Acres USA - Finding the Outstanding Periodical at Barnes & Noble

Through the years, with my dabbling in trying to understand the path to sustainable food production techniques, I often found myself in various libraries, in obscure agricultural sections.  I read Mother Earth News and Countryside & Small Stock Journal.  I read writings from agricultural professors from the late 19th and early 20th century.  I read Rodale publications that ranged from Organic Gardening and Farming to books commissioned by Rodale.  Over and over again, I found approaches to agriculture and food production that I would call intuitive and experiential, if not empirical, but they also carried a taint of dogmatic certainty, if not a religious fervor.  When asking the question of "Why?", the answer would be something like, "Because! That is how it happens in nature."  More often than not the description of something that happens in nature failed to comprehend what actually happened in nature, but was simply a reiteration of something that some supposed guru of natural farming had said.  That said, the intuitive descriptions held truth and that truth drew me in.  The questions I had were about why something was true or maybe why did it look true, when in reality, it was a correlation, not a truth.  What's a wannabe natural farmer to do?

Another of my vices was taking an occassional break to wander through Barnes & Noble, usually to look at books on gardening, farming, livestock, maybe woodworking, or something else.  These visits were usually just a break from a busy day, with my leaving having relaxed and not spent a dime.

On one of my visits to Barnes and Noble in the mid-90's, I was walking through the periodical section, hoping to find something different than Mother Earth News.  Perhaps a revival of the defunked Rodale Organic Gardening?  Something else?  My eye was drawn to a farming periodical, Acres USA.  "How odd," I thought.  There are no other farming periodicals at Barnes & Noble, not even the popular Hoard's Dairyman.  I picked up the Acres USA and started thumbing through it.  My reaction was one of astonishment.  I saw things like: optimal nitrogen levels through legumes and carbon decomposion; balanced soils lead to higher protein and mineral content of vegetables and forage; milk from grass-fed cows has higher CLA content; laying hens following cows on pasture reduce fly populations by 83%.  You get the idea.

I snatched up a copy of the periodical, kind of like a mini-newspaper.  I took it home and read it and found that the content had not only the intuitive flavor of other publications that I liked, but also, sound science and research that my really answered the "Why?" questions that I had.  I subscribed to the publication immediately.  I have been more or less a constant subscriber for the past 20 years.  Not only does the periodical provide timely, new developments, it preserves lines of research that have been set aside as the vast majority of research funding in university agricultural programs currently comes from large agribusiness firms like Monsanto, Carghill, Tyson, Land O' Lakes, Purina, etc.  These older lines of research receive scant attention now because of funding and publication opportunities, but they remain just as valid today as they were 50 years ago.  While I do occassionally find things with which I disagree, the publication is not fanatical in its fervor about specific techniques or practices.  Not only does it outline sound science, but it explores topics and approaches that may be considered early research stage, unfunded research, speculative, even metaphysical.  But these things are made clear and are not communicated as a given truth, just because.

 As I became immersed in the periodical, I found that they had all kinds of books available, published by themselves as well as others.  The books generally spanned the range of topics available in the magazine, but in much more depth.  Over the years, I have purchased probably over 100 books from Acres, directly or indirectly.  Today I am reading a book by author Jerry Brunetti, called The Farm as Ecosystem.  As with the articles, the range of books, DVD's, and seminars available from Acres spans timely scientific, pragmatic, historical (yet current), and speculative.

Acres has become a primary source of information for me in my quest to understand and develop mental systems and models related to sustainable, renewable, regenerative agriculture that provides optimally nutrient dense foods in an efficient, reliable manner.

Just in case you can't tell, I like Acres USA.  If you have interest in this topic, you are sure to find things of interest at Acres, whether you subscribe to the periodical, or pick up a book to read.  I'll delve deeper into key specific issues learned from Acres in upcoming blog posts.