In January, I attended the 6th biennial Organic Seed Growers Conference hosted by the Organic Seed Alliance. I went looking to gather ideas and skills to enhance Growing Home’s organic vegetable production operations. I spent three days touring coastal Washington, listening to inspiring speakers, attending how-to workshops, gathering materials, and sharing ideas (and seeds).
The 2012 conference was held in Port Townsend, Washington, near one of the world’s foremost seed production regions, Washington’s Skagit Valley. Coastal Washington, with its mild and unvaried climate, offers ideal conditions for production of cool-season crops like spinach, cabbage and broccoli. Farmland here holds value as farmland, unlike elsewhere in the U.S. where development value trumps agricultural value.
Above: Photos from the 6th Organic Seed Growers Conference
Here are some highlights from my trip.
Seed stock: Until very recently, farmers and gardeners grew, dried and stored much of their own seed for planting their fields and trading with neighbors. The result was a global seed bank of great diversity, with each seed finely adapted to a particular place, particular conditions, and a farmer’s particular taste. But things have changed. Growers no longer rely on their own seed stocks. Of all the fruits and vegetable varieties in existence in 1903, 96% are now extinct. There are relatively few varieties sold commercially, and seed in our National Germplasm Repositories ages in drawers as Federal funds are directed elsewhere. Contamination from genetically modified plant pollen threatens organic seed production worldwide, and sometimes compromises a farmer’s right to use seed.
Despite all this, there is hope. The goal for the Organic Seed Growers Conference is to share the basic knowledge needed to produce high quality seed, and to inspire a nation of organic seed advocates. New seed companies and cooperatives are popping up to serve specific regions, some with emphasis on old world varieties and some exclusive to homegrown seed stock. Some communities are even creating Seed Libraries for community sharing and expansion of seed.
Pollinators: Though some plants have mechanisms to self-pollinate or depend on wind currents to distribute pollen among plants, more than 70% of plant species depend on some kind of animal-mediated pollination. Worldwide, 35% of food crops are dependent on pollinators. This means that without pollinators, these crops would fail to produce the fruits we eat and/or the seeds we eat and plant. Unfortunately, there has been a frightening decline in both managed and wild populations of pollinating insects. Since 1950, the number of managed honeybee colonies has dropped 50%, and feral colonies have declined between 70% and 100%. Just as soil health and clean water are essential to crop production, pollinators too are essential tools in a farmer’s toolbox.
GMO Seed Study: Few people know that the World Bank conducted a four-year study on the impact of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) worldwide, and found some very interesting conclusions. The World Bank found that:
- GMO’s are not needed because they do not increase intrinsic yields and they don’t respond to climate change;
- Industrial agriculture and trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT benefit northern partners only (farmers in developing countries see no significant benefit); and
- Agroecology and local food economies are what’s needed.
The study is both uplifting and disheartening – uplifting because it tells what so many of us already knew or suspected – disheartening because the study was commissioned by Monsanto, and when Monsanto learned that the conclusions were not beneficial to its marketing plans, it pulled funding and the report remains unpublished. The studies’ findings and its censorship from public knowledge add volume to the call for organic farmers and gardeners to stand up and take control of our seed future by growing organic seed—and for every person who eats to advocate for organic seed production.
-Tracy Noel
Rural Production Manager
Download Tracy’s full report including other recommended readings.