The Organic Farming Manual is a comprehensive guide to growing, certifying, and marketing organic produce, grains, meat, and dairy. Beginning farmers committed to launching an organic operation and experienced farmers hoping to transition from traditional farming techniques will find all the information they need. The organic certification process is lengthy and demanding, but author Ann Larkin Hansen clarifies every USDA requirement and offers complete advice on selecting equipment, tending the land, caring for animals, and marketing farm products.
Readers will also find profiles of successful organic farmers throughout the book. Their experiences provide inspiration and valuable tips for first-time farmers looking for real success stories. Hansen's thorough coverage of the subject and the positive words of established growers will set countless farmers on a healthful, organic path.
Readers will also find profiles of successful organic farmers throughout the book. Their experiences provide inspiration and valuable tips for first-time farmers looking for real success stories. Hansen's thorough coverage of the subject and the positive words of established growers will set countless farmers on a healthful, organic path.
Author -
Ann Larkin Hansen runs a farm in Wisconsin and has published several books, including The Organic Farming Manual and Beef Cattle: Keeping a Small-Scale Herd for Pleasure and Profit. She has contributed to many publications, including Beef, Mother Earth News, Wisconsin West, Minnesota Business Journal, and The Organic Broadcaster. She is a past president of the Wisconsin Women's Sustainable Farming Network.
SAMPLE
CUSTOMER REVIEW
1) Great Book - I checked this book out at the library and love it. I plan on purchasing it and came to Amazon to look in to it. The review by "gail" surprised me and I feel like it is giving the book an unfair rating. If someone reads the entire post they may realize that the book is still very valuable, but if you are simply looking at the star rating, it isn't accurate. As with everything in life, you can't believe everything you read and should look for additional sources to confirm any ideas or thoughts you are pursuing. Common sense tells you this. A few incorrect statements in the book do not warrant a 2 star rating.
This book is exactly what I was looking for. I am surprised it even exists and had to have taken a great deal of time to put together. I've only read as little as gail did before writing her post and we've come up with two totally different ratings.
By Jonnyrr77 on April 7, 2011
2) Outstanding broad overview - A highly-readable, yet not dumbed down, overview of organic farming as it stands today. Individual chapters address specific areas of farming - dairying, orchards, beef cattle, etc. - interleaved with case studies of farmers working in those fields. (The case studies weren't just "Rah rah rah organic farming is glorious perfection all the time!", which I appreciated. I felt like I gained some insight from the struggles the farmers shared.)
The book very clearly explains what organic certification means and what the steps are to acquiring it. Reading this book gave me a broad understanding of what organic farming is, how it works (and doesn't work) and the benefits and challenges of such a system. I consider myself approximately 400% more informed about these topics than before I read it.
I would very much recommend this book to anyone thinking about starting out in farming, or to anyone who is interested in sustainable agriculture, or even just if you're interested in where your food comes from and how the food system works. I am baffled by the review by "Gail", which seems to be outraged that one volume does not address to her satisfaction every single thing that could possibly pop up on every single farm. Are there really people who buy this book, then immediately buy a farm and jump in with no other reading or training or research? I find that very hard to believe, and I don't think that's what this book is claiming to do. What this book is is a great point to start your research. If you read this book, you'll be left with a solid grounding in the concepts involved in a very wide range of organic farming systems, something that will serve you very well indeed as you continue your reading in more specific areas.
By World of wool on July 9, 2012
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