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Roseland Organic Farm in Cass County grows into its own 

Adam Jackson / South Bend Tribune 2jul00

Beef cattle like this are raised and fed organically 
on Roseland Organic Farms outside of Cassopolis, MI. 
And read about their son!

CASSOPOLIS -- For John and Merrill Clark, additives and preservatives are definite "no-nos."

As are antibiotics, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and many other substances that some consider indispensable to modern farming.

roseland organic farm

But on the 1,800-acre operation farmed by the Cassopolis couple and their three grown children, the chemicals are not missed a bit, thanks to a solid philosophy of respect for the animals they raise, the food they grow and the land they farm.

They claim that their produce, fodder, and even livestock grow better naturally--and the markets they sell to are beginning to back that up.

"I guess I'm old enough to remember when farmers didn't need that stuff," Merrill said. "If they didn't need it then, why should I use it now?" Roseland Organic Farms is the name of the family business on Michigan 60 south of Cassopolis. But when the family purchased the original 645-acre plot in 1978, they had no intention of actually using the land for a farming business.

They were environmentalists who wanted to live in the country.

"It wasn't a direct route to farming from what we did before," said John, a 62-year-old who had worked as a chemistry professor at the University of Notre Dame and as a scientist for Miles Laboratories in Elkhart.

But when the corporate atmosphere did not agree, John found something else to do.

He invented Vesperglas, a natural sculpture of sorts that involves preserving dried plants under layers of plastic resin. The end result is to produce works of art as lampshades, window decorations and decorative screens.

Meanwhile, all that land was just sitting there, waiting.

"We took over the part of the land that we had been renting, and then John traded a portion of his family's farm in Illinois for the additional acreage we have," Merrill said. "It just got to be a lot of property, so we said 'Well, OK. What can we do with this?'"

The answer, which has been borne out in the years since that 1978 decision, was farming. After all, both of the Clarks had grown up in a farming environment, and knew the ropes around a working farm.

With that decision made, it wasn't difficult for the couple to decide to do things on their farm the natural way.

"When I was growing up, I became very interested in how things grow," Merrill said. "My degree is in journalism (from the University of Illinois), but I also took a lot of oddball science courses back in college.

"I was always fascinated by nature."

That passion for nature was nicely complemented by John's science background, which includes a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

What started off as growing corn, soybeans and hay for traditional markets has blossomed into growing crops as diverse as canola and wild apples to raising Charolais, Hereford and Angus beef cattle. It's all done without the benefit of fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics.

"The market for this kind of product is growing every day," said Kara Schmidt, assistant manager for the Centre-In Food Co-op in Goshen.

Some claim food without chemical additives is healthier for the consumer, Schmidt said. Others insist that food grown organically tastes much better.

From 1992 to 1996, Merrill served a term on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Standards Board, a 13-member panel consisting of scientists, food producers, food processors, marketers, and environmentalists. The panel was charged with developing guidelines for food producers looking to tap into the growing market by gaining organic certification.

"A lot of people who want to get into the organic market don't really understand the concept," she said. "They want to be certified organic, but they don't want to give up substances that they feel are necessary to get a product to market.

"To be truly organic, nothing can be added at any time. That's the whole point."

The success of that philosophy seems to be borne out by the farm itself. Without giving any numbers, Merrill says the family operation is in the black--making a profit.

And there's a reason for that.

John claims the secret is respect for Mother Nature.

"If you leave these organisms alone, they can take care of themselves," he said. "You have to feed the earth, not just the plant."

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