it is not managed properly, sustainability is not possible. One would think that the actions we take while we are producing a crop makes the soil fertile, but rather it is the off-season cover crops that make the most impact. As soon as a field is finished with a crop, it is immediately sown with rye as a cover crop. The rye has several benefits. Rye
PATHOLOGY
There are countless pathogens, i.e. viruses, bacteria, and fungi that have the potential to infect crops in a variety of ways. When you’re dealing with as many different crops as we grow, keeping track of them all can make your head spin. Our first course of action in this fight is to keep our plants healthy because a weak plant or tree is much more susceptible to attack. Knowing early warning signs such as plant symptoms and weather conditions are valuable tools. There are some organically acceptable compounds such as streptomycin and copper that we can use as precautionary measures, but synthetic fungicides may be used as a last resort if an outbreak warrants such measures. Plant breeders have been a big help in recent decades by selecting and breeding varieties of crops that are naturally resistant or tolerant to pathogens. This is not to be confused with biotechnology. These newer varieties greatly reduce the need for chemical controls.
ENTOMOLOGY
The world of insects, bugs and spiders is very complex. Of all known species around the world, only a fraction of 1% of insects are pests to humans. The modern farmer must be adept in the identification and management of a wide range of insects, whether they be pests or beneficial. Very few agricultural crops, with the exception of those that are genetically modified, are immune to insect attacks. Under an organic program, very few are available that sufficiently control insects. Under an IPM program, synthetic insecticides are of course used as a last resort. There are however, several steps that can be taken to possibly eliminate the need for chemical applications. These steps begin with scouting and monitoring fields and orchards to determine the presence and numbers of both pests and beneficials. A large population of natural predators such as lady beetles can quite efficiently consume an outbreak of aphids, thus eliminating the need for chemical controls. Pre-emptive measures can also be taken by introducing parasites such as Trichogramma wasps to attack the eggs of corn borer and cabbage moths. Although many insecticides are very selective and do not harm beneficials, reducing our applications helps to insure their survival.
Another non-chemical insect control that we have implemented is ‘Mating Disruption’. This highly effective method controls four different insect species in our peach and apple orchards. Mating disruption is achieved by placing pheromone dispensers in each fruit tree. The scent emitted by these dispensers confuse adult moths so they cannot pin-point each other’s location. They in turn miss their breeding window and cannot produce the larvae that end up feeding on the trees or fruit. We started working with this concept in cooperation with researchers from Penn State University
THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS
We recognize that there is a certain amount of trust that you, our customer, must have in us as the grower. You want to insure that the food you provide to your family is not only healthy and delicious, but safe. This is something we take very seriously not only for your sake, but also for our own family. Obviously, by making the choice to serve fresh fruits and vegetables as opposed to pre-made, processed foods loaded with preservatives, you’ve already made steps in the right direction. We hope that this letter has given you the ability to take comfort in the way your food is produced. Our goal is for you to enjoy eating our fruits and vegetables as much as we enjoy growing them for you.
Sincerely,
The Shenot Family