Is your inclination to tackle every difficult problem head on or to selectively pick your battles?
I grew up in the glory years of Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls. In those days in the NBA, every team that played the Bulls knew it was their chance to take down the top dog — to make a statement by beating the team everyone knew was the very best. Every night the Bulls had to face their opponents’ very best efforts, and many of those teams became better because they sought to rise to the occasion to prove they could hang.
In recent years I’ve become a fan of a very different sports culture: European soccer — particularly Bayern Munich and the German Bundesliga. Bayern have been the undisputed giants of the German league for decades now. Unlike the 1990s NBA, though, most of the time when other teams see Bayern next up on the schedule, they adopt a very risk-averse strategy: assuming they probably won’t beat Bayern, they preserve their strength for more winnable matches. Then, one day, the hope is, they will have built up sufficient strength to finally knock the mighty Münchner off their perch.
While this does in some ways demonstrate stereotypical differences between culture in America (independence, high-risk/high-reward activities, grit) and in Germany (high value on security, stability, rationalism), it also portrays two different ways to view problem solving.
Consider a farmer contemplating the change to a more regenerative or ecological model. How does this desire translate into action?
One option is the 1990s NBA: psyching yourself up, taking the problem head on, throwing all of your resources and best efforts into the problem right now. Maybe this doesn’t mean quitting -cides cold turkey, but it is an intentional effort to reduce toxic inputs. It entails an all-out focus on improving soil health via biology (although chemistry is important, too — just not a reductionistic focus on NPK). And it means considering alternate marketing approaches — perhaps even direct marketing. This is the “We’re doing this now!” approach — the one that looks at depleted soils and rising costs and says, “No more excuses.”
But the other option is not necessarily a bad one. It’s the Bundesliga baby-step approach. It’s the mindset that a cover crop, even if just a single species, is a good first effort. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. See what works and gradually become more ecologically focused. It’s the approach that assumes farming is not a one-season conversion story but a long journey in the same direction.
All-out assault has its risks. Overly cautious approaches sometimes fail to ever really make the difference that’s needed to save the farm. Both approaches have benefits and pitfalls. As always, it depends on your context.
Here’s to hoping you have the wisdom to decide whether the 1990s NBA or the 2020s Bundesliga is the right model for you in the coming farming season.
And that’s the view from the country.
