Farming Practices: Organic vs.

Conventional
Bailey Hawbaker
Abstract
In todays society everyone faces several decisions everyday, a major one being
organic or conventional food. In the United States alone there are many homeless and
starving people, and there is also several wealthy consumers in the industry. When going
to the grocery store consumers have to decide on organically grown food which has no
pesticides and only uses natural chemicals, or they can choose the conventional food
which has higher yields, is still proven safe to eat and is usually found at a lower cost.
Based on societies thought that I have hear on whether organic or conventional is better, I
have assessed several articles and have integrated my findings into this article.
Introduction
In the news for the past several years there has been a push for going organic
when buying your groceries. According to the editorial Organic Vs. Conventional
consumers main concerns are about the pesticide residues being greater in conventional
food, resistance to antibiotics, and that from the beginning of time farmers have been
using organic practices, so why switch to conventional. There are plenty of people that
you can speak with that are very passionate about both sides of the argument. Through a
lot of research and plenty of options at the grocery stores, consumers are able to form
their own opinions on what they would like to buy and consume. This article will mainly
focus on what organic and conventional farming is as some consumers may not know the
true difference, a comparison between conventional and organic farming both to
consumers and on the environment, as well as, two studies, the first is about the growing
of both organic and conventional corn and wheat in Italy and the second is about the
nitrogen difference between the two systems.
Literature Review
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Organic
agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances
biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. Based on minimal use of offfarm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological
harmony (6). On the other hand, conventional farming, also known as sustainable
agriculture according to the USDA is referred to as, an integrated system of plant and
animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long
term: satisfy human food and fiber needs; enhance environmental quality and the natural
resource base upon which the agriculture economy depends on, makes the most efficient
use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate,
natural biological cycles and controls; sustains the economic viability of farm operations;
and enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole (6). From these two
definitions, one can see just how opposite the two farming practices actually are. On one
hand there is a farming operation that uses very little off-farm product, and one that
strives on off-farm products such as fertilizer, fungicide and insecticide.

There are plenty of impacts on the soil from both organic and conventional
practices, for example, organically managed soils have a much higher water holding
capacity, which in turn will yield higher crops in drought years (4). Organic agriculture
tends to store more water and carbon in the soil. With this there is a larger floral and
faunal biodiversity than conventional systems. However this could also affect the land
around the organic agriculture areas (4). The article Environmental Impact of Different
Agricultural Management Practices: Conventional vs. Organic Agriculture also explains
that In the last century, intensive farming (conventional) has successfully achieved high
crop yields, but has come at a cost on the environmental side because of the high
intensity of energy use, water consumption and the large use of agrochemicals this
shows that both farming systems have positives and negatives (4).
Organic farming has been around since the beginning of time; it wasnt until after
World War II that we produced more conventional crops because of the rapid rise in
technology in the 1950s (2). During this period the United States began producing
pharmaceuticals, chemicals, crop-saving insecticides and plastics that they advertised as
Better living through chemistry and were able to market their products to the general
public to in turn generate a profit (2). In this time scientists were not able to research the
short and long term effects of the products on the environment and the population (2)
therefore some of the population was scared to try out the new products. Andrew W.
Campbell, MD concludes his article by explaining that when he shops at a grocery store
he buys his meat, fruits and vegetables in the organic section because he does not approve
of the use of chemicals associated with nonorganic foods (2). This is just one example of
ones opinion on why they choose the groceries they do, not everyone approves of the use
of chemicals that conventional farmers use.
As I have stated earlier, there are two sides to the argument of conventional vs.
organic. According to a journal entry in the Journal of Applied Ecology the author
states The global demand for food and farmland is rapidly growing due to a variety of
factors, some of these include a rise in human population, increased meat consumption,
urbanization, competition for land uses for non-food crops and the alteration in the
suitability of land to grow crops due to climate change (3). The author explains that
organic farming styles can be considered more sustainable as it produces food all while
conserving soil, water energy and biodiversity (3). Then he goes on to explain that the
organic yields globally on average are 25% lower than conventional yields, however it
varies between crop types and species (3). In this study they researched bumblebees as
well as plants, and it was realized that organic farming only benefited plants and not the
bees, as well, as organic farming should be encouraged in lower productivity areas where
it doesnt make a large difference in the practice that you use (3). This article did a great
job at explaining both the ups and downs to organic and conventional farming.
There was a study done in Italy with neighboring fields of organic and
conventional corn and wheat. In the study done in 2013, it states that organic farming
has significantly increased worldwide in the last two decades and especially in Italy
which is the second largest area of organic land behind Spain, supporting about 1.1
million acres of organic area (5). Through this study they found that in conventional
wheat there was a higher fungal incidence, and they believe it was due to the use of
pesticides that were not active enough to react with the fungus. However, they found that
in organic corn there was more contamination due to fungus than the conventional, they

