Biodynamic farming

Rudolf Steiner's Agriculture Course at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce), in the summer of 1924, was the gateway event that led to the development of biodynamic agriculture and, subsequently, organic agriculture. The present paper identifies for the first time the 111 attendees of that course. The list reveals that 'Koberwitzers', as they called themselves, were a well credentialed and capable group of individuals, some of whom went on to champion and develop Rudolf Steiner's ideas about agriculture and other fields. The present paper revises a prior analysis of the Koberwitzers. For each Koberwitzer, the list reveals, the name, hometown, occupation, and accommodation during the course. Thirty one percent of Koberwitzers were women. Thirty eight percent were associated directly with agriculture (including farmer, estate manager, and estate owner), 6% of attendees were creatives (including writer, author, artist and editor), and a further 6% were priests. These three occupational categories, viz. Agriculture, Creative and Priest, together account for 50% of Koberwitzer occupations (and 72% of the known occupations). There remains for further scholarship to populate gaps in the listing: the gender of one Koberwitzer remains unidentified; one hometown (and country) remains unidentified; 33 occupations remain unidentified; and 51 accommodations remain unidentified. At the time of the Koberwitz course, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was mortally ill. The course was never repeated,. It was up to the Koberwitzers to progress Rudolf Steiner's call for the development of a differentiated natural agriculture without synthetic chemicals. The Koberwitzers met the call. There are now 251,842 certified biodynamic hectares in 55 countries, included in the 71,514,583 certified organic hectares in 186 countries.

Dans notre modèle apicole classique, l’évolution des colonies au fil des ans impose un renouvellement régulier des reines. Si la durée de vie théorique d’une reine est de 5 années, sa durée de production est estimée classiquement à 3 ans. Il apparaît de plus en plus que le rythme de renouvellement devient bisannuel voir annuel. Mais une reine qui, selon les critères de l’apiculteur, n’a plus la vitalité requise pour maintenir l’activité de production au sein d’une ruche Dadant n’aurait-elle pas encore son utilité en dehors de cette ruche ?

Cet article est paru dans  :
Philippe HAMMAN (éd.), Ruralité, nature et environnement. Entre savoirs et imaginaires, Eres poche, 2017, p. 275-302.

L’ouvrage offre un état des lieux, à la fois large et synthétique, rétrospectif, d’actualité et prospectif, des rapports complexes entre rural, environnement et nature en promouvant un regard ancré dans les sciences sociales dont la sociologie et la géographie sociale.

L’ouvrage remet en question aussi bien une vision passéiste du rural (vu en soi comme conservatoire de traditions, de la nature, etc.) que la tentation de fin de l’histoire où le rural serait dissout dans un urbain généralisé. Il renouvelle ainsi conjointement les études rurales et d’environnement françaises à l’heure des appels au « développement durable ».

Ernesto Genoni (1885-1975) was the pioneer of Biodynamic agriculture  in Australia. He studied art at Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan, Italy. He visited his older brothers and sisters who had earlier migrated to Australia and had farms at Broome Hill in Western Australia. On one visit WW1 broke out. Although he was a pacifist, Ernesto volunteered in the AIF and served on the Western Front as a stretcher bearer. before being conscripted off the battlefield into the Italian Army. After the war he joined the Anthroposophy Society. He spent time with Rudolf Steiner in Dornach, Switzerland in 1923 and 1924. Back in Australia he established Melbourne's Anthroposophy Michael Group with Anne Macky. He was the first Australian to join the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners. He was Australia's first biodynamic farmer. This is his story in his own words.

The Agriculture Course of Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is the seminal text of biodynamic farming and the organic agriculture movement. It has appeared in 16 languages. The Austrian New Age philosopher, Dr Rudolf Steiner, presented his Agriculture Course in the village of Koberwitz, Germany (now Kobierzyce, Poland) in the summer of 1924. The course of eight lectures laid the foundations for the emergence, over the following two decades, of biodynamic farming and organic agriculture. There were 111 attendees at the course at Koberwitz, many were farmers, all were Anthroposophists. The Agriculture Course was presented in German. It was one of the final lecture series that Rudolf Steiner conducted in his lifetime. It was a course of what Rudolf Steiner called “hints”, to be put to the test, not prescriptions nor dogmas. The Agriculture Course appeared in print in German in 1926. It was initially available only to members of the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners (until some time after WW2). Members of the Experimental Circle agreed to test Rudolf Steiner’s ideas and to report the results back to Anthroposophy headquarters at Dornach (on the outskirts of Basel), Switzerland, with the view to the publication of the results. The first translation of the Agriculture Course appeared in English in 1929. That translation was by George Kaufmann (later known as George Adams) who brought to the task his years of masterfully and extemporaneously rendering into English Rudolf Steiner’s lectures in German for audiences. There have been at least two other translations into English (in 1938 and 1993). The Agriculture Course has been translated into a further 14 (at least) other languages: French (1943); Swedish (1966); Italian (1973); Danish (1976); Dutch (1977); Spanish (1988); Hebrew (1989); Norwegian (1992); Romanian (1997); Russian (1997); Serbian (2004); Portuguese (2005); Polish (2007); and Esperanto (2009). As organic agriculture continues to increasingly attract consumers, advocates, practitioners, and scholars, interest endures in the seminal text of biodynamics and the organics movement.

