facts > Organic farms and organic farming

Organic Farms and Organic Farming

According to recent research findings organic farming encourages biodiversity. Studies have shown that there is generally greater levels in both abundance and diversity of species on organic farms compared to conventional farms. These are:

• Plants: five times as many wild plants in arable fields, 57 per cent more species and several rare and declining wild arable species found only on organic farms.
• Birds: 25 percent more birds at the field edge, 44 per cent more in-field in autumn/winter; 2.2 times as many breeding skylarks and higher skylark breeding rates.
• Invertebrates: 1.6 times as many of the arthropods that comprise bird food; three times as many non-pest butterflies in the crop areas; one to five times as many spider numbers and one to two times as many spider species.
• Crop pests: Significant decrease in aphid numbers; no change in numbers of pest butterflies.
• Distribution of the biodiversity benefits: Though the field boundaries had the highest levels of wildlife, the highest increases were found in the cropped areas of the fields.
• Quality of the habitats: Both the field boundary and crop habitats were more favourable on the organic farms. The field boundaries had more trees, larger hedges and no spray drift; the crops were sparser, with no herbicides, allowing more weeds; there was also more grassland and a greater variety of crop types.

By buying organic produce you are not only cutting down the risks to yourself and your family of consuming pesticides, you are in fact encouraging biodiversity. On a wider scale, organic farming reduces pollution incidents, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The more demand from consumers for organic produce the more farmers are encouraged to convert to organic farming methods.

Many consumers agree that organic is a better option but are not willing to pay the higher prices. Yes, organic produce may be more expensive than conventional produce. The only way for organic prices to reduce in time is by consumer demand, the more demand, the more likely government will address the subsequent issues. It takes an average of five years for a farm to convert to organic, in the mean time the farming method is more expensive but produce cannot be sold as organic.

It is not yet known what affect the possible cocktail of pesticides found in some vegetables have on your body. However, if you buy organic now you could help your family avoid any consequences, help the environment and increase demand for a cheaper product.