Summary
In 1938 Ehrenfried Pfeiffer published the groundbreaking book Biodynamic Farming and Gardening. Two years later, in 1940, Lord Northbourne published Look to the Land, the work that introduced the term “organic farming”. In the summer of the intervening year, Pfeiffer travelled from Switzerland to Northbourne's estate in Kent, UK, and gave a nine-day course on biodynamics for British farmers: the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Farming, from 1 to 9 July 1939. The outstanding biodynamic scientists and practitioners Otto Eckstein and Hans Heinze supported Pfeiffer. The British Dr Scott Williamson of the Peckham Experiment was also present. For the British Biodynamic Association, the conference marked the highlight of the year. Less than eight weeks after the Betteshanger Summer School, the Second World War broke out. Northbourne later tried to bring Pfeiffer to Britain, but Pfeiffer's next and last visit did not follow until 1950. Apart from this, the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamics has not been reported.

Northbourne's manifesto Look to the Land took Rudolf Steiner's concept of the “farm organism” as its central premise and made it the guiding principle for organic farming. It was a secularised account, with any overtly Germanic, esoteric, mystical or anthroposophical approach being stripped away. Look to the Land rejected the rituals and recipes of biodynamics as well as any Steinerian framing of the Betteshanger Summer School, while still promoting its essence. The book provided a practical and philosophical rationale for organic farming. Completely detached from anthroposophy, it contrasted organic farming with chemical farming. Figuratively speaking, Northbourne stood on Steiner's and Pfeiffer's shoulders to see further and to communicate his vision of organic farming to a wider and worldwide audience. He presented biodynamics as a way of approaching organic farming –and this was eventually implemented.

Conclusions
Biodynamics and organic farming did not arise independently of each other, but there is a direct, unbroken line from Poland (Koberwitz) via Switzerland (Dornach) to Great Britain (Kent), and from Rudolf Steiner via Ehrenfried Pfeiffer to Lord Northbourne. Lord Northbourne created the link between biodynamics and organic farming with the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Farming, which he organised on his estate in Kent.

Details of the original study
Author: Paull, John
Title: The Betteshanger Summer School: Missing link between biodynamic farming and organic farming
Journal: Journal of Organic Systems, 6 (2), 2011
Link: https://www.academia.edu/9145044/The_Betteshanger_Summer_School_Missing_link_between_biodynamic_farming_and_organic_farming