A world map of biodynamic agriculture is presented. The map accounts for 55 countries and a world total of 251,842 certified biodynamic hectares. Biodynamic farming is the progenitor of organic agriculture. Ground-zero for biodynamics and organics is the Agriculture Course presented in the summer of 1924 by Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) to a group of 111 farmers and others at Koberwitz, Germany (now Kobierzyce, Poland). Rudolf Steiner called for a natural agriculture rejecting the prevailing thrust for the chemicalization of agriculture, evidenced, at the time, particularly by the uptake of synthetic fertilisers. Steiner's "hints" have evolved into a suite of farming practices now called 'biodynamic' (BD) agriculture. One BD practitioner, Lord Northbourne, coined the term 'organic farming' (in 1940) and presented his manifesto of organic agriculture, Look to the Land, which has spawned the international alternative agriculture movement of organic farming. Germany leads the world with 84,426 BD hectares, followed by Australia with 49,797 BD ha, and France with 14,629 BD ha. Steiner's particularised form of organic agriculture, viz. biodynamic farming, is a subset (of 30.0% and 0.35% respectively) of the 186 countries which account for a global total of 71,514,583 certified organic hectares. A table of countries and associated BD hectares is included. All hectare data reported in the present paper are for certified operations. The map presented is an area cartogram. The size and scope of the uncertified biodynamics and organics sectors remain undetermined.

“Now once again we have made a great step forward!” exclaimed Rudolf Steiner on the drive back from Koberwitz. “Seldom have I seen him so joyfully moved after the completion of a task
as in this moment after the agricultural conference”. Koberwitz can fairly be regarded as the birthplace of biodynamic agriculture. Rudolf Steiner delivered eight lectures there in German in the summer of 1924 (7-16 June). There were 111 attendees, 30 women and 81 men, who came from six countries: Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Sweden. The audience included farmers, estate managers, doctors, priests, teachers, artists, and engineers who all came to hear Steiner’s vision for agriculture.

Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, award winning architects of Canberra, were intimately entwined in the early development and proliferation of Anthroposophy in Australia. Their introduction to Steiner occurred several years after Steiner’s death, nevertheless, anthroposophy became for them a lived experience which was woven into the fabric of their lives and thoughts. Through their reading, correspondence, recruitment activities, lectures, study groups, translation of Steiner, and Anthroposophic Festivals, the thoughts and insights of Rudolf Steiner became a core part of who they were and how they lived their lives. It is now eight decades since the accomplished architects, Walter Griffin, Marion Griffin and their partner in architecture, Eric Nicholls, joined the Anthroposophic Society in Australia (in 1931,1930 and 1934 respectively). They studied and promoted Anthroposophy while working together collaboratively to produce distinctive and distinguished architecture around Australia.

Kent was ground-zero for the concept of organic farming. Amidst the pandemonium of World War II, Kent farmer and estate owner, Lord Northbourne (Walter James) (1896-1982) published ‘Look to the Land’ (30 May, 1940). The book introduced to the world, the term ‘organic farming’ along with the philosophy and rationale of practice. Northbourne’s terminology and philosophy were rapidly adopted and championed globally, notably in the USA by the publishing entrepreneur Jerome Rodale (1898-1971) and in Australia by the grazier Colonel Harold (Bill) White (1883-1971) and the Australian Organic Farming & Gardening Society. Organic agriculture is now a worldwide phenomenon which is reported from 186 countries, and globally accounts for 71 million hectares of farmland and GBP86 billion of retail sales per annum. A multinational sequence of events led to Northbourne's 1940 manifesto of organic agriculture. In 1924 the Austrian New Age philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) presented his Agriculture Course at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce, Poland). In 1938 the German chemist and acolyte of Steiner, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899-1961), working in Switzerland, published his ‘Biodynamic Farming and Gardening’. Northbourne was keen to introduce these ideas to a British audience. He visited Pfeiffer in Switzerland in January 1939 to recruit him to present a conference on Biodynamics at Northbourne’s farm in Kent. The outcome was the Betteshanger Biodynamics Conference (1-9 July, 1939), with lecturers from Switzerland and Holland, and attendees from Britain and New Zealand. Northbourne recalled “the spirit of friendliness, happiness and unity which prevailed … for nine days the possibility of war was scarcely alluded to; things more real and more constructive absorbed attention”. With the outbreak of war (1 September, 1939), the appetite of the British public for Germanic ideas was extinguished. Northbourne’s response was to create his manifesto of organic agriculture where he pitted a contest between “organic and chemical farming”. He stripped out the esoterica and arcane Anthroposophical language of Steiner and Pfeiffer’s biodynamics and presented a compelling case for what he termed ‘organic agriculture’. Northbourne was described by a colleague as “a man of great vision, decisiveness, quiet humour and kindly authority … who brought to every facet of his widely ranging life a rare sense of harmony and balanced purpose … he was a widely read man of very considerable scholarship with deep philosophical understanding”. Northbourne’s agricultural ideas have stood the test of time.

