How could such an old way of farming be changed?
"But I think if you have the option to support a way of farming that is much better for the environment and much better for animal welfare then it's a great thing".
Mr. Master's way of farming — indeed his way of life — has been badly threatened in the two years since Poland joined the European Union, a victim of sanitary laws and mandates to encourage efficiency and competition that favor mechanized commercial farms, farmers here say.
Trees may be kept on farm because of an appreciation for the benefits or an inherited way of farming from parents.
When I was younger, I went to college and learned the conventional way of farming.
Then, in the mid-'80s I started reading this magazine called The New Farm (a Rodale Institute publication), and it opened my eyes to a whole new way of farming.
"I always planned on doing something in the way of farming, because I was raised on a farm just a little ways from here," he said.
And by making rice farming a safe bet, the policies blunt entrepreneurship in agriculture too, reducing farmers' incentives to invest in new machinery and new ways of farming.
The need to reconcile food production, ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation has spurred the search for more sustainable ways of farming.
