Organic farming & conventional farming??

Question

define organic farming in your own words. Is it a better method of growing food than conventional farming? consider cost and practicality in your answer.

Answer 1

Check out this website for the answer:

http://www.organicinformationonline.com

It has all the pros and cons on organic farming and food.

Answer 2

Organic schmorganic.  I am a 4th generation farmer, and I don't believe in organic farming.  It seems to have become a buzzword for pesticide free, herbicide free, or chemical free.  Organic farmers (who compete in the agriculture business)use pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, only they are certified organic.  I grow in Texas, and my family and me (my father and 2 brothers farm also) compete.  We promote buying local produce, for the simple fact that you are eating what grows where you are.  To become organic, since we are conventional farmers, we would have to put out an organic chemical that would kill all of the previous chemicals.  This seems absurd to me.  Also, we are in an area of large grain and cotton farms, and these are regularly sprayed by crop dusters, so our plants would end up with some residue.  Your best bet is to buy local grown vegetables.  This supports local farmers, who usually can't get their foot in the door at places like Wal-Mart or other giant grocery store chains.  Also, by buying locally, you get a fresher produce, and one that hasn't been sitting in a refrigerator for days.  A local farmers market will have an array of what is growing where you live.  Make sure what you buy is local, some farmers will buy produce and resell it as their own.  If it is a local grown produce, it will usually be dirty ... this means wash it, because you will also be washing away any chemicals that have been used on it.  Conventional farming produces a higher quality product on less acreage and with less labor.  Buy local, I cannot stress this enough, it is the best thing for both the farmer and the consumer.  Also, find a local farmer's market, most cities have one, or drive to a nearby one and see what it is that you should be eating.  I personally harvest the day before market, so the produce is less than 24 hours out of the field, compared with grocery store produce (we do sell to wholesalers also, so I am using personal knowledge as a source) is at least 3 or 4 days removed from the field.  But I've rambled.  Organic farming is a myth first of all, there is no clear definition, and it is very misleading as to hat it actually is.  Consider what your point in consuming organic produce, whether it is to help out the small farmer, eat a healthier product, or help the environment.  Most organic food is produced by a handful of California farmers.  conventional farming grows a bigger, better product, and organic is probably still using chemicals that you ingest.  And conventional farming uses about 1/2 the acreage of organic, meaning that less of the environment is actually destroyed.

Answer 3

There is a slight misnomer in your question. Conventional farming in older worlds such as Asian countries means to farm with natural manures and just ploughing and watering. It never meant use of fertilizers and pesticides of chemical nature.

What you have asked therefore, should be organic farming versus modern farming.

On date organic farming is costlier for large areas and requires minute attention and too much care as it is evolving and in its preliminary stages. Modern farming is cheaper, and easier.

Certainly organic farming is the best method. But might take a lot of time to catch up every where. May be the decreasing agricultural lands but higher productivity might lead to faster catching up with the organic methods.

Answer 4

Organic farming is growing plants and /or livestock without the use of commercial pesticides/fertilizers or feed additives, medicines, or growth hormones.Food and fiber farming would become very labor intensive without these benefits,i.e.mechanical cultivating,hand hoeing,etc.Livestock would suffer thru lower mortality rates and the possibility of widespread disease. Both would suffer lower yields and be unprofitable/unsustainable on the national level.

Answer 5

I farm organically. I do not use pesticides or manmade fertilisers. It costs less but the yield is not always as good. Depending on what you are growing, the end produce may be far superior and better for mankind.

Answer 6

http://www.ciks.org/

Answer 7

Organic farming is raising livestock and or crops without the use of any additives including medicine, yes it taste better, but can cause a lot disease meat and if ever farmer only farmed organically then we would not have enough to feed everyone. It is good money, because certain people will pay lots of money for food that may have mad cow or foot and mouth disease.

Answer 8

I see Rofe is full of misinformation, he must be an anti organic shill. The e-coli spinach was from a conventional source as were the green onions, salad mix, etc..

organic farming is basically the farming of soil. the paramount thing all of us organic farmers do (if we are managing our farms correctly) is grow soil by using composted manure (all manure use is heavily regulated on certified organic farms and cannot be applied raw within 6 months of harvesting low growing plants like spinach and lettuce, 4 months for taller plants like tomatoes or okra. it is recommended that all raw manure be composted at at least 135F for several months before applying. Conventional farms have no such regulations on raw manure and can apply it at any time before harvest).

Organic farmers use fertilizers that are in a raw synthesized form. Pesticides must be made from natural ingredients-no synthetics or petroleum allowed. Same with fungicides. But a good organic grower has little need for such if the soil is healthy and lively, proper crop rotation is used and there is a good population of beneficial insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. because a healthy environment means that the crops will be healthy and the ratio of pest to beneficial will be in balance and that means virtually no pest and disease problems. this is a hard goal to reach and will take years but once there it is magical how an organic farm can and will out produce a chemical farm with far tastier fare.

