HRT 251 Org Farm MIDTERM

The “Certified Organic” label means that a
farmer has (3)

1.Complied with the Final Rule of the National
Organic Program of the USDA
2.Documented that on paper
3.Been inspected and approved by a USDA-
accredited organic certifier

National Organic Program defines organic as:

“A production system that is managed to respond
to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural,
biological, and mechanical practices that foster
cycling of resources, promote ecological balance,
and conserve biodiversity.”

International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM) defines organic as:

“Organic Agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic Agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved.”

Four Principles of the Organic Approach

1. Organic is proactive, not reactive.
2. All farm practices and inputs are evaluated for their effect on the entire farm system and ecosystem.
3. Good timing and close observation are integral to success.
4. Experimentation and continued learning to improve the farm system are continual.

Organic Farming and Organic Certification

●Organic farming is a farming system, while organic
certification verifies use of that system.
●Certification is a marketing tool guaranteeing the
integrity of a produce for buyers who can’t verify for
themselves on farm that the farm is organic.

National Organic Program’s Final Rule
(prohibits five things)

As defined in the Final Rule, organic farming prohibits
○ The use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers
○ The use of antibiotics, hormone treatments
○ GMOs
○ Sewage sludge
○ Feeding of animal byproducts to livestock

Organic Certification

To be certified, you have to go through a 3-year
chemical-free transition period before you can apply
for certification
○ If no synthetic chemicals have been used on your land for some time and you can prove it, you may be able to shorten the transition period

Organic farms have to think about (4)

●Soil building/conservation
○ Compost, mulch, crop rotation, green manure
●Biodiversity
○ Companion planting, intercropping, crop diversity
●Proactive weed and pest management
○ Companion planting, cover crop, mulch, crop rotation, natural cycles
●Detailed record keeping
○ Can make you a better farmer!

General reasons why farmers go organic (6)

Common reasons to convert
o Believe in it as the right thing to do
o Avoid harmful chemicals for themselves, farmworkers, and the environment
 Often motivated by health crises
o Improve farm ecosystem health
o Conserve biodiversity
o Carbon sequestration
o Relatively insulated from the lows of volatile commodity prices

Why farmers go organic: Economic incentives

● Organic farms are typically 22-35% more profitable
○ Costs are roughly even
 Lower input costs
 No synthetic inputs
 Still need manure, compost, and other natural amendments to maintain fertility and structure of the soil
o Can be pricey
 Labor costs higher
○ Organic premium averages 30% higher than non-organic
○ 20% less energy requirements
○ On average lower yields, but organic yields can be similar or higher than conventional with some management approaches

Why farmers go organic: Farm betterment

● Increasing organic matter increases fertility
○ 3 rules to live by, according to Jesse Frost in The Living Soil Handbook
1. Disturb the soil as little as possible
2. Keep the soil covered as much as possible
3. Keep the soil planted as much as possible
● More resilience to increasing droughts and heatwaves by increasing soil organic matter
● Better quality of life for farmers
○ More profitable, smaller land requirements, potentially less machinery, infrastructure, and chemicals

Why isn’t everyone organic? (8)

● Policies
○ U.S. governmental policies encouraging conventional farms/chemical farming
● Knowledge
○ Conventional farmers don’t have experience with organic or incentive to change
○ Knowledge-intensive compared to conventional
○ Steep learning curve
● Labor shortages
○ Organic is labor intensive and there are chronic labor shortages in American agriculture
● Risk aversion
○ Farmers are risk averse and want to see successful neighbors before changing themselves

●Financial barriers to starting
○ Farmers are often already in debt and don’t want to take a yield loss during the transition periods without the premium
●Don’t want to follow all requirements, e.g.,
○ No antibiotics for livestock
●Time/cost barriers to certification
○ Might farm organically but don’t want to do the paperwork and pay the fees
■ Paperwork = labor costs
○ Lots of documentation requirements
●Being organic means following a defined set of practices that seek to build healthy soil and so healthy crops, healthy livestock, and healthy people
○Certified organic is a marketing tool
■No need to certify if you’re already selling to people who
trust you

What do consumers say?

