How Do Growers Define Sustainability?

Editor’s note: Some answers are slightly edited for length and clarity.

“Our overall definition of sustainability is anything we do that keeps us in business, and when we hear some of the things that talk about sustainable as far as environment, but they don’t really work for us as a business, then that’s not really our definition of sustainable. We’re always looking for new technology, new chemicals, and new equipment that works better for our farm in the long run. Our definition of sustainable is what keeps us in business and keeps us going.”
— David Patterson, Patterson Fruit Farm, Chesterland, OH

“The traditional definition is that your practices are environmentally sound or sustainable, they’re economically sustainable, and they’re also people friendly. It’s not organic versus chemical. It’s not biorhythms or biodynamics. It’s trying to do as much as possible to improve your land and produce products with as little footprint as you can on your property.”
– Art Hunt, Hunt Country Vineyards, Branchport, NY

“I’m 33 — I’ve got three kids and one on the way, all under the age of five right now. To me, sustainability is about having a methodology of growing our crops that allows for family life to be sustainable. What I mean by that is reducing the unneeded work demand. Everyone knows farmers work hard, but in today’s society we have to make sure we don’t lose focus of the fact that there are some practices that are just not sustainable from a manpower standpoint or from a management standpoint.

Really what I’m getting at is simplicity. Things that are simple. Things that do not add to your workload but reduce your workload so that you do have enough time to do the things you want to do, whether it’s spend time with your family or work on marketing opportunities. Like I said, farmers all work hard, but eventually there is a price that is paid, and that price is your time. If you’re doing a new practice that takes twice as long as the old practice, you’re giving up something else.

You can always try to chase another dollar around the corner, but at the end of the day if you don’t have time to enjoy it, it doesn’t matter.”
— Steve Tennes, Country Mill Farms, Charlotte, MI

“Our definition of sustainability is based on the three Es: environmentally sound practices, socially equitable, and economically feasible. So you’ve got to be able to do all three of those to have it be truly sustainable. One of the things that I think is a component that is overlooked sometimes is the social aspect — community involvement.”
— Jeff Kunde, Kunde Wine Estates, Kenwood, CA

“Sustainability for our farm is utilizing the tools that we have available to produce fruit with as little impact on the environment as possible. An example would be the utilization of the North Central IPM program on our farm, which helps us more effectively control insect problems that we encounter by timing our applications better and to sometimes not spray when the insect pressure is low. Another example would be that we have adopted a softer approach to controlling oriental fruit moth in peaches with mating disruption, which has, in turn, given more effective control of this pest with less reliance on insecticides.”
— Joe Burnham IV, Burnham Orchards, Inc, Berlin Heights, OH

“We try to think of (several) different points before we make a decision. We look at the job that needs to be done and whether or not there’s an easier way for the people to do the job rather than the conventional way, so it’s easier for the worker. When we’re doing tractor work in the field, we’ve gone ahead and purchased tractors that have accessibility to use an implement in front of the tractor as well as in the rear of the tractor so we’re able to do two jobs at once, in one pass of the field, using less fuel, less compaction to the vineyard, and less labor.

We continue to use pesticides, but the category of pesticides is much safer — a lot less toxic than we used to use. We’re in a area where we’re able to use a lot of biological controls, releasing beneficial insects to combat some of our insect problems as well as using pheromones for mating disruption. So with all these different control measures, in conjunction with less toxic chemicals, we’re getting ahead of our insect problem, whereas before we were using more harsh chemicals and we weren’t getting ahead. It may not be the least expensive solution, but it’s for the sustainability of the operation.”
— George Donati, Pacific Vineyard Company, San Luis Obispo, CA