“Independence” is a phrase so ingrained in the American agriculture mentality that it’s a core part of the identity of the American farmer. It makes sense, when we consider how a farmer operates relative to many other Americans working as employees or operating their own businesses. In a lot of ways, a farmer does have more choice and more say in their business, in how they spend their time, in the choices they make.

And, none of a farmer’s ability to make decisions and take actions is disconnected from others. Doing so in a way that is affected by and affects a multitude of others isn’t independence; it is sovereignty. And what is that sovereignty supported by? By the land. By the sun. By the water. By the entire biome the farm is a part of. By countless traditions, communities, and institutional structures that in their own ways hold dear both the practice and business of farming. It’s supported by many folks who work in the day to day effort of producing, distributing, and marketing food, fiber, and fuel, and by the breadth of humanity that consumes food on a daily basis.

What farmer won’t share their frustration with the vagaries of the markets they’re connected to, and that they depend on to source needed inputs for their crops as well as to market their crops? Doesn’t a flat tire remind all of us that not everything we need to grow and market a crop is grown on our farm? And in many cases, aren’t those local markets we’re participating in not only local, but also connected to a massive and complex web of people and places all around the globe? And perhaps even more prominently, what farmer isn’t aware of what their neighbor farmers are up to? When there’s a challenge going on in agriculture, are farmers on the phone or at the local diner talking it over? When a neighbor needs help on a particular challenge, so many farmers are ready to jump in and support their community.

I’m also curious on the extent that these attitudes of independence and/or interdependence are present in other cultures of farming, outside the mainstream U.S. agriculture. Certainly indigenous traditions around the world teach this connectedness of growing food within a much larger sphere.

But no matter which country they farm in, no farmer operates in a vacuum, and no farmer is independent of the living world. And what a fundamental gift that is! And what a dismissal of that gift it is to claim independence, in the midst of such interdependence on the living world. And that’s not to say that a farmer being sovereign in their decisions is bad; to the contrary, it’s necessary and fundamental to being in interdependence.

To use the skills and knowledge of farming that have been gained through study and experience and sometimes even generations of wisdom, and to use that to make what one views as the best decisions for a farm, that is to accept the responsibility of the stewardship of the farm, and also the inherent collaboration of a farm across land, plants, animals, and communities.

--11/25/24

Note: An introduction to this series and links to other topics in the series can be found here.