● According to a survey from the Organic Trade Association:
○ 70% of consumers said they trusted the organic label, making it the second most trusted food label behind the American Heart Association's “Check mark.”
○ Reasons for trust include USDA oversight, 3rd party verification, and penalties for fraud
● Consumers who do not shop organic say the added cost makes it “not worth it,” but when educated about GMOS, pesticides, antibiotic use,
etc., 16% switched their stance when educated.
● 71% of consumers knew that the organic label doesn’t allow synthetic pesticide use, but only 59% knew it bans GMOs, artificial food dyes, artificial preservatives, and growth hormones etc.

Conventional Farming

It is typically characterized by chemical-intensive, short-rotation cropping systems which rely on synthetic chemical inputs to control pests and maintain soil fertility.

Alternative Agricultural Systems (10)

•Organic

•Integrated (Hybrid)

•No-till

•Regenerative Agriculture

•Agroforestry

•Biodynamic

•Mixed Crop/Livestock

•Conservation Agriculture

•Perennial Grain

•Permaculture

More Concerns with conv (5)

-Pollution of surface and ground waters with agricultural chemicals and sediment

-Destruction of wildlife and beneficial insects

-Hazards to human and animal health from pesticides and food additives

-Depletion of finite reserves of plant nutrients

-Worries about GM food

GM or transgenic crops and some issues 

can work in any of these alternative systems but are not allowed in organic and biodynamic farming systems.

Some Issues:

Are GM crops environmentally sound?

Are they wanted by farmers or consumers?

Should GM ingredients be labeled on food products when sold to consumers?

How’s organic agriculture doing globally?

and how do we use Comsumer Price Index (CPI)

The number of organic farms (in 188 countries),

the extent of organically farmed land (96.4 million hectares or 2.0% of total ag land in 2022, 26.6% growth from 2021 to 2022),

and the market size for organic foods (~US$146 billion in 2022—USA 43%, EU 33%, China 9%) have steadily increased.

Yes, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the primary measure used to reflect inflation, as it tracks the average change in prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services over time, essentially showing how the cost of living is changing for consumers; therefore, a rising CPI indicates inflation is occurring.

The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) is displayed to show that the organic market has, with the exception of recent years, been growing faster than inflation.

Organics and the United States

•Organic food sales have grown between 4 and 26% each year since 1991.

•Total food sales have grown in the range of 1 to 5% a year since 1991.

•Organic food sales in 2022 were about 6% of overall US food sales (up from 0.8% in 1997).

Multiple Goals of Sustainable Agriculture (4)

•Provide abundant, affordable food, feed, fiber, and fuel

•Enhance the natural-resource base and environment

•Make farming financially viable

•Contribute to the well-being of farmers, farm workers, and rural communities

Sustainable intensification is defined as increasing crop production per unit area and improving environmental, social, and economic sustainability via management of biodiversity and ecosystem services (FAO, 2008).

FAO. 2008. Investing in sustainable agricultural intensification. The role of conservation agriculture. A framework for action. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy

Do we have enough sustainability data to assess organic and conventional farming?

-Production -- Yes

-Economics -- Yes

-Environment -- Yes

-Social Wellbeing -- No

With the rise of organic farming in the past three decades, hundreds of research studies comparing different aspects of organic and conventional farming systems have been published.

Crop Yields
(per hectare)

-Organic crop yields are generally 18% lower compared to conventional crop yields (8-25% lower from 6 reviews and meta-analyses).

-Conventional yields are not only higher but have lower variability.

-In cases where organic crop rotations depend on green manure crops, food production over the whole rotation may be lower than one-to-one crop yield comparisons suggest.

