What is Natural Farming?
What Is It?
Natural Farming is a special, more natural way to grow crops.
It’s focused around the philosophy that Nature knows best—that balanced biological ecosystems provide plants with a holistic array of nutrients that promotes plant growth like no artificial additive ever could.
With Nature, Not In Spite of It
Natural Farming is about growing with Nature, whereas most commercially grown crops are grown in spite of Nature—meaning they are pumped full of pesticides, preservatives, and other unnatural chemicals just to keep them alive, nevermind flourishing.
The Only Thing Added is the Plant
Natural Farming avoids the use of artificial additives, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and waste products such as manure. No waste products translates to a lower risk of pathogens being reintroduced to the food chain, and no unnatural additives means that everything is natural and self-sustaining.
Instead of plants receiving additives, they are the additive: they are introduced to a nutrient-rich ecosystem built and kept alive by indigenous microorganisms (IMOs) such as fungi, bacteria, nematodes, earthworms, and more.
All About Balance
These microorganisms form balanced ecosystems—a ‘living soil’—which are perfect homes for any plant.
Balanced ecosystems not only keep the plant alive better than additives could, but they provide more resources for plants, mimicking what Mother Nature would give them under idealized circumstances. These ecosystems promote more holistic plant health while keeping the peace with the surrounding Nature.
Better for Everyone
Natural Farming doesn’t disturb Nature like most commercial farms do, and it doesn't drain the environment of its resources. In fact, Natural Farming typically benefits the surrounding area by supplementing the existing indigenous ecosystems.
Whereas most farms continually deplete the soil then try to pump it back to life with additives, Natural Farms keep the soil teeming with life and all its necessities throughout and beyond the life cycle of a plant.
Everything that plants need to flourish can be cultivated in and by Nature. And by working in tandem with natural forces, we can grow crops the right way—that is, to be Healthier, Happier, more Natural than 99% of what’s out there.
History & Guiding Principles Into Today
Natural Farming is a more general off-shoot of Korean Natural Farming, which gets its name from Master Cho, who brought this way of farming to the western world from Korea in the mid-twentieth century. Master Cho learned these techniques from his time in Japan, then returned to Korea with the knowledge necessary to take on the big farming corporations.
Because Natural Farming requires only all-natural inputs—and next to no reliance on industrial pesticides and other products—it was seen as a threat to the well-oiled money-making machine of the agriculture industry. Quickly, industry professionals recognized the threat that Natural Farming posed to their system: farmers could avoid buying any of the myriad products peddled by agricultural conglomerates, which would expose the industry for the cabal it was and still is today. So, to ensure that Natural Farming would not reach the masses of Korea, agricultural industrialists sent hitmen to kidnap and beat Master Cho within an inch of his life.
Shortly after the goons of Korea’s Big Agriculture beat up and warned Master Cho to stop his teaching of Natural Farming, he realized this movement was bigger than him and that he had to continue his fight, regardless of the consequences. So Master Cho decided to take his teaching West, and bring this new form of farming to the Americas.
Once in America, Master Cho and other masters of Korean Natural Farming began teaching its principles to all farmers who would listen. Despite strong protests from industry professionals in America claiming that plants need pesticides, additives, and other commercial products to grow best, Natural Farming began spreading like wildfire as farmers across the country recognized its massive advantages. Farmers in America had long been beholden to industry professionals and talking heads from Big Agriculture companies like Monsanto and Bayer, but these farmers quickly and correctly saw Natural Farming as a way out of these corporate trappings. With Natural Farming, they realized their plants were not only cheaper and safer to grow, but that they grew to be happier and healthier than they had been when they were being pumped full of chemicals.
Nowadays, there are Natural Farming teachers all over the nation (and the world), disseminating the teachings of Master Cho and further spreading the word that Natural Farming is the best way to grow crops.
Today, there are many ways to practice Natural Farming, most of which are much better for the plants than any alternatives. No matter how Natural Farming is being done, it usually abides by these original guiding principles of Korean Natural Farming and its offshoots:
Minimize inputs
Use indigenous microorganisms (IMO)
Use the nutrients of the seeds
Avoid fertilizers, both commercial and from livestock waste
Avoid tilling
Natural Farming vs Certified Organic
Many farms in the US have adopted Natural Farming, which is a higher standard than being certified organic. Certificates that farms receive for being “organic” are not as holistic or binding as the guiding principles of Natural Farming. This is because USDA organic-certified products can still be made from up to 34% non-organic sources. That’s a lot of wiggle room that most ecologically-conscious consumers aren’t aware of. Another issue with the organic certification process is its pay-to-play nature: to get certified, most farmers end up paying between $10k and $100,000 for a single certification. This high price practically disqualifies most mom-and-pop farmers from using the label, even if they have products that are much more truly organic than those of the Big Agriculture firms who can spare the cost.
While there are organizations (Dragon Earthfly and Clean Green to name a couple) who have taken it upon themselves to check and certify that a farm claiming to be a Natural Farm truly is, there are no nationally recognized or popular certifications for it. As firm believers in the tenets of Natural Farming, Lone Wolf hopes to raise awareness for Natural Farming, its benefits, and the need for an official certification process to help customers distinguish between natural products and those riddled with chemicals peddled by Big Agriculture.