A great deal of substance has flowed into the celebratory mood of the Agricultural Conference, substance which the contributors have gained over decades in the real world of agriculture and economics. Creating an enterprise, growth crises, upheavals in consumer expectations, moving to the next generation: this existential substance was contributed by some and received by others with a great openness. I believe that this practical research gives rise to fundamental material for the annual renewal of the Section's knowledge. 

Perhaps it can be compared to the cosmic and earthly forces which act in the buried cow horns in winter, when the manure packed into the horn is transformed into horn manure. If the horn manure is stirred and sprayed in spring, this 'spiritual manure' can fertilise a very large area.

During the week after the Agricultural Conference many of the participants met again at the Biofach Trade Fair in Nuremberg. The exhibition halls were overflowing with visitors, the newest figures were making the rounds: the global organic market has now reached 90 billion euros. At a meeting we talked about the next steps for associative economics in partnering with biodynamic products. One of us anxiously asked the question: can what we have been working on at the Goetheanum influence this large market, just as the horn manure preparation can fertilise a whole field? Could the Goetheanum be like a buried cow horn, where the active life substance is transformed and can then radiate powerfully into the machinery of our civilisation?