Organic agriculture is the direct descendent of biodynamic agriculture; and biodynamic agriculture is the child of Dr Rudolf Steiner's Agriculture Course presented at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce, Poland) in 1924. Rudolf Steiner founded the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners towards the end of that course. The task of the Experimental Circle was to test Steiner's 'hints' for a new and sustainable agriculture, to find out what works, to publish the results, and to tell the world. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer published his book Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening in 1938, thereby fulfilling Steiner's directive. Two years later, from Steiner's characterisation of 'the farm as an organism', the British biodynamic farmer Lord Northbourne coined the term 'organic farming' and published his manifesto of organic agriculture, Look to the Land (1940). In the gestational period of biodynamics, 1924-1938, 43 individual Britons joined the Experimental Circle. Each received a copy of the Agriculture Course. Copies were numbered individually and inscribed with the name of the recipient. These 43 members were the pioneers of biodynamics and organics in Britain, and finally their names and locations are revealed. Of the 43 individuals, 11 received their Agricultural Course in German, 27 in English, and five received copies in both German and English; one couple shared a single copy. Of the 50 Agriculture Course copies supplied to Experimental Circle members in Britain, 17 copies were in German, while 33 were in English. The membership of the Experimental Circle comprised both men (n=21) and women (n=22). Members were domiciled in England (n=39), Scotland (n=3) and Wales (n=1) (Dr Lili Kolisko received her Agriculture Course in Stuttgart, Germany, migrated to England in 1936, and is tallied here as 'England'). The revelation of the earliest pioneers of biodynamics, and thus organics, in Britain provides 43 starting points for further research.

This is a book chapter in the Routledge Companion to Landscape and Food, published 2018. It outlines initiatives in agriculture often labelled as 'alternative' and explores both this designation, some of the practices and approaches outlined in a selection of 'alternative' approaches to agriculture. The chapter also opens a discussion on epistemological and ontological stances that give rise to different theoretical and practical approaches to agriculture.

Many organic substances have allelopathic effects in agroecosystems (Rice, 1984). The so-called biodynamic (BD) preparations were the first set of plant extracts and solutions widely used in what can be regarded as applied allelopathy in farming systems (Deffune, 1990). This method has been successfully used by Brazilian farmers (Pio et al, 1984) and holds great potential regarding biodiversity, for the discovery of new sources of active principles or ingredients (Almeida, 1988). A PhD research project was carried forward between 1993 and 1998 to investigate these effects and techniques.
Spring wheat (T. aestivum, var. Canon) and potatoes (S. tuberosum, vars. Cara and Pentland Crown), two of the world’s most important staple foods, were chosen as test crops in field trials also for being complementary in a polar sense – one a Old World Monocotyledon ear producer; the other a New World Dicotyledon tuber producer.
A mixed green manure rotation with rye (Secale cereale) plus vetch (Vicia sativa) was added to the field trials to simulate an organic farming system. Field trials were supplemented by laboratory and glasshouse experiments.
Crop yield and health, nutritional and keeping qualities of produce as well as soil nitrogen content levels were the parameters evaluated, showing significantly positive differences in yields and quality for the Biodynamic system.

Organic production (including agriculture, wild culture, forestry and aquaculture) is a worldwide phenomenon that is practiced in at least 172 countries. The Organics Olympiad presents 14 indices of global organics leadership, each at three levels (Gold, Silver and Bronze). The Organics Olympiad of 2016 yields 29 countries as global organics leaders, and confirms that organics leadership is diversely distributed across countries, large and small, rich and poor, developed and less so, and cuts across linguistic, ethnic and cultural boundaries. Australia continues to lead the world in organic agriculture hectares. Australia also leads in the increase of organic hectares over the past four years (since the Organics Olympiad 2012) and in the number of WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) hosts. Finlandleads in organic wild culture hectares. Vietnam leads in organic aquaculture hectares, and Tunisia leads in organic forest hectares. Germany leads in biodynamic hectares, as well as with the number of members of IFOAM-Organics International. India leads for the number of organic producers. The Falkland Islands (Malvinas) leads in terms of the percentage agricultural land dedicated as organic. Switzerland leads with the value of organics consumption per capita. USA leads in the value of the organics market. Denmark leads in the publishing of organics research papers over the past four years. Namibia leads in the percentage increase in organic hectares over the past four years. The overall global organics leaders, on the basis of aggregated scores, are Australia, Germany, and Switzerland, in positions one, two and three, respectively. This study demonstrates the successful global diffusion of organics, and identifies that leadership lessons can be available from a broad diversity of countries. Key implications are identified.