believe that this is due to the lack of chemical application. The scientists believe the
factor is that without the use of insecticides the larvae with the bugs enhance the infection
of the kernel of corn. They found the highest fungal count was when the weather was the
driest and with mild temperatures, therefore they believe that weather plays a large part in
the production of both corn and wheat. The conclusion of the study was that organic
wheat seemed to fair better, whereas conventional corn provided a higher yield, so both
farming practices are beneficial depending on what you are planting and what the
weather is like in that area (5). I thought this was a great study as it proves that both
practices have their positives, and there is a time and place for both.
Another study was preformed about the balance of nitrogen in the soil surface for
both organic and conventional cash crop farming in the Seine watershed located in
France. Within this study the author explains that with the organic system you only have
the amount of nitrogen that is in the soil, whereas conventional farmers are able to
manage the nitrogen levels in their soil to increase levels when needed. According to the
article, the most commonly observed crop rotation for organic farming lasted for 7-8
years, whereas the average conventional farming rotation is about 4 years for mainly
cereal crops (wheat, barley, grain corn or sugar beat) or 6.5 years if forages (alfalfa and
clover) are added (1). It is more beneficial to the farmer to have a shorter rotation,
which means they are able to plant that same crop again after the 4, 6.5 or 7-8 years. The
decision is up to the farmer on how they decide to operate their farm, whether they want
to run an organic or conventional operation.
Conclusion
Todays consumers have many decisions to make when they go to the grocery
store, whether it be following a budget or choosing what type of food they eat. When
choosing between organic or conventional products the consumer needs to do their
research. It is proven that conventional production has a higher yield, however organic is
seen as the natural way to grow crops. Each system has their positives and negatives,
but it is ultimately a consumers preference in what they would like to put on their
families plates.

Work Cited
1.) Anglade, J., Billen, G., Garnier, J., Makridis, T., Puech, T., & Tittel, C. (2015,
October). Nitrogen soil surface balance of organic vs conventional cash
crop farming in the Seine watershed. Agricultural Systems, 139(Oct 2015),
82-92. Retrieved July 8, 2016, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/science/article/
pii/S0308521X15000839
2.)Campbell, A. (2012). Organic vs conventional. Alternative Therapies In Health &
Medicine, 18(6), 8-9 2p.
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
sid=5226afa3-21e1-4e20-97db-e782e0866aeb%40sessionmgr4004&vid=3&hid=4104
3.) Gabriel, D., Sait, S. M., Kunin, W. E., & Benton, T. G. (2013, April). Food Production
vs. biodiversity: Comparing organic and conventional agriculture. Journal of Applied
Ecology, 50(2), april 2013, 355-364. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/doi/10.1111/13652664.12035/full
4.) Gomiero, T., Pimentel, D., & Paoletti, M. G. (2011). Environmental Impact of
Different Agricultural Management Practices: Conventional vs. Organic Agriculture.
Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 30(1-2), 95-124, 95-124. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from
http://www-tandfonlinecom.ezproxy.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/doi/abs/10.1080/07352689.2011.554355
5.) Lazzaro, A. Moretti, P. Giorni, C. Brera, P. Battilani, Organic vs conventional
farming: Differences in infection by mycotoxin-producing fungi on maize and wheat in
Northern and Central Italy, Crop Protection, Volume 72, June 2015, Pages 22-30, ISSN
0261-2194, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2015.03.001.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261219415000757)
6.) National Agricultural Library | United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.).
Retrieved July 01, 2016, from http://www.nal.usda.gov/