Chemicals and Organic Farming

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

There are plenty of questions around how organic farming works in practice, especially when it comes to chemical use. While organic systems limit what inputs can be applied, they don’t eliminate them entirely. Andrew Smith with the Rodale Institute says the key difference lies in how those materials behave once they’re used.

Smith… “ The organic chemicals that are used are, I don't wanna say benign, but they're not long-lasting. Most of them are gone in less than a day. One of the biggest challenges that organic farmers have is, I sprayed it on there, and then it rained last night, or, you know, it didn't get contact with the insect that I'm trying to kill. So, therefore they're not persistent in the environment.”

Smith says organic farming goes beyond the products applied, operating instead as a whole-system approach.

Smith… “ I guess the other thing I would just say is that organic is a, it should be, a holistic management system. Most organic farmers because they don't have the tools readily available to them, and they just grab something, and a lot of the chemicals that are organically approved, aren't as effective. So they usually start with a system that prevents disease and insects and weeds through crop rotation.”

Once again, that’s Andrew Smith with the Rodale Institute.