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* How to get your research published by John Paull.
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* Effect of organic extracts on the growth and flowering of marigold plants (Calendula officinalis L.) by Alaa E. Hassan, Karim M. Bhiah & Mushtaq T. H. Al-Zurfya.
* Response of fodder maize to the application of various organic manures prepared from Ipomoea muricate weed by Pratap Vyankatrao Naikwade.
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* Phytochemical control of Radopholus similis in banana by Azadirachta indica and Allium sativum extracts by Ezra S. Bartholomew, Richard A.I. Brathwaite & Wendy-Ann P. Isaac.
* Ernesto Genoni: Australia’s pioneer of biodynamic agriculture by John Paull.
* Growth, yield and phosphorus-use efficiency of spelt wheat (Tritium aestivum ssp. spelta) compared with standard wheat (T. aestivum ssp. vulgare) in south- eastern Australia by J. Evans, R. Neeson, V. Burnett, D.J. Luckett, & N.A. Fettle.

Edith Ileen Macpherson (1898-1984) was a co-founder of Australia’s original Demeter Farm (c.1934-1954) along with her partner Ernesto Genoni (1885-1974). Ileen was a member of Rudolf Steiner’s Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners (from 1936). Ernesto was the first Australian member (from 1928). At their Demeter Farm in Dandenong, Victoria, they practiced biodynamic agriculture on over 40 acres (16 ha) through the years of the Great Depression, through World War II, and for the first decade of the post-war years, producing milk, fruit, and vegetables. Ileen was an early Australian Anthroposophist and follower of Rudolf Steiner. It was a blow to their Demeter Farm enterprise when she fell ill. Eventually she was no longer able to manage physical work at all and this fell to Ernesto. Although she is remembered as ‘the woman in the wheelchair’ this paper reveals that she was previously an active, fit and keen sportswoman, participating in basketball, tennis, running, hockey, and dancing. At school she was known as ‘Ikey’, she was a prefect, she was a member of the school sports committee, and she won the prize for “best all-round sport”. Ileen was confined to a wheelchair for the last four decades of her life. The cause has generally been misunderstood and misattributed, and is revealed here to be pernicious anaemia (lack of vitamin B12). This condition is now easily and successfully treatable, but it was then generally fatal. Ileen was a financial supporter of the Anthroposophical movement in Australia during her lifetime. Her benefaction has continued since her death via the Ileen Macpherson Trust which reports having dispensed over $600,000 for Anthroposophic causes in Australia. A portrait of Ileen by Italian/Australian artist Ernesto Genoni and photographs of Ileen are presented.

Biodynamics has played a key role in environmental and sustainable development. Rudolf Steiner founded the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce, Poland) in 1924. The task for the Experimental Circle was to test Steiner’s ‘hints’ for a new and sustainable agriculture, to find out what works, and to publish and tell the world. Ehrenfried published his book Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening in New York in 1938, fulfilling Steiner’s directive. In the interval, 1924-1938, 39 individual Americans joined the Experimental Circle. They were the pioneers of biodynamics and organics in USA, and finally their names and locations are revealed. Of the 39 members, three received copies of the Agriculture Course in both German and English, while other copies were shared (n=6). Of the 35 Agriculture Courses supplied to American Experimental Circle Members, over half were numbered copies of the German edition (n=20), and the rest were the English edition (n=15). A majority of members were women (n=20), along with men (n=17), and undetermined (n=2). Members were from 11 states: New York (n=18), New Jersey (n=5), Ohio (n=4), Hawaii (n=3), Connecticut (n=2), Missouri (n=2), California (n=1), Florida (n=1), Maine (n=1), Maryland (n=1), and Pennsylvania (n=1). The revelation of the earliest pioneers of biodynamics, and thus organics, in USA provides 39 starting points for further research that their stories and achievements may be told.

Dr Rudolf Steiner (1865-1925) attracted a host of talented and educated women to his Anthroposophy movement. Elisabeth Vreede (16 July, 1879 - 31 August, 1943) was prominent among such devotees. At the Christmas Conference of 1923, Elisabeth Vreede was appointed by Rudolf Steiner as the head of Mathematics and Astronomy Section at the School of Spiritual Science of the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland.

