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Our
Growers
Arne & Noelle Anderson
Hi
Reader! My name is Arne Anderson. My wife, Noelle and I
live in Hilmar California. My family has been in the almond
business for 35 years. My Dad and Grandfather were Co-op
members and commercial farmers during their farming days.
We farmed the various pieces of land that my Great-grandfather
bought around the turn of the century. My Uncle, Glenn Anderson
(of Anderson Almonds) was living in Hawaii throughout my
childhood.
My job was discing and tilling the orchards even at the
age of 10. we had a fruit orchard in our yard and every
time I mowed it I thought, "Why can't we just mow the
big fields too?" Dad would say,"The weeds will
be such a mess it won't work!"
Time passed and in the 1980's Dad and Grandpa learned about
no-till farming. They were told that the organic matter
would start to build up and create a more stable system.
So they bought our first full-size orchard mower. It was
a whole new game. The dust went down and the worms came
up. In addition,we didn't have to level and float the field
every time harvest season came around. It didn't take long
to convince grandpa that something was right.
I had a real fetish for engines and machinery. I was a motorhead
to be sure. Imagine me at eighteen,turning my little 45hp
Ferguson into a tall stand of Malva weed. The nine-foot
mower would bog the engine if you went too fast. I didn't
understand a thing about nature, all I knew was that I could
mow for days,lucky me!
Through the next seven years of life I went to college,
worked as an electrician and acquired my own contractor's
license. Self-employment was looking good.
Meanwhile,my Uncle Glenn moved back to Hilmar and started
farming a piece of our family land. This is where things
started getting exciting. The family was becoming torn and
confused about what way to farm. Glenn would tell us that
the vetch he was growing was all he needed. He said he was
getting nitrogen from the nodules on their roots and that
the mulch would provide almost everything else. Dad and
grandpa were in fits. What was this guy talking about? Grandpa
told Glenn that he was taking a big risk.
It was 1987 when my Grandfather passed away. We all look
back and think how he would have gotten a kick out of what
has transpired since. Our fields and Glenn's became pitted
against each other in a commercial verses organic comparison.
Various magazines and news stations reviewed the different
fields trying to find a truth. This baffled me and continued
to until I had a strange awakening. The inner conflict created
between farm systems appears to me to have produced a small
mental explosion. As if I really needed to know and then
I did. I remembered how my sixth grade teacher described
nature. The fruit had a protective covering that was there
to nurture the baby seed. The leaves and fruit would fall
at the foot of the new tree and make good compost over time.
This all rang true as if my aching mind scraped up whatever
tidbits of logic it could find. I ran right out to the Ag
Access bookstore in Davis California and bought some soil
conditioning books. They were great! These guys were saying
exactly what Glenn was saying and it proved once and for
all that he was not crazy.
Now,every time I see a chemical farm magazine I understand
their motivation. These guys would really just like to sell
as many chemicals as they can. They create all kinds of
reasons for NPK and the "Cide sisters" (Herbicide,
Pesticide, and Fungicide). My organic soil conditioning
manuals rebuff these practices and I draw great comfort
from them. It may take years to tune your soil but I have
the rest of my life.
Thankfully, the no-till practices were paying off. When
Glenn's field and my Dad's were tested for various beneficial
insects and for the percent of organic matter they were
very close all the way. It was in 1990 that my Dad retired.
In doing so he agreed that whatever way I wanted to go would
be okay with him. Organic it was and is today. I can't think
of a more satisfying life. I think of all the years that
Dad subjected himself to chemical overspray and I thank
a few bold authors (Fred Magdoff,Robert Parnes,and William
R. Jackson) for freeing me from the chemical mindset. I
have studied a little psychology looking for the reason
farmers cannot cut loose and go organic. It appears to be
a thing called "Paradigm Paralysis". Whenever
you try to think in a new way the old map just keeps popping
up in front. The change is too frightening. That is why
change in agriculture will be a long slow thing.
Arne Anderson
Hilmar, California
October 1997
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