USDA data on 370 crops: Why organic farming has lower yields

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
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The productivity of organic farming is typically lower than that of comparable “conventional” farms. This difference is sometimes debated, but a recent USDA survey of organic agriculture demonstrates that commercial organic in the U.S. has a significant yield gap.

I compared 2014 survey data from organic growers with overall agricultural yield statistics for that year on a crop by crop, state by state basis. The picture that emerges is clear–organic yields are mostly lower. To have raised all U.S. crops as organic in 2014 would have required farming of one hundred nine million more acres of land. That is an area equivalent to all the parkland and wildland areas in the lower 48 states or 1.8 times as much as all the urban land in the nation. As of 2014 the reported acreage of organic cropland only represented 0.44 percent of the total, but if organic were to expand significantly, its lower land-use-efficiency would become problematic. This is one of several reasons to question the assertion that organic farming is better for the environment.

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USDA data on 370 crops: Why organic farming has lower yields | Genetic Literacy Project
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Of course.

We know this already.

The next big thing is genetically edited organisms, which is slightly different in that no new genes are added, but the nutritional value from existing ones is maximized.

They are doing well in Africa where golden rice and super corn can feed more for less.
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
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kelowna bc
The major players in the world will turn on GMO in the future
Organic has its place for those who want it but conventional
will be the way of the future as it is now
 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
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Vancouver Island
Of course non gmo has lower yeals. It also has lower levels of poison. The important thing isn't tons /acre, rather it is about quality.
 

Curious Cdn

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 22, 2015
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Now, that doesn't surprise me. Our exploding human population is being supported by artificial means. If we go back to pre-industral, "organic" farming techniques, Mother Earth might be happier but the prerequisite is that a few billion of us need to die, and soon.

Our fecundity is the #1 environmental issue that we face! Everything else leads from it.