La biodynamie, la permaculture, l’homéopathie rurale et tout autre type d’agriculture alternative ou paysanne ne peuvent se réduire à la seule question de la production. Elles engagent un rapport au monde, en particulier aux sciences et à des courants spirituels ou religieux qui dépassent l’humain.
Cet ouvrage explore les entrecroisements et les hybridations entre différentes formes de savoirs et de croyances à l’oeuvre dans les agricultures alternatives. En associant de façon inextricable le sensible et le matériel, le pragmatisme et le spirituel, ces agricultures déjouent toute tentative de catégorisation qui reposerait sur l’opposition binaire entre scientificité et spiritualité. Émerge alors une pluralité d’« esprits scientifiques » pour traiter des aspirations qui les animent et des assemblages singuliers auxquels leur quête de rigueur, d’intégrité et leur ambition de faire modèle donnent lieu.
Pluraliser l’esprit scientifique de Bachelard, c’est aussi bien pluraliser les manières de faire science que laisser la porte ouverte aux « esprits », c’est-à-dire à des visions du monde où le naturalisme physique n’est pas le seul horizon.

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* A high yielding organic rice variety suited for coastal saline and non-saline fields: ‘Ezhome-2’, by Vanaja, T., Neema, V.P., Mammootty, K.P., Balakrishnan, P.C. & Jayaprakash Naik, B.
* Ileen Macpherson: Life and tragedy of a pioneer of biodynamic farming at Demeter Farm and a benefactor of Anthroposophy in Australia, by John Paull.

Lachman identifies that “Steiner rose to prominence as the most important esoteric teacher of his time”. For this biography, Lachman draws heavily on Rudolf Steiner’s autobiography ‘The Story of my Life’. Lachman writes that the autobiography is “the most readable of Steiner’s writings”, and that there exists “a daunting number of Steiner's lectures ... covering a sometimes bewildering range of topics”. Lachman admits: “To put it bluntly, I found Steiner tough going”. Part of the consequence of Lachman’s over-reliance on Steiner’s autobiography, is that biodynamic farming, dating from 1924, and one of Steiner’s most enduring legacies, gets barely a mention - and that in the final chapter. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer gets a single and uninformative mention, giving the reader no inkling of the role he would subsequently play in the uptake of Biodynamics, firstly in Europe and then worldwide. Lachman fails to refer to letters, diaries, manuscripts and the multitude of primary sources that one would reasonably expect to inform a new biography. A good starting point for a prospective student of Rudolf Steiner remains Steiner’s own biography available free at <www.rsarchive.org>.

Ernesto Genoni (1885-1975) was a pioneer of biodynamic and organic farming in Australia. He was the first Australian member of Rudolf Steiner’s Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers & Gardeners (joining in 1928). Others in Ernesto’s set joined the Experimental Circle, including his eldest brother, Emilio (in 1930), Ruby Macpherson (in 1935), and her niece, Ileen Macpherson (in 1936). Ernesto and Ileen founded and farmed Australia’s original ‘Demeter Farm’ (from 1935). However biodynamic and organic farming was but one aspect of Ernesto’s life.
Ernesto trained for five years in classical art at the prestigious Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan (Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera). Ernesto spent the year 1924 at Dornach, Switzerland, the headquarters of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy movement, where he experimented with painting “in the anthroposophic way”. The works presented here and in the exhibition, Angels of the First Class, are believed to be those works. Eleven images (image 1 and images 5 through 14) were recently revealed stored in a folder in a private collection along with Ernesto’s personal poster of the first Goetheanum (image 4). Images 15 and 16 are from two other private collections and are included here (and in the exhibition) because, by size, content, and style, they appear to be part of Ernesto’s suite of Anthroposophic paintings of 1924.
A century ago, Ernesto joined the AIF in Western Australia and served as a stretcher bearer on the killing fields of the Western Front in 1916, in the battles of the Somme and Pozières. From the battlefield, he was conscripted into the Italian Army, and he was eventually demobilised in Italy in 1919.
In 1923 , Ernesto was still in Italy. From Milan, he wrote to Rudolf Steiner offering his labour for advancing the Anthroposophy project at Dornach. Ernesto arrived there early in 1924 and successfully applied to Dr Steiner for acceptance into the First Class (Erste Klasse der Freien Hochschule für Geisteswissenschaft). The First Class was Steiner’s new course of instruction in Spiritual Science for Anthroposophists who were established in their practice. Steiner held these classes from 15 February through to 20 September of 1924.
In 1926, Ernesto migrated to Australia (after two previous visits) with the intention of exhibiting his art - most probably his classical style oil paintings - but he was thwarted in this plan by the prevailing Depression.
In Australia, Ernesto co-founded the Michael Group in Melbourne (Anthroposophy meetings beginning in 1928) for the study of Steiner’s works. He taught the First Class in Melbourne and Adelaide.
The works presented here were first exhibited as Angels of the First Class: The Anthroposophic Art of Ernesto Genoni, Goetheanum, 1924, held at the Vital Years Conference 2016, Hobart, Tasmania in July 2016. It is believed to be the first exhibition of art works by Ernesto Genoni.

