crease the agri-bio-chemical bottom

line. More conventional means more

chemical usage. Is there a difference
between biotech ag and chemical ag?
Promoting conventional is not escaping biotechs grip, rather it serves to
strengthen it.
Kevin Fletcher
President, Countryside Organics
Waynesboro, Virginia

Acres U.S.A. responds: We greatly

admire the work Countryside Organics has done over the decades;
weve walked the same path. But we
strive to represent a real-world view
of eco-agricultures many facets as
well as discussion of what is going on
beyond organic/sustainable farming
circles.
Organic is as good as weve got
right now. But there are bad organic
farmers. There are materials not allowed in organic production which
are in fact ecological. The true answer is not organic or non-GMO
. . . its to render toxic technology
obsolete.
We presented the article Escaping Biotechs Grasp to illustrate the
growing interest in non-GMO crops,
specifically for animal feed, that many
growers are experiencing. Most important, this was a single article, not
a multi-hundred-page book and does
not convey all that is Acres U.S.A. and
eco-agriculture. We hate to think our
40-plus-year track record is for naught
over one article.
Acres U.S.A. stands firmly on the
foundation of soil health and farming
sustainably for the short- and longterm. To hold that certified organic
is GMO-free (its not) and the ideal
agricultural system (witness the recent NOSB meeting and the actions
of Walmart) is optimistic. We seek
to move conventional agriculture to
eco-agriculture in any way we can.

SUBMIT A LETTER
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from our readers. Please email
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to P.O. Box 301209, Austin, TX
78703. Please include your full
name, town and state.

OPINION

Cultivating Love
for Invasive Plants
have ever walked through most of
our forests you would be kind to
say that they are thin-soiled. Due
to their low-mineral, low-carbon
At the heart of the native plant
condition, they support invasives
movement is the yearning for more
that perform in fringe soil environbeautiful land. However, a great
ments, and over time they actively
deal of native plant lovers energy
make them better. When a better
is spent battling invasive plants. A
balance is achieved, which may
faltering competition-based science
be decades without our influence,
justifies this plant hatred. Instead
they move into the background.
of focusing on the otherness of
An invasive goutweed patch, afplants, it is far more productive to
ter mineralizing and running pigs
focus on what is making our land
through it, may have some of best
healthier. Once we understand this
soil on the farm.
principle we can
Have you observed
better manage for
the areas where
it. It may be diffiWhen we focus
trilliums, bloodcult to imagine, but
on land health
root, toad lilies
invasive plants lead
and ramps grow?
to natives. Invasives
what it is and
I have tested soil
dont grow where
that supports these
our natives flourish.
how we manage
plants. One patch
Natives have broad17 percent orer nutritional needs,
for it the native had
ganic matter, 14
which are exactly
TEC and a perfect
what invasives creversus invasive
Ca:Mg ratio. This
ate: more layers,
area is invasive-free
more soil carbon
clash dissolves.
not because there
and a better minare no seeds but beeral balance. A love
cause invasives cant get a hold in
and support for both natives and
the balance in which native plants
invasives is not only possible, it is
thrive.
essential for healthy, beautiful land.
Roundup helps us understand
With the current condition of
what not to do. Roundup is a minour land, invasives are high-pereral chelator; it grabs minerals, and
forming plants; we see them multithe best science says only to grab
plying along our roadways, in our
minerals again for a long time. It
re-growth forests and waterways.
is one of the most abundant manWhen a plant is high-performing
made chemical in the environment.
it gifts 60 percent of all of its creSurprisingly, Roundup doesnt kill
ated energy into the soil in the
plants; it makes them so weak, by
form of root sugars (carbon) to feed
grabbing their minerals (and the
microbes. That is a ratio of 1 part
soil minerals around them), that
plant to 2.3 parts gift carbon. The
the soil pathogen Fusarium kills
huge masses of invasives are leavthe plant. So for a problem of iming more carbon in the soil year
balance, such as invasives thriving,
after year.
Stable soil carbon holds air,
water, minerals and life. If you
SEE PAGE 74
by LUKE PRYJMA,
Balanced Land Health

OPINION
FROM PAGE 5

we spray something that makes the

imbalance worse.
When we focus on land health
what it is and how we manage for
it the native versus invasive clash
dissolves. We are left with important questions such as which plants

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make our land healthier and how?

With invasives, we have been in the
presence of not a cursed plant but a
plant desperately trying to make any
life happen. Focusing on land health
also dissolves the rift between farming and conservation. Rather than
restrictions, we can create incentives
for land improvement, farm or park.
These could be based on the sacred
needs of our land: flora and fauna
diversity, soil carbon, soil mineral
balance, air and water quality, magnetism and light. People could receive more incentives for stewarding
the better the balance of each land
need. Since our health is a reflection
of the health of the land, meeting
these needs leads to beings with the
broadest nutritional needs: us! Native
plants could return, invasives could
fall into the background and our
health could become crowd-driven.
Basically, it comes down to us
needing both plants. Invasive plants
are currently the high-performing
plants in our worn out areas. Natives
are essential to perform in areas of
greater health, i.e. repopulate invasive successional land. Invasives are
true pioneers worn out ground is
better because of them. When we
understand this we can appreciate
the gifts they offer. The good old days

RESOURCES
Charles Eisenstein, Sacred
Economics, Evolver Editions,
Berkley California 2011

of pure native pastures are not coming back. When we glorify the past
we miss the opportunity of a more
beautiful future. Likewise, we wont
be stuck in this lanky invasive age forever. Landscape, like culture, is moving into a balanced adulthood. As a
culture, we are now spending more
energy than ever understanding our
connection with the Earth. We are not
only stopping environmental wrongs,
we are making the planet healthier.
Land health determines plant expression. By managing for those qualities that make land healthy we get
more native plants. We can weed
invasives by doing what it takes them
years to do: improve soil carbon,
mineral balance and add more growing layers.
Luke Pryjma runs Balanced Land Health, a land
management consulting company. For more information visit www.balancedlandhealth.com or call
413-281-2651.