Organic vs. Government data comparing yields of organic vs. conventional farms finds a sharp yield edge for conventional on more than 84 percent of crops. So, what about energy use then? Viewpoint: Biotechnology gave us a COVID vaccine. Organic systems had lower energy requirements, but higher land use, eutrophication potential and acidification potential per product unit. We can’t do this work without your help. They compared these effects per one kilogram product for nine categories of food product: milk, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, fish and seafood, vegetables, and fruits and berries. To inform the public about what’s really going on, we present the facts and challenge those who don't. Scientists unlock genetic key to kill crop pests, sparing beneficial insects, Daily Digest & Outbreak Coronavirus (Mon-Thu), Happy Thanksgiving to our US readers! Conventional Farming Organic agriculture is a production system that regenerates the health of soils, ecosystems, and people. Organic and conventional agriculture belonged to two different paradigms. As it is, there is little support in the science or in this SLV report for the claim of organic farming leading the way in the use of environmentally friendlier methods today. Another thing worth noting is that Sweden also has some of the most restrictive pesticide rules for organic. Organic farmers rely on natural processes, biodiversity, and cycles adapted to local conditions rather than the use of synthetic inputs like chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. She blogs at Thoughtscapism, where this article originally appeared. It is easier than ever for advocacy groups to spread disinformation on pressing science issues, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. With issues like this past summer’s drought in the Midwest, other severe weather events effecting agriculture and the rise of herbicide resistant superweeds, the energy differential and the resilience of organic vs. conventional farming may shift in the future. Here is her face, reconstructed from bone fragments found in a cave in Greece, Mike Adams: Natural News, “everyone’s favorite über-quack #1 anti-science website”—”even the quacks think he’s a quack”, Bog bodies of Europe: 2500-year-old, naturally preserved humans provide astonishing insight into ancient cultures, Conspiracy promoter Mike ‘Health Ranger’ Adams built online disinformation Natural News online empire that subverts science, report finds, Viewpoint: AquaBounty’s GM salmon slated for 2021 debut, but animal biotech still stymied by byzantine regulation, Autism increase mystery solved? What differences might there be in energy use or land use between conventional and organic farming methods? Another good overview comes from Steve Savage over at Applied Mythology: Pesticides – Probably Less Scary Than You Imagine: All the registered pesticides are also extensively studied in terms of their effects on “non-target” organisms and their environmental fate. It’s good to keep in mind that many pesticides are still allowed even in Swedish organic, the following list comes from the most restricted organic brand, KRAV: azadiracthin, pyrethrines, lecithins, hydrolysed proteins, bee wax, quassia, micro-organisms, spinosad, pheromones, Iron(III)phosphate, Kaliumsalt, calcium polysulphide, paraffine oil, kvartssand, sulphur, calcium hydroxide, kalium carbonate, aluminium silicate, and laminarin. They determined there to be a difference between the organic and conventional farming when a study would find more than 10 percent variation in the two farming systems’ respective impacts, and when two thirds of the studies considered would be in agreement over the effect. With appropriate use of pesticides, less resources (such as fertilizers, land, irrigation) are wasted on pests and weeds – thus limiting the general effects of farming. It is not a simple task to try to assign relative weights to environmental impacts, but it is worth the effort to try to look for evaluations of this topic in the scientific literature. I have written more about the research done on bees and neonicotinoid here, for instance. Agriculture scientist says ‘belching bovines’ get too much blame. convention production can often produce more food on less land, severe weather events effecting agriculture, Got (Eco-Friendly) Milk? Conventional Farms Beat Organic Farms When it comes to crop yields, organic farms are about 20% less efficient than conventional farms. 6771 South Silver Hill Drive, Finland MN 55603, This material, provided for educational and informational purposes, constitutes a "fair use" of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. © 2020 Sustainable America. This figure was featured in Marc Brazeau’s piece, and it is originally from the article Leverage points for improving global food security and the environment, behind paywall over at Science. Please support us – a donation of as little as $10 a month helps support our vital myth-busting efforts. The fundamental difference between the … The cover crops additionally provide more food for market. The technology has also facilitated important cuts in fuel use and tillage changes, resulting in a significant reduction in the release of greenhouse gas emissions from the GM cropping area. If you look at the research on the environmental impacts of food production by researchers like geophysicist Gidon Eshel of Bard College (Michael Pollan’s go-to source on these matters) you will find a similar set of concerns and the same absence of pesticides as an environmental concern. This does not address the question whether ecotoxicity is a great risk in contemporary agriculture, or greater or lesser one than any one of the other aspects. The Ultimate Guide to Dairy & Milk Substitutes, How to Regenerate Your Salad from Food Scraps, A Toolkit for Strengthening Your Local Food System. Disaster interrupted: Which farming system better preserves insect populations: Organic or conventional? What makes this kind of review important is clear when you consider the common belief propagated by organic marketers: that theirs is the more environmentally friendly way to farm. Even with this scenario, the study points out that there were crops in which the yield had no marked changes between the two production systems and in some crops like hay, the yields was more than the conventional production. In the same vein, taking things to more of an extreme, a rather worrisome suggestion comes from the Swedish Green Party, where they campaign for a shift into 100 percent organic farming. Organic could turn a new leaf and become that positive influence. Some perspective on herbicides is given in the piece: Herbicides: How harmful are they? In the organic growing model, nitrogen is usually sourced from animal manure and through planting cover crops in the off season in order to fix nitrogen in the soil. It could help us save the environment, including the land that can be spared from being converted into fields. Let’s sit down at a neat table: correct mistaken ideas. Studies on the key environmental impacts that crop biotechnology has had on global agriculture in 2012 and 2013 point out following advances: The adoption of GM insect resistant and herbicide tolerant technology has reduced pesticide spraying by 553 million kg (-8.6%) and, as a result, decreased the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on these crops (as measured by the indicator the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ)) by 19.1%. It is worth underlining that this report focuses on Swedish farming or studies in comparable settings, or places where a lot of their food imports come from. : …ammonia emissions, nitrogen leaching and nitrous oxide emissions per product unit were higher from organic systems. Organic v conventional using GMOs: Which is the more sustainable farming? The claim that one of these two systems would be worth special subsidies, higher cost to consumer, or a better reputation, is not well founded – if such a difference is hinted at, the benefit seems to reside slightly on the side of conventional farming. The number inside each cell signifies the number of studies considered. Marc Brazeau has written an insightful piece on this topic: Focus On Pestidices Is a Distraction From Major Eco Impacts, where he reports on a research paper looking at the largest environmental areas of concern, titled Leverage points for improving global food security and the environment, in the journal Science. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. in Biology from Sweden. While Brevata clarified that eating organic foods does seem to result in a lower pesticide exposure, she pointed out that there is currently no direct link between that data and personal health.