This paper engages with the question: how can the marketisation of ecologically embedded edibles be enabled in alternative food networks? The challenge lies in the fact that ecologically embedded edibles, grown and made through primarily ecological rather than industrial processes, and using artisan, traditional, and quality practices, show variable and uncertain characteristics. The characteristics, or qualities, of ecologically embedded edibles vary both geographically and in time, challenging the creation of stable market networks. How can ecologically embedded wines be sold when there is no certainty about their qualities?  In this article I propose that certainty around qualities is not as crucial an element  of  transactions  as  some  authors  suggest,  and  I  draw  on  the  case  study  of  ecologically embedded  wines  to  extract  wider  lessons  of  relevance  to  marketisation  of  foods  and  drinks  in alternative food networks. I suggest that an understanding of taste not as a fixed and unchangeable quality of people and things, but as a relational and reflexive activity between eaters and edibles, can offer a way of valuing uncertainty around product characteristics. Through a cultivation of a ‘taste  for  uncertainty’  consumers bodies  can  become  enrolled in  supporting  artisan,  quality,  and traditional production through their taste buds. Some pitfalls and limitations of this approach are considered in the conclusion.

Biodynamic agriculture and organic farming have been regarded as having different provenances and having arisen independently. The present account introduces the ‘missing link’ between the two. In 1938 Ehrenfried Pfeiffer published the milestone book on biodynamics: Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening. In 1940 Lord Northbourne published Look to the Land, the work that introduced the term ‘organic farming’. In the summer of the intervening year, Pfeiffer travelled from Switzerland to Northbourne’s estate in Kent, UK, and presented for British farmers a nine day course on biodynamics, the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Bio-Dynamic Farming, 1-9 July 1939. Pfeiffer was supported by the pre-eminent biodynamic scholar-practitioners, Otto Eckstein and Hans Heinze. Dr Scott Williamson of the Peckham Experiment was the sole British lecturer at the Betteshanger Summer School. For the UK Bio-Dynamic Association, the Betteshanger Summer School was the highlight of the year. Northbourne and Pfeiffer had collaborated on the Farleigh Experiment in 1938, and Northbourne had travelled to Switzerland in January 1939 to arrange Pfeiffer’s visit. War broke out less than eight weeks after the Betteshanger Summer School. Northbourne’s manifesto on organic agriculture, Look to the Land, was published in May of the following year. The book took the Steinerian and biodynamic view of ‘the farm as an organism’ as its central tenet and adopted it as the nominative motif for ‘organic’ farming. The book offered to the Anglophone world an account that was secular and distanced from any Anthroposophic or Germanic roots. Subsequently, Northbourne sought to bring Pfeiffer to the UK but Pfeiffer’s next and final visit was in 1950. The Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on biodynamics has been otherwise unreported. As this account demonstrates, Betteshanger was a stepping stone from biodynamics to organics. Northbourne sponsored Pfeiffer’s visit and the Betteshanger biodynamics conference in 1939, and the following year he introduced his term ‘organic farming’ and its philosophy in his book Look to the Land.

The Glass House (1914) is the oldest extant building designed by Rudolf Steiner. The building is intimately associated with the development of biodynamic agriculture - but that is not why it is called the ‘Glass House’ (Glashaus), and the pursuit of a new agriculture was not its original use. The Glass House is a timber building with walls clad with timber shingles and the roof sheathed with Norwegian slate. With this rather quaint building, Rudolf Steiner played out some of the design ideas that were to be dominant design elements of the first Goetheanum - twin-domes roof, the extensive use of timber throughout, a retreat from right-angled design, and the use of flowing, ‘organic’, deeply faceted window and door frames. The building can be regarded as a prototype for the first Goetheanum (which was destroyed by fire on New Year’s Eve of 1922/1923). In 1919 In Guenther Wachsmuth and Ehrenfried Pfeiffer set up a research laboratory in the basement of the Glass House. The Glass House thereby became the crucible for evolving Steiner’s agriculture lectures (which he presented at Koberwitz in 1924) through to ‘biodynamic agriculture’, Steiner’s new agriculture for the world and the precursor of organic agriculture.

Dalmore Farm (1933-1934) was Victoria’s first biodynamic farming venture. A letter, written in Milan, Italy, in Italian in 1934 by Rosa Genoni (1867-1954) \ enables details of this venture to be finally revealed. Rosa wrote of her youngest brother, Ernesto Genoni (1885-1975): “Now Ernesto … is at Dalmore, a farm of my brother Marino (the father of the boy [Alfredo Genoni (1913-1999)] who was sent to us years ago from Australia and we sent him to Dornach where he stayed for two years, and two more to the school at Stuttgart) and in part by my brother Angelo, who asked Ernesto to go and organise the farm biologically”. “Ernesto had a small wooden house built there for his use. It has only two rooms but it must be fairly comfortable, as Ernesto invited [Alfred] Meebold [1863-1952] to lodge with him for his future visit for the Melbourne group”. Ernesto Genoni had spent 1924 at the Goetheanum under the tutelage of Rudolf Steiner in both art and spiritual science. Ernesto recalled: I started in a small way to work a farm on Dr Steiner’s bio-dynamic methods in association with Fred Genoni”. Ernesto was the first Australian to join Rudolf Steiner’s Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners (in 1928). Ernesto subsequently embarked on an extensive study tour of Experimental Circle farms in Europe, visiting the leading practitioners of biodynamics: “In 1930 I went to Dornach again to become acquainted with the BD farming. [Ehrenfried] Pfeiffer … [Erika] Riese … Count Lerchenfeld … [Ernst] Stegemann at Marienhöhe … [Erhard] Bartsch near Berlin, [Max] Schwarz near Bremen … London [Carl] Mirbt … Pfeiffer farm at Rosendahl [Netherlands]”. The fate of the 80 acre Dalmore Farm was settled by the floods of 1934 which extinguished the hopes for this first BD venture in Victoria. The December 1934 flood was the “largest flood on record”. Ernesto subsequently established another biodynamic farm, Demeter Farm (1934-1954).

