I am sorry for the delays on the magazine. For those of you who are wondering, I had two strokes and a heart attack after last year’s Farm Show. I had just about caught up from that—and then, just before this year’s Show, I had another stroke. I got out of the hospital three days before the Show started on November 4. I appreciate your patience. Enjoy your Christmas and New Year, and be thankful for what you have. Being alive, regardless of your problems, beats the alternative. I know I am thankful.

Comparisons of organic and conventional field crops have been reported by the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. They are examining each component separately. This is like examining each piece of a car engine and making pronouncements about the car (my opinion).

The first component compared is budgets, the organic grower using 3 tons of chicken manure and cover crops of either wheat or oats. Winter wheat as an overwintering cover crop provides soil erosion control and nutrient cycling. All nutrients are recycled when wheat is managed as a cover crop, giving it a role in scavenging excess nitrogen. Managing Cover Crops Profitably notes that a full seeded wheat can absorb 30-40 pounds of nitrogen per acre; 20-25 pounds of P2O5 is absorbed on a 50-bushel wheat crop, and 75-100 pounds of potassium. More than 80% of the nutrients are recycled if stems and leaves are not removed from the field at harvest.

The report has a simple economic approach: Return = Revenue – Cost. This does not begin to tell the whole story. Regular granular fertilizer is water soluble, meaning all its nutrients are available at the first moistening. Organic fertilizer is a slow release fertilizer, which is better for the soil and plants, because plants require different nutrients at different stages of growth.

Many research stations have scientifically proven the basic tenets of organic farming, which is a whole farm system approach. The USDA Sustainable Agriculture Systems Laboratory is long-term research. Most agricultural research is component-based, which by itself often solves some problems—but may increase others. An example is increasing fertilizer rates. Increased fertilizer may increase yield, but it may also increase rate of fertilizer leach into the water system or promote rampant weed growth.

Organic production in Iowa jumped from 13,000 acres in 1995 to 120,000 acres in 1998. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has identified the need for dedicated land throughout Iowa where research on organic practices cab be conducted over the long term. Neely-Kinyon is one such Long-Term Agroecological Research Site. Soil health maintained through crop rotations, organic matter additives (manure/compost), and cover crops has been the basis of successful organic farming. A summary of six years of research shows that organic systems had two to four times greater income over conventional systems when organic price premiums were included. Also, economic risk was decreased substantially when perennial forage was included in an organic grain crop rotation.

Diversity is another necessary component of any sustainable system. If everybody raises tomatoes, it will be no different than everybody raising corn/wheat/beans. This is what happens when you only study the prices and yield components of a farming system.

The Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial® (FST) is the longest-running side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional farming systems in the U.S.—and it may be the longest in the world. Excess nitrogen in the legume-based organic system led Jeff Moyer at Rodale Farm to reduce seeding rates for the hairy vetch, resulting in less nitrate leaching—and reduced seeding costs. The lessons of the FST have spread far beyond Rodale, as the field has played host to a wide range of related research projects by university, government, and independent investigators.

All of these research results will help organic farms and those transitioning to organic methods. Just remember to look at the Big Picture, the Whole Farm, and not get too focused on individual components.

Merry Christmas & Happy Farming,

Ron Macher
Publisher/Farmer