Are Tractors Necessary?
The tractor was invented in the late 1800’s and like so many things, it seemed to do good things in the beginning. Then the race to have the latest and greatest implements to go with that tractor began, and it hasn’t stopped. Now they can cost more than an entire farm. They come with every bell-and-whistle you can name, and they’re controlled by a computer. When I was growing up, Daddy and Papaw worked on their old, non-computerized, tractors. They could take them apart and put them back together, and they didn’t need a computer tech to do it. I recently heard of a farmer who had one of the newer models of tractors and it wasn’t working correctly. He’d always worked on his old tractors, so he tried to work on this small problem. It shut down completely, and had to be restarted by a trained tech, at great expense. This was a feature in the machine; if anyone except the certified tractor tech worked on it, the whole system shuts down. This is a long way from being an affordable, helpful, simple piece of equipment.
Does one have to have farm implementation to be a profitable, successful producer? We’ve got 2 old tractors. They’re used to drag, haul, carry, and scrape, so they’re useful. No cultivating implements here. The ground does not need to be cultivated, harrowed, disked, ripped, or any other type of disturbance, IF you want the soil to heal and become healthy again. I know of a pretty well-known regen ag practitioner and speaker who starts his lectures with the suggestion that you “go home after this meeting, and sell your farm implements”. He says there’s usually a few old farmers who get up, right then, and walk out in a huff. They don’t want the stuff between their ears to change.
I feel as each of you observe, take note, and understand the direction Nature is pointing out, you’ll make the right decision when it comes to farm machinery. And if you’re patient, you’ll begin to see the benefits of not disturbing the soil and of allowing Nature to put the weed bandages on.
The Tennessee Dirtgirl