The earliest pioneers of biodynamic farming and organic agriculture in New Zealand, those who joined Steiner’s Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners from 1924 to 1938, the years of omertà, are now revealed. Each of these fifteen members of the Experimental Circle submitted a signed confidentiality agreement and was issued with a numbered copy of the Agriculture Course at the time of joining. Thirteen individual copies were issued; the Compton-Smiths shared copy #12E, and the Averys shared copy #30E. The ‘E’ suffix indicated that the copy was an English-language edition (sometimes the ‘E’ appeared as a prefix). The copy to Bacchus was #562 (without a suffix) indicating that it was the German-language edition. From the outset, the German editions were typeset printed editions whereas the English editions, in this period, were all hand-typed editions (from the translation of George Kaufmann). Printed English-language editions of the Agriculture Course appeared in 1958. It is unclear how many, if any, of the original thirteen numbered copies issued to New Zealand may have survived.

This working paper examines the creation of the global natural food and beauty categories before 2000. This is shown to have been a lengthy process of new category creation
involving the exercise of entrepreneurial imagination. Pioneering entrepreneurs faced little consumer demand for natural products, and little consumer knowledge of what they entailed. The
creation of new categories involved three overlapping waves of entrepreneurship. The first involved making the ideological case for natural products. This often entailed investment in
education and publishing activities. Second, entrepreneurs engaged in the creation of industry associations which could advocate, as well as give the nascent industry credibility and create
standards. Finally, entrepreneurs established retail stores, supply and distribution networks, and
created brands. Entrepreneurial cognition and motivation frequently lay in individual, and very
local, experiences, but many of the key pioneers were also highly globalized in their world
views, with strong perception of how small, local efforts related to much bigger and global
pictures. A significant sub-set of the influential historical figures were articulate in expressing
strong religious convictions. The paper concludes that by the 1990s it was evident that the
success of entrepreneurial pioneers in building the market for green products created a new set of
issues, especially related to the legitimacy of their businesses and of the concept of greenness.

La biodynamie s’est popularisée dans les vignobles suisses.
Une enquête auprès de 40 domaines viticoles montre pourquoi et comment des vignerons choisissent cette méthode culturale inspirée de l’anthroposophie. Entre valeurs spirituelles et quête d’excellence, la viticulture biodynamique répond à des préoccupations écosanitaires et à une recherche de « naturalité » accrue.

Dr John Paull tells the story of the world travelling, self proclaimed 'spiritually arrogant' Alfred Meebold, who helped bring Rudolf Steiner's teachings to Australia and New Zealand in the early 20th century. Alfred Meebold (29 September 1863 - 6 January 1952} was a restless sou. He was born in Heidenheim Germany. He was a keen traveller, a fervent Germanic chauvinist, an ardent botanist and a forthright anthroposophist. He died in Havelock North, New Zealand, aged 89 years.

Nature’s living ecosystems, which sustain all of us, are unravelling, and the world is changing at an unimaginable pace. There is an increasing urgency to move away from the commodification, desacralization and exploitation of natural resources in agricultural systems. Deeper insights into the underlying ethics of food production and consumption can facilitate alternative ways of working with nature for cases where conventional methods are conflicting with values about working on and with the land. This study contributes to an evolving understanding of the relationship between humans and the natural world. Placed within a unique and empirically grounded discussion of spiritual ecology, this thesis takes an ethical approach to explore the cultivation of embodied connections within biodynamic agriculture. These embodied connections lie at the intersection of the individual, the community and the environment. The research is based on a comparative, ethnographic and participatory study of two biodynamic farms: Earth Haven Farm in Canada, and Nordgard Aukrust in Norway. Whilst acknowledging that every biodynamic farm is embedded within broader, nested levels, this study demonstrates that it is at the micro-scale where personal, contingent and embodied relations develop. These, in turn, have the potential to facilitate empathic identification with the earth as a living entity. This study suggests that such processes may offer pathways to developing ethical and active engagement with the living planet, in which we are deeply immersed and with which we are in constant interaction.

