I. Introduction Organic growers regard the land and its cultivation as an integral component of the earth's ecosystem. We are serious farmers whose children look forward to continuing with the family farm. Our livelihood is being threatened by pesticide use and by genetically-engineered crops. Agriculture must be the foundation of the viability of our rural areas. The current model of agribusiness results in the death of rural life.
Farmers are the most squeezable link in the food chain.
We watch as prairie farmers go bankrupt, while listening to pesticides and biotechnology companies tout their products as the solution for more successful crops and cheaper food. It is a myth that farming must depend on pesticides to produce enough food to sustain our population. Applying these chemicals should be a last resort for all farmers, not just organic growers. Farmers are not taught that there are alternatives. The industrialization, the specialization, the enormous size, the standardization, the centralization of agriculture makes the land work like a factory without a roof.