What is Biodynamics?
Biodynamics is the name given to an agricultural method based on the indications of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). The Agricultural Course in 1924 was his response to inquiries from farmers and veterinarians in Germany who were concerned about the rapidly deteriorating health and vitality of their plants and animals. Steiner's insights emphasized the need for a healthy, living soil (bio-) with a concrete relationship to cosmic (-dynamic) forces. He set forth the principles of a modern, organic agriculture that works with life-regulating processes and subtle catalysts such as trace elements and enzymes. Work with the land, he believed, needed to be both thoroughly practical and grounded in spiritual understanding.
Biodynamic farming is free of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in the same manner as certified organic farming. In order to qualify for Demeter Biodynamic status a farm must first meet the same 3 year transition requirement that NOP certified organic farming requires. Demeter also requires a careful examination and eventual reduction of the volume of imported materials necessary to sustain the life of the farm. What distinguishes a Demeter certified Biodynamic farm from a certified organic farm is that, in its entirety, a Demeter Biodynamic farm is managed as a living organism. This is the fundamental principal of the Biodynamic farming method.
The Biodynamic method dates back to 1924 and is one of the original approaches to organized organic farming worldwide. In day to day practice Biodynamic farming involves managing a farm within the context of the principles of a living organism. A concise model of a living organism ideal would be a wilderness forest. In such a system there is a high degree of self-sufficiency in all of the realms of biological survival. Fertility and feed arises out of the recycling of the organic material the system generates. Avoidance of pest species is based on biological vigor and its intrinsic biological and genetic diversity. Water is efficiently cycled through the system.
Looked at in its widest view, the scale of this farm organism extends beyond the fence line of the farm and includes the tangible and intangible forces that work through it. Examples of such “forces” include the climate, inherent wildlife of the earth (above and below the ground), the light and warmth from the sun and the focusing of even more distant cosmic influences through the other planetary members of our sun’s solar system. The Biodynamic method of farming attempts to align all of the factors that stream through a living farm system in a harmonious manner. The food that results is very true to its essence and in this manner provides deeply penetrating nutrition that is medicinal to an increasingly unstable human existence.
More about Biodynamics
Pfeiffer Center for Biodynamics
Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association
ATTRA publication on Biodynamics
Josephine Porter Institute
