Organic Farming vs Agribusiness
People all over the world are extremely concerned about our environment especially as how it relates as to what we put into our bodies and also how it affects our earth. Many are turning to organic, holistic, natural, back to the earth, and homesteading, which are all disciplines of agriculture that are growing in popularity each day.
As the world's population explodes,we have learned that American farmers over the years have done a wonderful job of providing substantial amounts of nutritious and healthy food for a growing world , but is this scenario of farming sustainable?
Organic farming largely excludes the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, and livestock feed additives, such as hormones. Organic farmers rely on crop rotation, crop residue recycling, animal manure and mechanical cultivation to maintain the soil and to control weeds, insects and other pests.
Enhancing and maintaining soil health and productivity is the mainstay of organic farming. Many natural methods are employed including crop rotation, green manure, cover cropping, application of compost and mulching, Organic farmers also use certain fertilizers such as seed meal and mineral powders such as rock phosphate and greensand which are naturally occurring forms of potash.
Organic farming began as a protest against the industrialization of agriculture in the early 20th century. Research produced hybrid seeds, fields and harvests grew in size and cropping became specialized in order to make efficient use of machinery, irrigation, fertilization and the use of chemical pesticides. Nitrates which were used during World War I and II as munitions became an abundant and cheap source of nitrogen.
As a means to insuring a successful crop, the usage of genetically modified organisms (GMO), human growth hormones (HGH), sewage sludge and antibiotics in the production of our food supply gained a foothold and can now be considered a threat to our health.
Organic farmers depend on natural fertilizers such as manure which contains fixed amounts of various elements which can not be adjusted. The most common problem is over application of these organic fertilizers because of their relative lack of potency. These over applications can very easily lead to pollution of the water supply. Conventional farming allows farmers to precisely apply only the necessary fertilizers to the soil in order to minimize waste pollutants.
Can agribusiness change to large scale organic farming and still be able to make a profit without raising the consumer's cost to unacceptable levels?
The current food distribution system favors high volume production with large farming corporate operations and cannot be easily altered. What we know as organic farming may change very dramatically in the coming years. A growing consumer market is a driving factor in our society and will encouraging conventional farmers to convert to organic agricultural production methods. I believe this trend will continue.
