An inquiry into the differences between organic and conventional farming techniques.
The sun comes up and creeps in through your window, waking you up. You put on a robe and go to stand on your porch while you admire the sun rising over the hill at the edge of your property. The wheat chaffs glowing in the morning sun. This land has been in your family for decades and this is the view that your parents enjoyed before you, such as their parents before them and those before them. Your crops are thriving and you are content. You love this land that you live on and you want to ensure that your crops are healthy, but times are changing.
You and your family have been farming conventionally for years, should you make the switch? Thinking about the future, you think of your children and how one day they will inherit this land. One day, farming this land will be their responsibility and you want to make sure they are set for the future. The future is now and a decision must be made.
To go organic or not to go organic? That is the question.
But why is it the question? Well, according to a group of researchers from the University of Leeds in England, they wanted to know if organic farming or conventional farming techniques were better for the biodiversity of fields. With this knowledge, you will have a better idea of which farming technique will give your field the biodiversity that you desire.
But what is biodiversity?
To answer that question, I did an interview with Chris Fields, a fruit broker from Excel Fruit Brokerage. He has been working with both organic and conventional farming techniques for the past 25 years. When asked what biodiversity means to him, he said biodiversity, “means having a wide variety of crops available that are economically and environmentally sustainable. It’s wanting to make sure that crops are safe and that individual parasites aren’t wiping out full crops.”
But that’s just one man’s perspective. Muditha Karunarathna writes an article titled, “Agricultural biodiversity and farm level technical efficiency: An empirical investigation”. In this article, Karunarathna describes biodiversity as, “including all forms of life directly relevant to agricultural production” (Karunarathna, 2017).
When it comes to the study of Doreen Gabriel, a researcher from the University of Leeds, she and her colleagues took 165 fields into consideration for their test. The breakdown was simple, 29 farms separated between 2 regions were to be studied for 2 years. Of the 29 farms, 16 were farmed conventionally while the remaining 13 were organically grown.
These farms consisted of winter cereals such as wheat, barley, and oat. Gabriel and her colleagues chose the winter cereals because, “crop yields and biodiversity may differ between spring and autumn-sown cereals” (Gabriel, 2013). The location of these fields were spread out across different landscapes in Central South West and the North Midlands of England.
The biodiversity that was to be measured were the abundance and species density of earthworms, pollinators, plants, insects, epigeal arthropods, butterflies and birds.
Now dressed for the day, you decide to take a stroll through your fields. Hand in hand with your spouse you crunch along down the path that leads to your first field of wheat. The stalks stand tall and the ground under your feet gives away from being plowed so many times. You hear birds chirping while they sit on the fence, but that is the only sign of life you are aware of beside the mighty stalks in front of you. You stand there, wishing that there was more. More and more you wonder whether going organic is the answer.
Going organic would mean your lands are more biodiverse and the soil wouldn’t give way under every step. It would mean that the biodiversity of the field would be evident from the buzzing of bees and the flapping of butterfly wings. Giving your land a rest for a season while you implement changes would only allow the biodiverse life to thrive. Then you can start small, going day by day, by adding bee boxes.
You think back to when you were growing up and your mom took you go pick cherries at the Richardson’s farm down the road. You remember looking across street at blueberry orchard and seeing stacks of white boxes in the middle of the field. Glancing over occasionally, you wondered what those boxes could possibly be for. Finally, unable to wonder any longer, you asked your mom what those boxes were for. That was the day you learned about the bee boxes to help with cross pollination.
Organic fruit is more complex, Fields said, but also more important because there are less chemicals to safeguard the fruit. Most people would think that having an organic farm would mean that the environment would flourish due to a lack of chemicals. And while there is some truth to that, there are other aspects to consider.
Myth: Organic farming does not require chemicals.
Fact: Organic farming does require chemicals, but they are of the natural variety.
For example, there are not as many chemicals involved in organic farming, rather the chemicals used are of a more natural substance compared to the synthetic chemicals used by conventional farmers. And thus, there is more work involved in keeping the produce safe and healthy in organic farming than there is in conventional farming as these pesticides are not as thorough in repelling as their synthetic opponent.
