Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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wheat and barley have been bred intensivelywithin high input systems (Wat-
son et al. 2002). But this was not discussed in the comparison of the crop
yield and soil nutrient status of fourteen organic farms in the northeastern
Great Plains, and huge variations in organic yields (from half to double
conventional yields) were found depending on the crops (Entz et al. 2001).
In addition, soil nutrients were sufficient, but the study did not include
substantial analysis of soil quality (e.g., comparing soil organic matter).
This is a good example of how modern science demands the reduction of
a complex organic farming system into separate component parts that are
not able to fully illustrate on-farm holistic interactions.
On the other hand, a multidisciplinary approach was employed to eval-
uate the ecological and economic aspects of one case study farm during its
transition from conventional to organic methods (Cobb et al. 1999). The
case study was in the UK, and many of the policy examples were more rele-
vant within the European context, where government support payments for
agroenvironmental activities and for organic transitions are more common
than in the United States. Still, the research showed that organic farms were
efficient in nutrient cycling, provided increased biodiversity, and improved
soil health, and these ecological factors provided real social gains. So the
authors make the case for permanent government supports for organic
farming. They noted that the transition years were economically grueling,
but the organic farm was profitable once the system was in place. Thus they
recommended government programs and financial support to encourage
the transition to organic systems, which benefit rural areas.
This raises the idea of input substitution (Rosset and Altieri 1997)in
which organic farms increasingly rely on purchased off-farm inputs. This
is a complicated issue because we can see how an integrated system of
fertility and pest management is possible on a small scale. One farmer
can handle twenty-five cows who produce manure that is composted and
applied to twenty-five acres of cropland. But can a farmer - even an over-
worked organic farmer - make it economically with just twenty-five cows
and twenty-five acres? Perhaps he can with multiple local direct marketing
avenues and value-added milk-based products, but it would be challenging.
Often a larger scale operation is needed, at least fifty cattle and two hundred
acres, but then more labor is required, and that may mean hiring workers,
which also takes away from the idea of a self-supporting integrated farm.
So how can an organic farm be competitive and survive in modern Ameri-
can agriculture and also remain as a family-based operation? It seems that
input substitution may be necessary at some level - perhaps so that farmers
can concentrate only on growing and marketing crops minus the livestock.
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