The workshop ‘Anthroposophy’, held in Fribourg on October 18 and 19, 2019 at the invitation of Helmut Zander, had three intentions: 1. To review the status of academic research on Rudolf Steiner’s work. 2. Based on such a review, to formulate questions and priorities for academic research on Rudolf Steiner’s work. 3. To use workshop contributions from different academic research areas for a discussion about how Steiner’s thinking connects with contemporary currents and issues in science.

Keywords: Reception of Steiner, Biodynamic Farming, Waldorf Pedagogy,
Anthroposophical Movement, Theory of Science, Steiner Research

Allelopathic effects are biochemical interactions of both inhibitory and stimulatory nature between plants and microorganisms. Both opposites seem to be separated by quite a thin line-most organic compounds that are inhibitors at some concentrations are stimulators to the same processes at higher dilutions (Rice 1984). The mode of action of plant growth hormones such as indole-3yl-acetic acid (IAA) illustrates this phenomenon: while 10-11 M is the optimum level for roots, concentrations above 10-6 M strongly inhibit root growth (Audus 1972). In this context humus and humic acids (HA) have also been the subject of several studies related to plant growth. Bio-dynamic farming is the oldest movement for sustainable agriculture. It differs from the other movements basically by the use of the bio-dynamic (BD) preparations: mineral, plant or animal extracts, usually fermented and applied in small proportions to organic manures, the soil or directly on plants, after dilution or stirring procedures called dynamizations. Methods: Two randomised complete block experiments were carried out using axenic culture of wheat seedlings using Murashige and Skoog salts (final concentration of 1.15 g l-1 in deionized water): experiment 1-with factorial treatment structure plus added control to test three different dilutions (table 1) of BD preps and three HAs as well as a positive control using IAA; experiment 2-the same treatments only at the lowest dilution with two concentrations of IAA, without using rhythmic stirring.

A century ago, Ernesto Genoni (1885-1975) joined the AIF and served as a stretcher bearer on the killing fields of the Western Front in 1916, in the battles of the Somme and Pozières. In 1923, Ernesto wrote to Rudolf Steiner from Sondrio (Valtellina, Italy) offering his labour for advancing the Anthroposophy project. Ernesto arrived at Dornach early in 1924 and successfully applied to Dr Steiner for acceptance into the First Class (Erste Klasse der Freien Hochschule für Geisteswissenschaft). The First Class was Steiner’s new course of instruction in Spiritual Science for Anthroposophists who were established in their practice. Ernesto had trained for five years in classical art at the prestigious Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan (Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera). At Dornach, in 1924, Ernesto experimented with painting “in the anthroposophic way”. The works in the exhibition, Angels of the First Class, are believed to be those works. Eleven images were recently revealed stored in a folder in a private collection along with Ernesto’s personal poster of the first Goetheanum . Other images are from two other private collections and are included in this exhibition because, by size, content, and style, they appear to be part of Ernesto’s suite of Anthroposophic paintings of 1924. In 1926, Ernesto migrated to Australia (after two previous visits) with the intention of exhibiting his art - most probably his classical style oil paintings - but he was thwarted in this plan by the prevailing Depression. In Australia, Ernesto cofounded the Michael Group in Melbourne (in 1928) for the study of Steiner’s works. He taught the First Class in Melbourne and Adelaide.
Ernesto was the first Australian member of Steiner’s Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers & Gardeners (in 1928) and he pioneered biodynamics and organics in Australia. Angels of the First Class is believed to be the first exhibition of art works of Ernesto Genoni.

A public park is a fitting testament to a pioneer biodynamic and organic farmer. Edith Macpherson Park is a public park, located in Namur Street, Noble Park, a south-east suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). Edith Macpherson Park offers visitors a quiet, green, grassy, leafy refuge in suburban Melbourne. The park has a nicely appointed and maintained children’s playground, as well as a public barbeque. Edith Ileen Macpherson (1898-1984) bequeathed the park land to the Dandenong City Council. In life, she was always known as ‘Ileen’, her middle name. Her modest weatherboard house had been purpose-designed and built to accommodate her own special needs. This disability-access house served her for three decades, but in her will she specified that it be razed to the ground leaving no trace - and so it was. The playground of Edith Macpherson Park occupies the site of the demolished house. Ileen Macpherson and Ernesto Genoni’s Demeter Farm operated for two decades (1934-1954). Ernesto and Ileen were both members of the Rudolf Steiner’s Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners which was headquartered in Dornach, Switzerland. An imperative is to correct the name of the park from ‘Edith Macpherson Park’ to ‘Ileen Macpherson Park’. The Park ought to bear the name which the donor bore all of her life - rather than a name by which she was never known, albeit that ‘Edith Ileen Macpherson’ appears on her birth certificate, death certificate, and her will. This simple name rectification would properly honour the life and generosity of the donor who pioneered biodynamic and organic farming in Australia.