The pest control in organic farming is healthier for the environment than that of conventional farming techniques. This is one of the many reasons that the biodiversity in organic farms is higher than that of the conventional farms. Being that the ingredients used to make the pesticides to protect the produce is from the earth, it follows that it is safe to go back into the earth. It also follows that the lack of total annihilation amongst critters in the fields would yield higher biodiversity amongst the crops.
However, Fields was sure to mention that in recent years, conventional farming techniques are becoming closer and closer to producing products that compare to what organic farming techniques are churning out. He stated how, “especially in recent years, the restrictions and safeguards on conventional fruits have raised the quality of it to a point where it’s equal in regards to safety to organic fruits”
This means that the pesticides from conventional farms are becoming just as safe as organic ones for people to consume. This is not to say that food that is not grown organically is not safe to consume, because it is. Just as there are dangers with pesticides in conventional farming techniques, there are dangers to those of organic, however, organic pesticides are slightly safer.
Nevertheless, it is the distribution technique of pesticides in conventional farms that makes the biodiversity of the fields lower than that of organic farms. For conventional farms, the pesticides are thorough enough to wipe out the majority of the biodiversity that was in the field that is not desired. Gone are the bugs and weeds that loiter around the crops.
In organic farms, the natural pesticides that are used are effective, but not as thorough as the conventional ones. This means that there is more work to be done than just spraying the produce to keep the bugs and other critters away.
This was seen in Gabriel’s research results. For the organic farms, “plants, earthworms, bumblebees, butterflies and epigeal arthropods had higher abundance and species density… while solitary bees had similar abundance in both farming systems” (Gabriel, 2013).
Having a conventional farm, you are glad to not have to deal with as many bugs. But what about in the future? When you were a kid you used to love playing in the mud and picking up bugs. So, you take a moment and imagine your future when you have a daughter and what that would be like for her. If you switch to organic fields, then she too will have the chance to enjoy the biodiverse land.
It has been raining for several days but the sky is finally clear. Your daughter runs into your room all dressed and in her rain boots, begging you help her find some worms. Laughing, you tug on your rain boots as well, and let her drag you out to your organic fields where you know there will be earthworms galore for her to find and play with.
While out in the field, you see bumblebees going from plant to plant on the path that leads to the crops. Their little legs full of pollen, passing it along to the plants that sway in the breeze. Spring is in full bloom and you just know that these will be memories like these and more that your daughter will cherish for years to come.
What about crop yield?
“Winter cereal yield in organic fields was 54% lower than in conventional fields,” Gabriel responded when asked about the harvest results. “The yield of winter wheat was lower compared with winter oats and winter barley” (Gabriel, 2013). However, studies have shown that organic fields yield 25% less than conventional farms on average to begin with, setting them behind from the start.
Being a farmer, you rely on your crop to bring in enough money to support you throughout the year and then some. The thought of losing some of that money is enough to make you wary. These fears are completely natural! Any change will be difficult, especially after doing something the same way for so many years. But then you think about the money you will be saving on soil as well as how much good it will do the environment.
However, just because your crop yield is significantly lower than it was when you farmed conventionally, people are willing to pay much more for your crops because they are organic. Meaning that in the end, you aren’t losing that much at all.
Switching from conventional farming to organic is a big change, and while you probably own most of the tools, there are some things that you will need to acquire. The first being fertilizer. You will need to switch the chemical ridden soil to a healthier more natural one, and that usually costs about a few hundred dollars per acre (Frost, 2018). Next, you may want to invest in some nets for your produce as you won’t have the same level of pesticides to keep bugs and whatnot away. Speaking of pesticides, you will need to purchase new pesticides, ones that are organic. Overall, these costs may seem like extra work, but will balance out with not having such rigorous harvesting seasons.
Nevertheless, while the studies show that production is lower for organic farms, the land is that much more biodiverse. The plants, solitary bees, epigeal arthropods, bumblebees, and butterflies all preferred it when production was low.
This explains why you haven’t been seeing as many bumblebees or butterflies around. This past year was a fruitful one for you, which resulted in a lot of harvesting and tearing up of the soil. These creatures prefer a place where their home will remain intact year-round. Just like you and me, plants, bumblebees, and butterflies are not fond of having to rebuild their home on a regular basis.