-With certain crops, (e.g., legumes, fodder crops) growing conditions, and management practices, organic systems come closer to matching conventional systems in terms of yields.

-Dirrect selection works best in the environment it grows in.

-Adoption of organic agriculture under agroecological conditions where it performs best may close the yield gap between organic and conventional systems.

-Under less favorable soil conditions or under drought conditions, organic yields can be equal or greater than conventional yields.

-Increasing yields through breeding may require direct selection within organic systems. For example, direct selection of wheat cultivars in organic systems has resulted in improved yields in organic systems when compared with indirect selection of wheat cultivars in conventional systems.

Crop Quality

-Little to no pesticide residues are found on organic foods (from 5 reviews or meta-analyses).

-Studies have found that children who eat conventionally produced foods have significantly higher levels of organophosphate pesticide metabolites in their urine than children who eat organic foods.

-Although these data show that organic foods may present some clear advantages when it comes to synthetic pesticide residues, the human health impacts of pesticide exposure from food are not clear.

-15 of 18 reviews or meta-analyses have found some evidence of organic food—produce, grains, milk, and meat--being more nutritious.

-These 15 studies show organic food to have higher concentrations of vitamin C, total antioxidants, and total omega-3 fatty acids.

-The other 3 studies concluded that there were no consistent nutritional differences between organic and conventional foods (with 1 finding conventional chicken and pork to have a 33% higher risk for contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria).

Environmental Quality (soil)
(from 15 reviews or meta-analyses}

Starting with the soil:

-Organic systems have better soil quality and less soil erosion.

-Organically farmed soils have more organic matter and can store more water, ensuring higher yields during dry periods.

-Lands farmed organically are healthier for passing on to future generations.

Environmental Quality: Pollution,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Energy Use

-Organic agriculture has little to no risk of synthetic pesticide pollution of ground and surface waters.

-With respect to nitrate and phosphorous leaching and greenhouse gas emissions, organic systems score better than conventional farming when expressed per unit production area, with this positive effect being less pronounced and in some cases reversed when expressed per unit product.

-Organic systems are usually more energy efficient than their conventional counterparts.

Environmental Quality: Biodiversity (5)

-Organic farms have higher below- and above- ground biodiversity. 

-They have more diverse functional groups, such as herbivores, pollinators, predators, and producers (plants)

-They have more genetic variation (local varieties, no GMOs)

-They have greater faunal diversity (insects, soil fauna and microbes, birds)

-There is often more habitat and landscape diversity on organic farms.

Economic Performance

-The financial performance of organic and conventional agriculture was examined in a meta-analysis of a global dataset spanning 55 crops grown on five continents over 40 years.

-Under actual conditions with price premiums, organic agriculture was significantly more profitable (22 to 35% greater net present values) and had higher benefit/cost ratios (20 to 24%) than conventional agriculture.

-When organic premiums were taken away, net present values (−27 to −23%) and benefit/cost ratios (−8 to −7%) of organic agriculture were significantly lower than conventional agriculture.

-Although premiums were 29–32%, breakeven premiums necessary for organic profits to match conventional profits were only 5–7%, even with organic yields being 10–18% lower.

-Total costs were not significantly different, but labor costs were significantly higher (7 to 13%) with organic farming practices.

-Profits neither accounted for externalities nor ecosystem services.

Externalities (- +)

-Few economic studies have accounted for negative externalities (environmental costs) or positive externalities (ecosystem services) with associated monetary values in organic and conventional comparison studies.

-Putting a price on the negative externalities caused by farming, such as soil erosion or nitrate leaching into groundwater, would make organic agriculture even more profitable.

Ecosystem Services

-Ecosystem services are the many life-sustaining benefits we (humans) receive from nature—clean air and water, fertile soil for crop production, pollination, and flood control.

-Agricultural ecosystem services include, for example, predatory beetles and parasitic wasps providing biological control of insect pests, or soil biota providing nutrient cycling.

