The Agriculture Course is the written transcript from notes taken in shorthand of the content of eight lectures given by Rudolf Steiner, June 7–16, 1924, in Koberwitz. It also includes the question and answer sessions which followed each lecture as well as the report drafted by Steiner on June 20 upon his return to Dornach. It is not therefore a farming manual as such, drafted and finalised. It is important to keep this point in mind in order to maintain a critical perspective if you decide to read the Agriculture Course. Steiner himself took the time to write a note to the reader of his published lectures insisting on this fact:
The content of these publications was intended for oral communication, not for print … One needs to simply accept the fact that in these shorthand reports which I have not looked through, mistakes can be found.
At this point I will detail the major ideas established by Rudolf Steiner over the course of each of the eight lectures. A thorough presentation and explanation of their content would require a complete book. Thus, in the following, I will simply bring to light some key ideas.
For Steiner, agriculture finds itself in a dead-end street with the ubiquitous presence of materialist scientific reasoning, the loss of farmer instinct and, the widespread use of chemical fertilisers and industrial methods. The anthroposophic approach, or spiritual science, can engender the necessary broadening of thinking in the way one regards plants, animals and soil. First of all, when growing plants, one must take into consideration the influence of the cosmos as a whole, for the cosmos (sun, moon, planets and distant stars) influences life. Modern humans have partially distanced themselves from this awareness, but this connection remains particularly important for plant life. Thus, a plant’s growth is dependent on a field of cosmic forces which, although undetectable by the five senses, is nonetheless real. Steiner compares it to a magnetic field that positions the needle of a compass: ‘It would be ridiculous to try to explain the behaviour of the compass needle by looking for the cause in the needle itself’ (p. 16). On the contrary, we must broaden our perspective and become mindful of all the terrestrial influence acting through the medium of its magnetic field.
It is also necessary to change one’s view on geology and the manner in which it influences life. For Steiner, cosmic and earthly forces are propagated and transmitted to the plant via two minerals of opposite polarity: silica and limestone. Limestone is related to the forces of growth and reproduction. Silica, on the other hand, which constitutes more than one quarter of the earth’s crust, is the carrier of distant cosmic forces, the forces of structure and limitation. We can train ourselves to observe how the relative proportion of these two poles manifests in the forms and colours of various plants. Clay facilitates and guarantees exchanges between these two opposing forces. This is the principle of threefolding which was dear to Steiner: two polarities and one mediator, which can be found in all of his works (health, economics, education), but which I will not develop here.
Steiner again examines the role of silica and calcium (limestone is mostly calcium carbonate) and develops it in connection with planets and cosmic forces. He presents two fundamental ideas. The first is the notion of agricultural individuality or agricultural organism. He believes that soil, of a farm in particular, can be compared to a self-contained individual entity and should aim to become a self-sufficient individuality. Stated more clearly, a healthy farm should be able to produce everything it needs on its own. It is in this light that animals play a crucial role, notably via the manure they provide which, in turn, fertilises the soil producing the plants that nourished the animal.
Secondly, a plant is most receptive to cosmic forces at the time of germination. Thus, within the seed a ‘mini-chaos’ is produced during which the current cosmic forces leave their imprint on the future plant that will develop. This is also the role of biodynamic dynamisation which creates rhythmic chaos, especially useful for plants that are reproduced by vegetative growth (the vine, for example), and thus do not regularly go through the seeding stage. In this case, dynamisation facilitates a special reconnection to the cosmos (see question 12: What is dynamisation?).
In this lecture Rudolf Steiner gives a real course in biochemistry from a spiritual science point of view. He takes the principal elements: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulphur, and examines each element’s role in life. Carbon, the building block, the structure of the organic material world, sustains the process of incarnating what is spiritual (the ‘ideal’ world) in matter. Sulphur is the sculptor, carbon’s architect. Oxygen enables the vitalisation of carbon and instils in it ethereal forces (those responsible for vegetative growth). Nitrogen is the carrier of astral forces (those which distinguish animals from plants). Hydrogen, the lightest element, is the mediator. I will not explore these fascinating questions in detail here, but the new perspective they offer on agronomy allows one to view current growing practices from a completely different point of view.
This lecture deals with the management of manure and compost. Steiner explains that the conventional approach, which thinks in terms of quantitative analysis, is not adequate. The essential point of fertilisation is to compensate for the living forces drawn from the soil by the plant, and exported during harvest. Yet, the commonly used mineral fertilisers are devoid of life forces. By definition, mineral is not alive and will never increase the life forces of a soil. Mineral fertilisers do the opposite. Only organic fertilisers can provide plant or animal life forces. It is advisable therefore to pay close attention to how compost is prepared in order to preserve the most forces possible.
