THE FARMERS QUESTIONNAIRE

THE FARMERS QUESTIONNAIRE

SPIRITUAL FOOD FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
QUESTIONNAIRE
for
PARTICIPATING FARMERS

Farm Name______________________ Farmer’s Name____________________________

Location/region____________________________________________________________

Mailing Address ___________________________________________________________

Phone (home, other, best times to call) __________________________________________

E-mail__________________ fax __________________ web ________________________

Certification: Yes ___ No ___ Type_________________________ Date ____________

[Even though some questions have no points, please answer; these are part of the discretionary points available to the evaluator.]

	. THE FARM LANDSCAPE – 5,000 points .	5% of total points
. 101 .	What size is your farm? __________ Acres	250
. 102 102.1 102.2 102.3 102.4 102.5 102.6 102.7 .	How is use of the land distributed: ideal Hay/grain (winter animal feed) _____ acres 25% Animal grazing (summer feed) _____ acres 20% Orchard/vineyard _____ acres 13% Garden _____ acres 18% Forest/woods _____ acres 18% Grain (human consumption) _____ acres 3% Rotation/fallow _____ acres 3%	350 350 500 500 250 500 250
. 103 .	Do you regularly rotate use of the land for different purposes? Explain on separate sheet. .	350
104.1 104.2	Do you have a pond or stream? Yes _____ No _____ With aquatic life? describe ________________________________ .	350 350
105	Do you have naturally occurring boundaries? Explain. See : “The Importance of Boundaries” by Hugh Lovell .	350
. 106 .	. Do you create intentional boundaries? If yes, explain.	350
. 107 .	. Please include a sketch of farm on a separate sheet.	350

	.. ANIMAL PRESENCE – 35,000 points .	35% of total points
. 201 .	. Do you have cows? If yes, how many? _______________________ .	. 17,500
202	. Do you have bull(s)? If yes, how many? _____ Do you own it? _____ Borrow? ______ For how many months/year is the bull on your farm? ____________ If no, do you use artificial insemination? ______________________ .	0
203 . 203.1 203.2 203.3 203.4	. Animal Diversity – what other animals do you have on the farm and how many? Horses _____ how many Chickens _____ Pigs _____ Other ________________________________________________ .	. 10,500
204	. Do you keep bees? No. of hives __________ If no, are bees a noticeable presence on the farm? Explain. ____________________________________________________ .	3,500
. 205.1 205.2 205.3 .	What percentage of the animal feed is produced on the farm? ______________________________________________________ If not 100%, where do you get the rest of the animal feed? ______________________________________________________ Is it organic? ___________________________________________	3,500

	. FARM FERTILITY – 35,000 points .	35% of total points
301	. Please describe your type of soil. Is it inherently fertile? Does it require a lot of inputs? ____________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ .	0
302	. Is there a noticeable presence of earthworms on your farm? In what areas? __________________________________________________ .	0
. 303	What percentage of the compost is generated: Wholly on the farm? _____________________________________ Made on the farm from imports, specify percentages ______________________________________________________ Imported ____________________________________________ .	4500
. 304	. Do you add Rudolf Steiner indicated preparations for compost to the compost? _____ If yes, for how long have you been using the preps in the compost? ______________________________________________________ .	5000
. 305	What type of land (crops, pasture, hay, etc.) and how many acres receive approximately how much compost each year? ___________ type _____ acres _____ tons ___________ type _____ acres _____ tons ___________ type _____ acres _____ tons .	2500
. 306	. List other fertility measures (rotation, cover cropping, etc.) on separate sheet. .	1000
307.1 307.2	. Do you use the Steiner indicated preparations on the farm other than in the compost pile? _______ If yes, how long have you been using the preps on the farm? _________________________________ .	5000
. 308 308.1 308.2 308.3 308.4 308.5 .	Please describe your prep schedule including the type of land (crops, pasture, etc.) and amount of each that is receiving the Steiner preparations(500, 501, 508, barrel compound, other) __________ type of land ______ prep _____ acres __________ type of land ______ prep _____ acres __________ type of land ______ prep _____ acres __________ type of land ______ prep _____ acres __________ type of land ______ prep _____ acres	5000
. 309.1 309.2 309.3 309.4	. Do you make your own R.S. preparations? If yes, please list which ones ______________________________ _____________________________________________________ Do you generate the animal parts from animals on the farm? _____________________________________________________ If no, where do you obtain the preparations/parts? _____________________________________________________ .	4000
. 310	.What stirring method do you use for the preps? _____________________________________________________ .	2500
. 311 311.1 311.2 311.3	. Insect and weed control: Do you work with ashing of insects and weed seeds or animal pests? _____________________________________________________ Briefly describe other: insect control methods you use. ____________________________ weed control methods. ___________________________________ use other sheet if necessary. .	. 1000 2500
. 312	. List experimentive measures that you are using or developing (please use a separate paper) .	2000