-The few studies done generally show that organic practices increase the ability of farms to provide some economically significant ecosystem services relative to conventional practices.

-Factoring in such differences in economic comparison studies would likely make up for price premiums awarded to organic products.

Social Wellbeing

-Both organic and conventional farming systems need to make significant progress to meet social sustainability goals.

-Organic farming has been shown to have some sociocultural strengths, such as positive shifts in community economic development and increased social interactions between farmers and consumers.

-Organic farming reduces the exposure of farm workers to pesticides and other chemicals, which can be particularly problematic in less-developed countries.

-Organic certification programs have adopted social wellbeing goals.

-Organic certified animals must have access to open air or grazing whenever possible, and sick animals must be treated as needed, even with the use of antibiotics if required.

-Local CSAs and farmers markets and fair trade movements are gaining ground.

-Bottom Line: We have a long way to go. 

Concerns with Organic Agriculture (7)

- Lower yields

- Difficulty in controlling weeds

-Vulnerability to pest and disease outbreaks

- Marketing challenges

- Certification costs

- Shortage of certified organic seeds

- Lack of Infrastructure to store and sell product

Broader Concerns with Organic Agriculture

-Cannot feed the world with wholesale conversion to organic (the total land area required is a problem to some).

-Too costly and less accessibility to low-income consumers.

-Problems with nutrient availability,(nitrogen.)

-Most research on organic farming systems is in developed countries, with more needed in less-developed countries (75% of organic producers are there).

Future of Organic Agriculture

-Organic farming has room for growth: From 2% of the cropland today being organic to 10% or more by 2050.

-Organic agriculture is one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture and helps farmers receive a higher price for their product.

-Consumers are seeking out organic and alternatively grown foods at grocery stores and farmers’ markets.

-The influence of organic agriculture extends beyond the 2% of agricultural land it covers at present. Many conventional farms have, in recent years, increased the use of organic practices such as conservation tillage, cover cropping, or composts.

Drivers and Constraints Affecting Farmers’ Decisions

I just don't think this article does enough to go to the crux of the matter that power, both political and monetary are what are driving the situation right now.

We acknowledge that political and monetary powers are big drivers. Our revised manuscript shows how our current agricultural system is embedded in a system of markets, policies, and technologies that will not be easy to change. We think that clear bold statements of what is required in transforming markets, policies, and science is as far as we can go here. We will leave it up to the social/political processes to take this into the hurly-burly world of politics where power will play a decisive role.

Henceforth, government dietary guidelines would shun plain talk about whole foods, each of which has its trade association on Capitol Hill, and would instead arrive clothed in scientific euphemism and speaking of nutrients, entities that few Americans really understood but that lack powerful lobbies in Washington. This was precisely the tack taken by the National Academy of Sciences when it issued its landmark report on diet and cancer in 1982. Organized nutrient by nutrient in a way guaranteed to offend no food group, it codified the official new dietary language. Industry and media followed suit, and terms like polyunsaturated, cholesterol, monounsaturated, carbohydrate, fiber, polyphenols, amino acids and carotenes soon colonized much of the cultural space previously occupied by the tangible substance formerly known as food. The Age of Nutritionism had arrived

Consumers have responsibility

•Consumers play a vital role in the foods they choose to eat.

•Consumers should eat a mostly plant-based diet–yes, reduce meat consumption.

•Consumers should reduce their food waste and eat appropriate portions, too.

Targeting Agricultural Sustainability

•Reduce food loss and waste

•Shift to healthier, more sustainable diets

•Increase food production with conservation practices and without expanding agricultural land (protect natural ecosystems)

•Implement policies to help farmers and consumers to do the above

Project Drawdown: Today, agriculture and forestry activities generate 24% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

—However, in a 2021 Nature Food study, new study, we show that the food system generates about 35% of total global human-made greenhouse gas emissions.

—Agriculture also contributes a significant share of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change – 17% directly through agricultural activities and an additional 7-14% through land use changes. It is therefore part of the problem – and potentially an important part of the solution.

