What does an ecological farmer do?
Ecological farmer produces vegetables, fruits, cereal crops or livestock without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. In the case of livestock, certified organic feed must be used and synthetic hormones or food ingredients are generally prohibited. In addition to planting, caring and harvesting crops, the ecological farmer must optimize the biological productivity of the soil and carefully monitor the selection of space, soil conditions and health of livestock. In order to be financially successful for environmental farmers, they must maintain certification and strategically sell their products.
ecological agriculture begins and ends with land. The ecological farmer perceives the land as a living partner in agriculture and works to protect and maintain soil viability. This may take the form of composting, planting accompaniment, mulching and careful monitoring of earthworm populations. The ecological farmer feeds the soil with manure, composts and other organic materials and maintains the soil of coverage and moisture to prevent ERozi water and wind. For example, when choosing seeds of crops, an ecological farmer must verify that the seeds come from certified organic reserves. This could mean savings of seeds from the previous year or purchase from a trusted source. In addition to choosing the diversity of crops on the plant or breed of economic breeding, the ecological farmer must consider not only profitable margins and productivity, but also resistance to illness and pests, as well as reproductive health.
In order to legally indicate the production as organic, the ecological farmer must maintain certification with the local control body. Organic standards are not generally applicable because each country has its own specific aspects of soil and climate. For this reason, organic farmers must increase products for exportandards of the target country in addition to its domestic regulations. Some countries such as the United States and Canada have established agreements on equivalence for simplicityShipping of trade.
In addition to the production of quality crops and livestock, environmental farmers must propose careful marketing strategies. It is estimated that ecological operations are 25-30% more demanding than standard agricultural procedures and to achieve financial return on time investment that environmental farmers must adequately sell their products to focus on consumers. Cooperating markets, health food stores and special supermarkets are more likely to sellers than large discount stores. As demand increases, organic farming becomes more economically viable, so environmental farmers must also be effective vocal advocates of the organic movement.