Farming

A biblical approach to farming may be described in three words: justice, compassion and stewardship. Justice requires freedom of access to resources in the context of responsibility (Amos 5:24). Compassion is a commitment to sharing and caring for the entire creation (Psalm 145). Justice and compassion together are a guide to ensure that all people are provided for. Stewardship is a recognition that the creation has inherent worth and therefore should be cared for, used responsibly and enhanced for future generations. Farmers employing the above are keepers of creation (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 2:15). The ancient Scriptures still apply to the modern farmer awash in technological innovation.

Responsible Agriculture

National agricultural policies should reflect the prominence of food production as an essential sustainer of human survival, health and enjoyment, and in doing so should encourage diverse food production and stewarding of the land.

Land distribution. When the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God divided it equally among all their families and required that the land revert to the original owning families every fifty years. The Creator established laws to maintain the egalitarian structure of society and to prevent the concentration of wealth and power (Leviticus 25:23-24). Those principles still hold. The family farm or community farm partnership is the central form of tenure enabling the most stewardly and just care of land and animals. Those doing the work should be actively involved in ownership and management. Family farming instills in participants a high degree of motivation, initiative and personal responsibility.

Some farms are too big for these principles to apply consistently. Some retired farmers can be heard telling their children they have too much land. In other cases the transfer of ownership to the next generation is impossible because of the price of large farms. Such farms are ripe for takeover by large nonfarm corporations that do not generally come to farming with a compassionate attitude. The prophet Isaiah’s words seem to have been written only yesterday: “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land” (Isaiah 5:8). Abandoned farmsteads everywhere testify to this desolate picture.

Our nations would be blessed by more people farming. Rural communities would be revitalized, enhancing family life and small business. More people would be in touch with creation. Smaller farms can be more efficient in timing and application of operations. They are easier to shelter from eroding elements. Smaller farms also tend to have a mix of enterprises, including livestock, and so contribute naturally to soil fertility. Intensive livestock operations may not be large in acres but raise questions of stress on livestock and of collection and disposal of manure.

But smallness is no guarantee of good stewardship any more than bigness automatically means careless use of the creation. Large farms could bring people back to the land by decreasing mechanization and adding livestock. Rotating a variety of complementing crops and designing systems of farming that prevent soil erosion are also possible on a relatively large scale. Minimum till and no-till practices have been adopted on large farms with benefit to the soil.

Soil and cropping practices. The most valuable agricultural resource is soil. It is finite, fragile, disappearing and therefore in need of legislated protection (DeWitt, pp. 14, 16). Soil stewardship recognizes the inherent worth of creation and its potential for food production. Farmers have a responsibility to use cropping practices that build soil, produce high-quality food and fiber, and pose the least risk to the environment and human health (Jeremiah 2:7; Goering, Norberg-Hodge and Page, pp. 10-22; Fairbairn, pp. 48-72).

To sustain soil fertility the nutrients removed with a crop must be replaced. Manures supply a broad range of nutrients with long-term residual effect. Manufactured or mined fertilizers, if used judiciously, can replace specific known depleted nutrients. Decisions on fertilizer use must take into account not only crop effect, but possible long-term effect on the soil. Blanket or routine fertilizer application is wasteful and can pollute.

Taking advantage of natural pest enemies and preventative measures should be the first line of defense against pests. Pesticides ought to be applied as a last resort and with regard to toxicity warnings. Prolonged use of the same pesticide on any given location will almost certainly develop resistant pest species. Some farmers are successful growing crops by using little or no pesticides.

Debt. The proverb “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” may seem impossible to a farmer. The bigger-is-better idea long promoted by farm suppliers and advisers, including government, is a trap of escalating costs and indebtedness. But where an individual may not survive alone, a community of small landholders working together may thrive. It is important that farmers own co-ops to preserve competition in farm product supply and farm product sales where large private companies dominate.

Work and Technology

Farm work is designed to be a joyful, purposeful response to God’s call to keep creation and till the earth (Genesis 2:15). Agricultural work is to provide for the needs of food and fiber.

Humanity’s God-given resourcefulness has resulted in the development of technology used in work (Exodus 35:30-31). The impact of technology on agriculture has been particularly significant. Technology has liberated humanity from some drudgery and, through advances in medicine, transportation and communication, allowed us to appreciate creation more fully. Because of sin, however, technology has often been used to abuse the earth and its people. Many current ecological problems result from the unwise use of technology. To sustain farm production, the farmer must choose methods and applications that will grow useful crops without violating the creation (Brand, p. 136).

