Natural Sequence Farming

Dr Maarten Stapper, ex CSIRO, has helped set up the second Local Chapter of the NSA. Called the Upper Murrumbidgee Local Chapter of NSA the group will function out of the ACT.

Meanwhile, Maartens work in soil biology and sustainable farming can be viewed at http://stapperonsoil.blogspot.com/

I recommend the site to all who have an interest in agriculture.

Yes Maarten is well worthwhile listening to, went to one of his lectures in Gippsland a couple of months ago and found it very thought provoking as with many of the new wave sweeping the conventional farming shoreline

Oh dear, I am lagging, I was promoting the WA chapter to be the second in Australia.

Congratulations to all in the Upper Murrumbidgee!

I will have to change my blurb to promote the soon to be third chapter of NSF.

Well done!

Ian

you can create NSA LC No 3....Avon Chapter. Peter is coming to WA in late October...if you garner sufficient interest you could have the launch when to coincide with when he comes over.

I am sure we will be organised in time for his visit.
I am feeling strong support from many interested parties.
Very soon I will be working with a great WA team and I am bursting with anticipation.

There is an upcoming ABC 'Australian Story' I would like you all to watch. It is on this coming Monday and is about Dr Maarten Stapper. Maarten is an aquaintance of mine and is a member of the NSA Upper Murrumbidgee team.
The Maarten Stapper story is on Australian Story on ABC 1 (TV) at 8.00pm Monday night 1st June and the program will be introduced by Peter Andrews. i.e., Maarten is a former CSIRO soil/plant scientist.

He got into great trouble with the CSIRO when he would not go along with the party line on genetically modified crops. In the end he was forced into a position where he had to resign because he just refused to cave in and surrender his scientific principles. He would not go along with the conventional wisdom the CSIRO was promoting. Since then he has established a successful private environmental consultancy.

I haven't seen a preview of the program but I know Maarten and I know the story. I find the most interesting thing about this case is that even an august organisation like the CSIRO can become locked into inflexible belief position and refuse to discuss the science on a dispassionate basis. Maarten's argument with the CSIRO was based fully on science and the scientific method but the organisation had already made up its mind and, from that point forward, would not even listen to a counter view. This is really alarming. When science is firmly locked into a belief system it cam no longer be called pure science.

It is alarming on two fronts. Firstly, because we are supposed to be able to put our faith in the CSIRO as an honest seeker of scientific truth. Secondly, the story presents a case study about the way a 'career' can prostitute a person's values. Once someone is on the treadmill of income security, social acceptability, status and promotional prospects offered by a career the person will often put the career first and the truth second when faced with a moral dilemma of the type that faced Maarten.

Anyway, I hope you can make time to watch it and I hope you enjoy it.

Peter Andrews too will be featuring in another Australian Story to be aired around the end of June 09.

The last time Peter was on was in 2005 and the program was the MOST successful and watched program in the shows 10 year history.



Keep watching this space for details.

duane wrote:Meanwhile, Maartens work in soil biology and sustainable farming can be viewed at http://stapperonsoil.blogspot.com/.

Dr Maarten Stapper now has his own official site - http://www.biologicagfood.com.au

You can check up on when he next speaking or read though a back catalogue of reports and articles.