# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 073 (Summer 2011) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 **Applied Biodynamics 073** brings large-scale farm design, comparative field work, and preparation-making community into one issue. Hunter Francis interviews Fred Kirschenmann about his 2,600-acre North Dakota farm—one of the largest certified Biodynamic farms in the United States—while Abigail Porter reports from the 10th Fellowship of Preparation Makers Conference in Ontario. ## Biodynamics in the Breadbasket Kirschenmann describes reducing the farm from about 3,500 to 2,600 acres so the working land would be contiguous and more fully manageable as a **farm organism**. About 1,000 acres remain native prairie for grazing and are certified organic; the cropland is Demeter-certified Biodynamic. The farm began its organic transition in 1976 and adopted biodynamics in 1982. Its principal livestock enterprise is a cow-calf herd, integrating grazing, winter forage, and composted manure with the grain rotation. The rotation system is built on four repeatable alternations: cool-season with warm-season crops, grasses with broadleaves, shallow-rooted with deep-rooted plants, and cash crops with nitrogen-fixing legumes. One sequence begins with yellow-blossom sweet clover incorporated as green manure plus autumn compost, then moves through hard red spring wheat, winter rye, and a warm-season broadleaf before returning to soil-building clover. A second sequence holds alfalfa for three to four years, incorporates the second cutting in the final summer and adds compost, then proceeds through flax, durum wheat, buckwheat interseeded with clover, and a final sweet-clover green-manure year. Oats or barley can replace rye, and millet can replace buckwheat. This adaptable pattern supports weed management, interrupts disease cycles, improves the soil nutrient profile, and fits North Dakota’s short season. Kirschenmann’s conclusion is practical: once a farm develops a rotation that fits its ecology, the rest of organic and biodynamic management becomes far easier. The article shows that farm individuality is not abstract—it is expressed through acreage configuration, livestock, crop diversity, local weather, labor, and the timing of fertility-building years. Rudolf Steiner’s [_Agriculture Course_](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course) provides the foundation for this farm-organism approach. ## Preparation use and farm-scale comparisons The farm purchases its preparations from JPI so its limited labor can stay focused on field operations while supporting dedicated preparation makers. A North Dakota winter test nevertheless confirmed that [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) could be made locally: the buried horns were protected with stacked hay bales and the preparation developed well. The farm uses BD 500, [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501), and the [BD 502–507 Compost Preparations](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set). Regular compost is applied at about three tons per acre, while [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) joins the BD 500 spray on fields too distant for regular compost hauling. A compost-rate comparison applied three tons per acre on one area and six tons on another. Comparable field results showed that the lower rate could serve the farm efficiently under those conditions. This is a useful example of biodynamic management becoming more precise through direct comparison rather than habit. Researcher Walter Goldstein also organized a blinded strip trial in millet during drought conditions. One strip received one BD 501 application, a second received two, and a third received none; the harvests were kept separate and assessed for yield and quality. The comparable results across the three strips showed **no drought-related disadvantage from BD 501** under those North Dakota conditions, supporting the farm’s continued silica program. The issue’s value lies in the clear design: defined treatments, blinded field identity for the farmer, separate harvests, and measured outcomes. Current application guidance is available in JPI’s [BD 501 instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-501). An even stronger repeated comparison took place on a nearby ecological farm. Millet was grown under three treatments: organic management alone, organic management with compost, and organic management with compost plus biodynamic preparations including BD 500. The root crowns in the preparation-treated plot were **nearly twice the size** of those in the other two plots. The trial was repeated the following year and produced the same result. This two-season observation gives practitioners a concrete plant characteristic—root-crown development—to examine alongside yield and soil change. ## The farm organism and the future For Kirschenmann, the farm-organism principle is biodynamics’ central strength. A farm that develops fertility, feed, ecological regulation, and skilled observation from within is better prepared for changes in energy and input availability. He recommends introducing biodynamics through these living ecological relationships and then showing how the preparations enhance them. His decades of soil improvement, diverse rotation, livestock integration, and field comparisons make that principle visible at commercial scale. ## A heart-warming gathering in winter Abigail Porter’s conference report records the 10th annual Fellowship of Preparation Makers gathering in Kincardine, Ontario. Presentations, hands-on work, shared meals, music, and intergenerational participation joined practical preparation making with cultural and spiritual life. Speakers described active preparation work in Canada, the United States, Mexico, India, Russia, and Africa, with special emphasis on BD 501 and [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508). [Biodynamic Compound Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc), also called Barrel Compound, was the gathering’s featured preparation. Porter describes taking the shared work home through regular applications and renewed plans to grow preparation plants and make preparations again. Her account also honors Josephine Porter and Hugh Courtney’s role in carrying preparation knowledge forward through production, workshops, experimentation, and teaching. For current practice, see JPI’s [Barrel Compound instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) and [Making and Using the Biodynamic Preparations](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-preparations). ## Articles - Biodynamics in the Breadbasket: An Interview with Fred Kirschenmann (Hunter Francis) - JPI Executive Director Resigns - A Heart-Warming Gathering in the Cold of Winter (Abigail Porter) ## Key Topics Covered - The 2,600-acre Demeter-certified farm as a contiguous organism - Native prairie, cropland, and cow-calf integration - Cool- and warm-season crop rotation patterns - Grass, broadleaf, root-depth, and legume alternation - Local BD 500 making under North Dakota winter conditions - Efficient three- versus six-ton compost-rate comparison - Blinded zero-, one-, and two-application BD 501 strips - Two-season millet root-crown response to biodynamic preparations - Barrel Compound use on fields distant from compost supplies - Preparation sourcing as a farm-labor and community decision - Intergenerational knowledge transfer among preparation makers ## Related JPI resources - [Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course) - [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-500), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-500) - [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-501), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-501) - [BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-502-507) - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bc), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-508), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-508) - [Making and Using the Biodynamic Preparations](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-preparations) ## Citation _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue 073, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Summer 2011. 10 pages. [**Download Issue 073 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-073) **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 501, Crop and Garden Practice, Research Methods, Weather and Climate --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-073-summer-2011)