“Knowing what you don’t know is wisdom,” says Adam Grant in Think Again. Admitting to what you don’t know and can’t explain is a hard thing to do. It’s an even harder thing to embrace what works but that you can’t explain.

Not too long ago, I wrote an article titled The Pace of Knowing about a piece in The New York Times discussing the recent discovery that the Moon has a tail, much like a comet, that envelops the Earth every thirty days or so. My point was that there is much that is not understood in agricultural science.

Recently, a similar revelation came to my attention while reading The Ideal Soil, A Handbook for the New Agriculture by Michael Astera with Agricola. That concept is paramagnetism, which is now starting to gain attention in soil science. Paramagnetism refers to the soils ability to interact with the Earth’s magnetic and electrical field. This led me to read another book, Paramagnetism by Phillip Callahan, Ph.D., which documents his research into this field. Dr. Callahan comments, “As in the case of plants, water is diamagnetic. The atmosphere, because of the oxygen, is paramagnetic. Some of my preliminary experiments at night, during the full moon, indicate a paramagnetic/ diamagnetic, plant, moon, water and soil relationship in nature. We know that the moon, which is highly paramagnetic, has a very strong effect on tides, which are of diamagnetic water.”

Actually, there are two forces at work here, paramagnetism and diamagnetism:

“Paramagnetism is a form of magnetism whereby some materials are weakly attracted by an externally applied magnetic field, and form internal, induced magnetic fields in the direction of the applied magnetic field. In contrast with this behavior, diamagnetic materials are repelled by magnetic fields and form induced magnetic fields in the direction opposite to that of the applied magnetic field. 1 Paramagnetic materials include most chemical elements and some compounds; 2 they have a relative magnetic permeability slightly greater than 1 (i.e., a small positive magnetic susceptibility) and hence are attracted to magnetic fields. The magnetic moment induced by the applied field is linear in the field strength and rather weak” - Wikipedia

What does this information about the Moon and paramagnetism mean for agriculture? I don’t know. But I’ve always thought that’s where the power of biodynamics laid — biodynamics is a discipline that respects the unknown and it is in that respect that you find the wisdom that makes biodynamic agriculture so effective. While these discoveries may raise more questions than they answer — isn’t that the point?

What do we know? We know that commercial, chemical agriculture that ignores natural systems has been a disaster. These strategies have created a quicksand that is sucking in farmers and their soils in a destructive cycle that requires ever more chemical inputs that always lead to increased costs, lower profits, and more and more problems with pests. These are simple facts.

Considering agriculture feeds the planet, it is hard to understand why we know so little about how natural systems actually work. The explosion of research and discussion into mycorrhizal and other soil systems is relatively new and there is much more that needs to be learned. You can tell we’ve turned the corner as now the big agricultural chemical companies are rushing to patent biological plant and soil applications in their tradition of patenting seeds — they can smell the money. The thing is, we don’t need them, and they know it. The basics of biodynamics — composting and a range of fermented applications that are all full of biology — combined with connecting with the natural rhythms of nature are available to all farmers patent-free.

As research continues, it becomes more apparent that there is actual science to be found in the practices of biodynamics — that’s why it works. Is there a scientific basis for every biodynamic preparation and practice? Of course not, but we don’t know the ones that don’t work or those that only work in certain situations. Until we discover more about these practices, I feel perfectly comfortable and confident to work within the framework required to achieve the Demeter Biodynamic® Certification because they are working on our farm.

Respecting what you don’t know is the essence of biodynamic agriculture. Each year brings more discoveries in agricultural science that connect with biodynamic practices. This will eventually lead to more conflicts with Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophical concepts, which, to say the least, do not meld well with modern science. Steiner clearly felt he had the answer to literally everything, which is not a course for wisdom. Steiner had some great insights in his lectures, but what we call biodynamics today was really founded by the research of Maria Thun, Ehrenfried Pheiffer, and others. Our goal needs to be to build on and continue their research — their science.

At Troon Vineyard, and at most biodynamic winegrowers I know, we are leaving behind the Steiner side for the science side of biodynamic agriculture. Our role is to facilitate the natural systems of the plants on our farm by working with the energy and life that created those systems.

We are farming energy.