	. PRODUCTION – 5,000 points .	5% of total points
401 401.1 401.2 401.3 401.4 401.5 401.6 401.7 401.8 401.9 401.10	Please list the products produced on the farm and approximate quantity or acreage of each: Medicinal Herbs -for preparation of preps _________________________________ -to benefit insects ______________________________________ -food and medicine for animals and people ___________________ Vegetables ___________________________________________ Grains _______________________________________________ Fruit _________________________________________________ Hay _________________________________________________ Honey ________________________________________________ Dairy products __________________________________________ Other _________________________________________________ Use separate sheet if necessary. .	100 400 400 400 400 400 400
. 402 .	Do you save your own seed for replanting?	2,500

	. INFLUENCE OF THE FARMER – 20,000 points .	20% of total points
. 501.1 501.2	How long have you been studying the Rudolf Steiner Agricultural Course? _________________________ Do you presently belong to an agricultural study group or do personal study? _________________________________________________ .	5,000
. 502	Do you meditate as part of your farming practice? Explain (daily, or…) __________________________________________________ .	3,000
. 503.1 503.2 503.3 503.4 503.5	. How do you conceive of the heavenly influences on your work? _______________________________________________________ Do you work with the spiritual and/or elemental beings? Explain _______________________________________________________ Do you (how) celebrate the festivals? __________________________ _______________________________________________________ Do you work with the planets? Explain __________________________ _______________________________________________________ Do you work with the Stella Natura or Maria Thun’s calendar? ____ Use separate sheet if necessary. .	5,000
. 504.1 504.2 504.3	How many people work full time, year round on the farm? ________ How many part time, year round? _____ How many seasonal workers? full time _______ part time _____ .	2000 1000 1000
505 505.1 505.2 505.3 505.4 505.5	Please describe as best as possible how the farm is staffed according to the tasks e.g. 1½ people yr round + 2 seasonal in garden. Vegetable garden ______ yr round _______ seasonal Animals including dairy ______ yr round _______ seasonal Orchard/vineyard ______ yr round _______ seasonal Pastures/grains ______ yr round _______ seasonal woods/herbs/insects, etc ______ yr round _______ seasonal .	200 200 200 200 200
. 506 .	Who holds the long-term responsibility/ownership of your farm’s land, buildings, livestock, etc.? .	1000
507	Please list the equipment and/or machinery used on the farm. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________	1000
. . .	TOTAL AVAILABLE POINTS	100,000

[See Hugh Lovel’s article: “THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNDARIES”]

THE QUESTIONNAIRE CONTINUES WITH THE DISCRETIONARY QUESTIONS. THESE PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO TELL US ABOUT ASPECTS OF YOUR FARM THAT ARE LESS FUNDAMENTAL BUT NEVERTHELESS PERTINENT IN EVALUATING A SPIRITUAL FARM OPERATION. UP TO 30% MORE POINTS MAY BE ADDED.

PLEASE WRITE ANY COMMENTS AND/OR EXPLANATIONS BELOW OR ON A SEPARATE SHEET. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TELLING US ABOUT YOUR FARM.

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	DISCRETIONARY QUESTIONS Addendum to the Participating Farmer's Questionnaire The Selection Committee will use this information to add up to 30% (30,000) more points to the main questionnaire. All questions need not be answered, but please answer a minimum of 5 and feel free to tell us as much as you like about your farm story. You may be brief or elaborate, handwrite, type or word process. With your permission, we may also like to use this information in articles for our newsletter where participating farms are profiled - a part of helping people to get to know you the farmer. _______________________________________________________________________ Farm Name Farmer's Name date May Spiritual Food use the information you are providing in a farm profile? __________ 1. What was your biggest challenge this past year? 2. Tell us about your farm? 3. What's the most innovative thing you've done this past year? 4. What have you done to reduce your dependence on fossil fuel? 5. What have you done to improve the environment? 6. What do you do better than anyone else? 7. How is the weather? What is your relationship with it? 8. Are you working harder now than you were 5 years ago? 9. Tell us about your animals? 10. How much of the food you eat do you grow? 11. What's the most startling observation you've made recently? 12. How is the wildlife population around your place? 13. Will you still be farming 5 years from now? 14. What's the most irritating part of farming? 15. Is your debt now more or less than it was 5 years ago? 16. Are you happier now than you were 5 years ago? 17. What's the most beautiful thing on your farm right now? 18. What's the hardest thing you've every done on a farm? 19. What do you worry about most? 20. What brings you joy in your work? 21. Do you fully support yourself from your farm, i.e. do you make a living wage? 22. Do you feel you can account for all the inputs i.e. fuel, equipment repair, labor, etc. and income to have a clear picture of the profitability of the farm? 23. If you bring in compost is this a short term or long term program ? 24. How do you determine quality of the finished or brought in compost ? 25. Can you say that the management practices you currently use will provide long term soil fertility and for you long term economic stability ? 26. What percentage of your livestock is born on the farm? 27. What is your relationship with ritual? 28. What is your perception about the internal aspect of ritual? 29. Is ritual pat of your farming practices or personal life?
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	.Back to Farm Classification

Do you have naturally occurring boundaries? Explain.

. Do you create intentional boundaries? If yes, explain.

. Please include a sketch of farm on a separate sheet.

0

0

.
Do you create intentional boundaries? If yes, explain.

.
Please include a sketch of farm on a separate sheet.