Costs can be great but not as much as a conventional farm which will spend around $3K per acre. On my farm we spend around $2K per acre but we grow high end produce and usually net $7K per acre (and because we do not buy a lot of commercial inputs we spend about $3K less than most organic growers).  A conventional farm doing grains will net around $150 per acre. An organic grain farm will generally net around $500 an acre because input costs are lower (don't have to buy all those chemicals and GMO seed. As a matter of fact, a lot of organic grain farmers save their seed which makes them dirt cheap and better quality). And organic grains sell for 3x to 5x more than conventional grains. The conventional produce  growers spend around $7K per acre and net around $1K per acre. Of course produce and organic grain farms do not get the government subsidies conventional grain farms get. Remove the subsidies and I think you would see a whole 'nother economic picture where it would cost too much to produce grains conventionally. Especially as petroleum costs sky rocket. After all conventional ag is utterly dependent on cheap oil and without it will falter.

Now I am talking about organic farms that have been organically managed at least 10 years and conventional farms managed for at least the same amount of time.

An organic farm that is less than 10 years into organics will yield less due to a imbalance of  the environment and poor soils. Not to mention, the grower will not have learned all he/she needs to learn to be successful.

Answer 9

ORGANIC FARMING

The only real organic farming you can be sure of is if you do it yourself or personally know the people.

.The label Organic sells for more ,and some farmers will adopt the label to make more money.

Some think that not to use chemicals means

organic farming.

Chemicals is cheaper ,because one works with kilos ,pick up trucks and less labor

But real Organic signifies many tons of organic material ,compost ,mulch and so on..so bigger equipment is needed,tractors and trailers big trucks ,and more labor .

In theory pure Organic means no Harmful Chemicals ,no Pesticides ,herbicides or fertilizers ,

But when faced with a plague it is easy to reach for an emergency method ,

And people that set out on Organic Farming face these problems especially in the beginning,

Because Organic pest control,.

takes time to set up and running,such as producing wasps to combat caterpillars ,breed Chooks ,Silkeys or Bantams(for running or hopping pests) get them living as a component within the concept ,with their shelters etc .

or encouraging birds to eat caterpillars

the potions made from tobacco ,Lavendal,Chilli,etc are a lot quicker.

The production of sufficient compost or to grow for mulch also takes time.

All in all a 100 % Organic situation may take a few years before it is established .

So instant Organic farming is not possible and the change over takes time .

During which time even the best intended person can stoop to half truths.

As to why Organic is better

for the consumer it is of course much healthier.

no nasty chemical to have sterile babies from and a whole range of possible health hazards

For the soil it is much better because the soils gain in quality instead of tiring it out or polluting it

But is is a lot more work . So it takes enthusiast ,a demanding Market and energy to make it happen .

the Acient agricultural method were Organic because there was nothing else ,and some of this farming has proved to be sustainable after even a thousand years

such as the Inca teraces or the Aztec Chinampas

Modern farming is about cutting costs ,and with less and less labor ,and we are paying the price for that ,

with desertification and a range of illnesses loss of land ,loss of water ,and loss of soil

In Mexico are many examples of sustainable ancient farming ,but the Mexican farmer is very hard headed about taking advice from mere natives

Their invading culture wiped all Native memories of the board including the agriculture

And on top of that It has been and is the Government who is peddling the chemicals as well as high bred seeds to addict the farmer to these products and then control them and profit from them .

in 100 years thousands of species of local seeds have been systematically destroyed .

Everybody must start to produce their own seeds again and preserve indigenous ones that are still around ,because they are hardier and more disease resistant ,even though they may not look as pretty on the shelf -

some relevant links below and check my 360 under starred questions

http://360.yahoo.com/profile-XWsshpgjeb....

Answer 10

the only things I have ever grown by myself have been organically grown

Answer 11

growing "organic" crops as currently defined is inefficient and largely impractical.  Yields are lower, quality is quite often less, you can't use anything to enhance shelf life.  Even the approved fertilizers are picked arbitrarily with no regard to whether they are organic or not.  For example, Ammonium Nitrate is banned but Ammonium Sulfate is approved.  Use of Super phosphate is banned which is an efficient phosphorous source, but you can use rock phosphate which is very inefficient and contains high levels of fluoride which are harmful.  Poor management of animal manures (organic) caused the E. Coli problems we have experienced the past year or two.

Bone Meal is an approved "organic" fertilizer, but it is banned as an animal feed because of mad cow disease.  It is used in poultry rations, spilled into the litter and then the litter spread on pastures where cattle can consume it.

Conventional farming is also poorly defined.  Many of the techniques that are called "organic" are still used by conventional farmers.

Answer 12

Organic farming is the process of growing plants without chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides.  To market a product as organic you need 3 years of documented land use (no chemicals) prior to the first years planting.  Organic farming will produce a better final product than conventional farming.  However, conventional farming is much more practical and costs less than organic.  Chemical fertilizers work as well as organic fertilizers but cost about half as much.  So the main point is conventional farming will get you higher yields, usually faster growth, and a good final product.  Organic farming is more management intensive and requires more labor  but will give you a better final product.  Organic produce has fewer fertilizer salts and alkaloids and is generally healthier for you.  Some crops such as corn, wheat, and many other major crops can't be produced organically due to cost and management practices.