—The food gap is mostly driven by population growth, of which half is expected to occur in Africa, and one third in Asia. Most of the world is close to achieving replacement-level fertility by 2050 (2.1 children per woman). Sub-Saharan Africa is the exception, with a current fertility rate above 5 children per woman and a projected rate of 3.2 in 2050. If sub-Saharan Africa achieved replacement-level fertility rates along with all other regions by 2050, it would close the land gap by one quarter and the GHG mitigation gap by 17 percent while reducing hunger. Actions to take include achieving the three forms of social progress that have led all others to voluntarily reduce fertility rates: increasing educational opportunities for girls, expanding access to reproductive health services, and reducing infant and child mortality so that parents do not need to have as many children to ensure survival of their desired number.

A larger question, though, centres on food demand: much will also depend on

i) people's diet choices;

ii) the proportion of the population eating plant-based diets (and thus no meat);

iii) the amount of food wasted (in food chains, and at the kitchen/plate).

A further question centres on the amount of potential food that is converted to "edible foodlike substances" (from Michael Pollan). At the same time, if the obesity challenge occurring in most affluent countries and among affluent population elsewhere were reversed, then large numbers of people would need (or simply consume) fewer calories.

Population growth, consumer choices, special interest groups, and food movement affect farmers’ decisions via markets, policy, and information.

Our dependency on the industrial food system has shaped both metropolitan life and regional landscape.

The myth of the farmer as designer, so vigorously promoted by industrial agriculture to non-farming members of society, ensures that those with the most powerful influence on the agricultural landscape—urban consumers—remain ignorant of the aesthetic, ecological, and social consequences of their own appetites.

The protein production landscape of the American Midwest will not become more aesthetically pleasing, ecologically healthy, or economically vibrant until these consequences become more widely appreciated.

Common synthetic fertilizers have a higher percentage of nitrogen than fertilizers you can use on a certified organic farm

true false

true

Manure must be applied at least ____________ days before harvest for crops that do NOT have edible portions coming into contact with the soil.

90

120 - do have edible portions coming into contact with the soil.

If your primary goal is to have a cover crop that fixes nitrogen in the soil, which of the
following would you plant? (1-pt)
a. Brassica
b. Grasses/forbs
c. Legume
d. Small grains

Legume

What is the term for a cover crop planted to protect the soil from nutrient leaching, wind
erosion, and water erosion? (1-pt)
a. Biofumigant crop
b. Catch crop
c. Green manure
d. Nurse crop
e. Smother crop

Catch crop

Which U.S. state has the highest cover crop adoption rate?

Maryland

If a local market is already flooded with tomatoes but you still want to grow tomatoes, what strategies could help you maintain profitability? (select all that apply; 0.25-pts per correct answer) two answers
a. Grow more of the same tomato variety that is common at the market
b. Lower your prices to attract more customers
c. Grow a unique heirloom variety
d. Have your tomatoes ready two weeks earlier than others by using season extension practices or early-ripening varieties

c. Grow a unique heirloom variety
d. Have your tomatoes ready two weeks earlier than others by using season extension
practices or early-ripening varieties

Which of the following setups provides the most growing space per unit area? (1-pt)
a. 30-inch beds with 18-inch pathways
b. 48-inch beds with 18-inch pathways

b. 48-inch beds with 18-inch pathways

The Final Rule allows the use of treated wood for raised beds to extend the beds’ longevity. (1-pt)
a. True
b. False

False

The Three Sisters Planting includes corn, which provides a stalk for beans to climb; beans, which fix nitrogen; and squash, which deter animals and weeds. This is an example of
____________ ___________

companion planting

____________ land is land that a farmer does not grow crops on for a period of time, usually a year, typically so that the soil quality can improve

Fallow

According to the Fortier textbook (and included in the lecture slides), a windbreak can slow the wind speed over a distance of about __________ times its height.

10