Four criteria derived from the Christian faith help us to evaluate and use technology responsibly. First, technology should help to build strong families and communities. Second, technology must affirm the dignity of persons as the image bearers of God and not as mere accessories to machines. Third, as God’s stewards, we must use technology to preserve and enhance creation. Finally, we must endeavor to view technological advancements in their proper relation to God, ourselves and the creation. We should not allow them to become objects of worship or to seduce us away from dependence on God.

We must protect the quality and diversity of plant and animal species both inside and outside of agriculture. Natural environments maintain genetic diversity and serve as a source of beauty, inspiration and welfare. In the open environment and in the laboratory, we must preserve genetic continuity of plant and animal varieties. New products from laboratory recombination of genetic material, chemical fabrication and so on ought to pass strict testing and monitoring before they reach the farm. Developing and using technology that nurtures the land, crops, animals, workers and the community at large will be of service to God and of benefit to creation.

Marketing

Scripture is rich in references to the need for justice and compassion as our guideline for the distribution of goods, be they scarce or abundant. Crop failures and hunger grieve God, as scarcities cause human suffering. Yet no one necessarily deserves abundance. Rather, the harvested yield and finished livestock are to be received as blessings from our Creator. Their distribution must be equitable to both producer and consumer.

Within these guidelines producers should have the right to determine systems of marketing. Widespread ownership of farms and food processing and delivery businesses will decentralize power and prevent abuse. Consumers have the right to regular access to food at reasonable prices. Government must safeguard the public interest in the marketplace. Along with farmers and government, consumers have the responsibility to ensure that farmers receive prices enabling them to cover stewardly production costs and receive a responsible standard of living and to encourage maintenance of quality and safety in food processing and distribution.

Beyond the Farm Responsibility

People were created to function in community (1 Cor. 12:12-31). The Bible teaches unity in diversity, not rugged individualism. Farmers on relatively small holdings can survive by sharing equipment and labor, building facilities together, pooling other expertise and perhaps setting up a credit pool, especially for new farmers.

In our small world, shrunk by telecommunication and exploitation of fossil fuel, it is increasingly obvious that the responsibilities of farming extend beyond the farm gate. Addressing off-farm as well as on-farm responsibilities requires some organization in the public arena. Christian influence may be possible to some extent in any general farm organization, but it is incumbent on Christian farmers to seek each other out and influence public policy. There is a great need for advocacy on behalf of the creation and for fulfilling the cultural mandate as recorded in Genesis 1:28.

Citizens must encourage and support the government in the proper execution of its task, as well as call it back to that task when it strays. Christians should work for governmental structures that serve biblical principles. Governments must ensure that communities and organizations have the freedom to fulfill their God-given calling. Justice requires that governments pay special attention to the poor, that is, those persons, communities and countries that are deprived of the food, clothing and shelter needed for a responsible life toward God, others and creation.

Conclusion

The land and all that grows there are the Lord’s (Psalm 24; Psalm 50), and from it the Lord provides, involving the farmer as agent. Christian farmers, in awe of their assignment, must constantly reconform their lives to the truth (2 Chron. 7:14). They have a responsibility to fill needs, reduce their burden of debt, repopulate the countryside, restore the soil, reclaim the land, provide healthy food products for market, cooperate with neighbors and serve them. It is a privilege to be part of the work of Christ in “making all things new” (Rev. 21:5 NRSV).

» See also: Community, Rural

» See also: Creation

» See also: Ecology

» See also: Small Towns

» See also: Stewardship

References and Resources

W. Berry, A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1974); W. Berry, The Gift of Good Land (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1981); W. Berry, Home Economics (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1987); W. Berry, The Unsettling of America (San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1977); P. A. Brand, “A Handful of Mud,” in Tending the Garden, ed. W. Granberg-Michaelson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987) 136-50; C. B. DeWitt, The Environment and the Christian (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991); G. L. Fairbairn, Will the Bounty End? (Saskatoon, Sask.: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1984); P. Goering, H. Norberg-Hodge and J. Page, From the Ground Up (London: Zed, 1993); W. Jackson, Altars of Unknown Stone: Science and the Earth (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1987); W. Jackson, New Roots for Agriculture (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1985); B. Kneen, From Land to Mouth (Toronto: NC Press, 1989); C. P. Lutz, Farming the Lord’s Land (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1980); National Research Council, Alternative Agriculture (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1989).

—Verne M. Gleddie