I love to hear about the production methods used by organic farmers! Dedicated readers (and Facebook followers) will have heard me talk about the farmer's toolbox before. Farmers need to have a multitude of tools on hand to deal with the various challenges we face. We need to have ways to deal with sick animals, pest problems, poor soil fertility and a host of other challenges. Depending on the challenge, our tools to solve the problem generally fall into one of the following categories: chemical, mechanical, preventative, biological, or cultural.
To very quickly explain that, let's say that a farmer has a problem with some aggressive weeds in one of his fields. He could control the weeds using chemical pesticides. Or, he could till the soil, thus uprooting the plants, which is an example of mechanical control. He might also prevent the problem in the first place by buying crop seed with a guaranteed minimum number of weed seeds in it (no crop seed is 100% clean). He could use a biological method of control by finding and introducing a natural predator or pest to the plant. Finally, the farmer might use cultural control by understanding how the weed plant grows and timing cropping activities to disrupt the weed's growth (for example, he might plant a perennial crop in a field plagued by annual weeds). Each of these methods of controlling the weeds is a tool in the farmer's toolbox.
Organic farmers face the same challenges, but have fewer tools in their toolbox, mainly because they cannot rely on chemical controls to the same degree that conventional farmers can. In recent decades, conventional farmers have relied heavily on chemical solutions to our problems, and because of that, we've been able to develop some really great tools in that category. Unfortunately, we have, at times, relied on these tools too heavily, and that has caused us problems, as well. Additionally, our strong dependence on synthetic chemicals means that we have forgotten how to use some of our other tools to the greatest effect. That's where organic production comes in to save the day!
Organic producers have been searching for non-chemical solutions to our common challenges for just as many decades as conventional farmers have been working on chemical controls. Because of that, organic producers are sometimes miles ahead of the rest of us in their effective use of such tools as biological controls and polyculture cropping systems.
Having grown up on a conventional farm, I barely know enough to even continue typing right now, but I've been slowly learning a little about these non-chemical solutions to common problems, and I am downright intrigued. I have gotten a little bit nerdy in recent months thinking about how to incorporate such tools as biological agents, intensive grazing, and cover crops into my own farm. It's mind boggling to think of all of the things I don't yet know!
Now, I'm not about to become an organic farmer, mind you. I think that many of the synthetic tools we've been using have an important role in providing solutions, so long as they are not the only tool used. However, I've been thinking that it's high time we moved just a few steps back from our synthetic chemicals and took a closer look at what the organic producers are doing. Why not incorporate some more of those mechanical, biological, cultural, and preventative controls back into our farms, so that our approach to building solutions is more balanced than what is has been?
Why not put resources into research for polyculture crops, whether that means growing two cash crops simultaneously in a field, or planting one cash crop with cover crops that can be used for fall grazing, or any number of different scenarios? Maybe if we could do this successfully, we could cut down on pest and disease pressure in our crops. Maybe we could grow more on less land and then have some left over for livestock to graze after harvest! And all without synthetic fertilizer or pesticides.
Why not put more resources towards finding biological agents to control pests. We've got thistle stem-gall flies and stem-mining weevils to control Canada Thistle. I recently read about beetles that eat weed seeds, such as volunteer canola. And people have know for ages about the benefits of having ladybugs around! Why not figure out how to cultivate these beneficial organisms? Think of the totally cool science jobs that would become available if we put more resources into this type of research. (Yes, there are totally cool science jobs in making chemical tools, too, but why can't we have more of both?)
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| A Canada Thistle Stem-Gall Fly. I bought some of these in 2018 to control some patches of Canada Thistle in my pasture. Unfortunately, the thistles had been largely knocked out by a severe hailstorm the year before, so I found very few thistles on which to place my flies. |
And what about using livestock for weed control! And I'm not just talking about training the animals to eat the weeds. I'm talking about mob grazing and using strategy to get the herd to absolutely decimate that patch of weeds in a short amount of time, taking a field full of weeds and turning it into beautiful pasture in just a few years just by grazing it properly!
Why aren't we conventional farmers doing these things that really work?! Why aren't we looking for even more things that could work?! The organic guys have such a huge head start in these areas and we're barely even paying attention to the amazing tools they've discovered!
By now you must be asking, "well then, if you're so excited about some of the options and advancements that have come out of the organic sector, why do you so often write against organic?" I'm glad you asked. My problem with the organic sector has next to nothing to do with the production of organic food and everything to do with how that food is marketed.
Organic has, for many years, been marketed as the only truly safe food in town. It is supposed to be more nutritious and cleaner than its conventionally farmed counterparts, as well as being pesticide-, hormone-, GMO-, steroid-, antibiotic-, whatever-else-"free."
Oh, the lies that have been told!
I won't argue against specifics, as you can check out my past blog posts and videos to learn more about why you don't need to worry about GMO food, the use of artificial hormones (including steroids), the use of antibiotics, or the use of pesticides. All I'm going to say is that, while being restricted in what can be used, organic farmers can use some of the tools that conventional farmers use. For example, if an animal gets sick, an organic farmer can treat that animal with antibiotics, and still have the food that comes from that animal be certified organic. There's just longer withdrawal times. Also, organic farmers can and do use chemical pesticides. These pesticides are ones that are derived from natural sources, rather than synthetic ones, but that does not mean they are any less toxic.
Knowing all of this, I can't help but become incredibly frustrated by the marketing tactics of companies selling organic food when they try to demonize conventionally grown crops, which I know to be safe for consumption. And that is why I write so vehemently in defense of safe conventional methods and against organic marketing, even though I immensely enjoy hearing about the latest organic production methods.