Steiner then gives the formula for two useful preparations to optimise the effect of manure. The two act on the two complementary forces described in the first lecture. One activates the effects of growth forces, and the other, the effects of structuring forces. The first, known as cowhorn manure, or later, preparation 500, is a mini-compost obtained from manure in a cow horn, matured in the soil, then dynamised. The second, known as cowhorn silica or preparation 501, is a cowhorn filled with very finely ground silica which undergoes a similar process.
Steiner concludes the topic of manure by describing in practical terms how to prepare the compost. He gives a list of six other preparations to be incorporated into it in order to activate all the forces linked to the principal minerals. ‘It is not a question of merely augmenting the manure with substances that we believe will be of benefit to the plants. It is a question of infusing the manure with living forces’ (pp. 92f). These additions are: yarrow for the potassium process (preparation 502), chamomile for the calcium process (503), stinging nettle for the iron process (504), oak bark also for the calcium process (505), dandelion for the silica process (506), and valerian flowers for the phosphorus process (507).
In this lecture, Steiner examines in more detail the theme of plant life and diseases, from which agriculture suffers. The first idea is that, contrary to animals and humans, a plant cannot fall ill by itself. Its disease can only be the reflection of an imbalance in its environment.
Plant life depends on external influences and, in particular, on the two significant forces, complementary yet opposing in a sense, and described in the first lecture. On one hand, growth and reproductive forces are Earth forces, strongly stimulated by the moon, especially in the presence of water. On the other hand, structuring forces and fructification forces (fructification is synonymous with the end of growth for most plants, and it is for this reason that fruit is so rich in life forces) are under distant cosmic influence (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and so on). Where cultivated plants are concerned, health is entirely a question of how the farmer succeeds in ensuring the proper balance between these two types of force. If, for example, terrestrial forces are dominant due to an intense moon (full moon) and excessive water in the soil (heavy precipitation), ‘As a result, the seed, or the upper part of the plant, becomes a kind of soil for other organisms. Parasites and all kinds of fungi appear’ (p. 128). Here, Steiner offers one of the fundamental aspects of biodynamic reasoning: in order to prevent a number of plant diseases, it is often necessary to restore balance where an excess of growth forces exists. This can be done either by stimulating limiting cosmic forces, or by consuming excessive growth forces. He cites the use of horsetail infusion as an example. Given this understanding of disease, the modern fungicide battle is useless and doomed to failure in the long-term.
The seventh lecture is truly a course in environmental ecology, viewed, however, from an energetic perspective, that is, from a point of view of the balance of forces described above. Steiner begins by reminding his audience that in nature, all things are in mutual interaction. Consequently, one cannot think rationally about a plant or a parcel without taking into account its immediate and more distant environments. He explains the subtle relationships that exist between fields, orchards, pastures and forests, as well as the role of insects, earthworms, and birds, among others. One example is that of birds that aid in the distribution of astral forces, from forest to field in particular. He writes, ‘That is how a real division of labor between the birds and the butterflies came about in nature. These winged creatures work together in quite a wonderful way, sharing the work of distributing the astrality wherever it is needed in the air above the Earth’s surface.’ What is true above the ground is true below the ground, as with earthworms and larvae, for example.
Rudolf Steiner ends his lecture series by focusing on the function of food: livestock feed, and, above all, food’s action and effects on the human diet. Here again, he holds a different view on these subjects which is unusual for a modern Westerner. I will let you decide.
First, Steiner reminds his audience that digestion is a process of breaking down food. For him this means separating substance from energy. Each has its function inside the body, as we will see later. It is important, therefore, for food to be alive, and to not only contain substance, but energy as well (which is to say that it contains earthly forces and/or cosmic forces).
Second, two complementary processes exist. The first is that of earthly food: that which we ingest into the digestive tract through the mouth. This digestion provides on one hand energy for our metabolic system (muscle and organ activity), and, on the other hand, the constructive matter of our neurosensory system (brain, nerves, and so on). The second process is that of cosmic food: that which we absorb from the air through our skin and senses. It is complementary to earthly food and provides us with the energy needed by our neurosensory system and, through a process of densification, the matter which constitutes our metabolic system. For instance, have you heard about people who claim they ‘feed off light’?
Finally, according to Steiner, agriculture is fundamental as it is the basis of all human life. It determines not only the health and physical activities of humans, but also their psychological and social life. He gives an example of the widespread consumption of tomatoes and potatoes:
[Potatoes] too act extremely independently, … [they] enter the brain and make it independent … From the time potatoes were first grown in Europe, excessive potato consumption has contributed towards making human beings and animals materialistic … And that is why it is so important, that agriculture be related to the whole of social life.