To support this, Gabriel and her colleagues study showed that, “biodiversity was on average 100% higher in the field edges… than in field centers.” This makes sense of course, because why would a butterfly cocoon itself in the middle of a field that is about to be cut down? Now, the rim of the field where the butterfly knows that branch will be there by the time it comes out of its cocoon? That sounds like a good place to set up shop.
Further research from Gabriel showed that biodiversity is 35% higher in organic farms than in conventional farms overall for this very reason.
Why does it matter?
Biodiverse fields are good not only for the creatures that want to live there and the lives of the crops, but for us as well.
“In addition to providing direct benefits to farmers,” Karunarathna explains, “agricultural biodiversity improves ecological processes by regulating climate, maintaining soil quality, providing protection from erosion, storing nutrients and reducing pollution” (Karunarathna, 2017).
It begins to rain, another one of those winter storms comes through, covering your fields in a layer of water. With organic farming techniques, the soil hasn’t been tilled on a regular basis, leaving it firmly in place. As a result, the plants and other creatures don’t lose their home simply because there is a layer of rain. Rather, the water soaks in and nourishes the land.
In our day and age, climate change has become rapidly relevant and impossible to ignore. In a recent article titled, Switching to organic farming could cut greenhouse emissions, study shows, Fiona Harvey discusses how soil fertility is steadily declining. “four of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters,” Harvey explains, “could turn into some of the biggest absorbers of carbon, through better management of their agricultural land” (Harvey, 2017).
More and more the media have been discussing the impending climate change and you are not stranger as the crops and weather are your livelihood. You hear about how greenhouse gases are part of the cause for the rapid changes in weather. Of course, you think to yourself that you’re only one farm, what difference can you really make?
It has to start somewhere, and by your switch to organic, you can make a difference, regardless the size.
When I asked Fields whether organic farming or conventional farming techniques were more useful, he answered that, “there is a significant amount of value in both of them.” And indeed there are!
This is such a longstanding debate that the USDA did a test to see how organic farming measured up against conventional. The results showed that conventional farms have more fertile soil, use less fertilizer, less energy, and lock more carbon in the soil (Haspel, 2016). On the other hand, conventional farms tend to yield more and don’t have as many erosion problems.
After a long day of being out in your fields, you return home to sit on the porch and watch the sun set. You have spent the day inspecting the fields and decided that there is just not enough life surrounding the crops, but rather a sterile land.
It will be difficult to make the switch, as there is so much history with these lands and you are used to larger crop yields. For decades, your family has farmed these lands, passing down their techniques with each generation. And while you recognize that there is history and appreciate tradition, you also are aware of the future and the benefits that it holds.
You think of your children and how they will farm the land in the future and hope that the changes that you have made to make your fields organic will benefit them tenfold.
While going organic may not give you as much crop yield as conventional farming has, it would allow you to see a thriving ecosystem surrounding your fields. It would mean springs that are teeming with creatures and summers full of flight. And more than that, it would allow you to make a difference in our environment. And to you, that’s enough.
Works Cited
Frost, J. (2018). The Real Costs of Starting a Small Organic Vegetable Farm. Retrieved from https://www.hobbyfarms.com/small-organic-vegetable-farm-starting-cost/
Gabriel, Doreen., Sait, S. M., Kunin, W. E., Benton, T. G., & Steffan-Dewenter, I. (2013). Food production vs. biodiversity: Comparing organic and conventional agriculture. Journal of Applied Ecology, 50(2), 355-364. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12035
Harvey, Fiona. “Switching to Organic Farming Could Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Study Shows.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 Nov. 2017, www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/14/switching-to-organic-farming-could- cut-greenhouse-gas-emissions-study-shows.
Haspel, Tamar. “Is Organic Agriculture Really Better for the Environment?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 May 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/is-organic- agriculture-really-better-for-the-environment/2016/05/14/e9996dce-17be-11e6-924d- 838753295f9a_story.html?utm_term=.dbfb348227a6.
Karunarathna, Muditha, and Clevo Wilson. “Agricultural Biodiversity and Farm Level Technical Efficiency: An Empirical Investigation.” Journal of Forest Economics, vol. 29, Dec. 2017, pp. 38–46. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.jfe.2017.08.002.
Comentários