Organic Farming the new frontier?

[UGUIDE]

I've been reading a lot of books on sustainable agriculture over last year and also looking at farm/habitat designs for wildlife/farming in mind. Programs available are the continuous sign-up CRP.

Seems like if a guy was going to "Farm the best and buffer the rest" he'd be stupid not to look into continuous CRP and becoming organically certified considering the higher market prices of organic certified grains.

Well heck, I'd have organic certified pheasants then too!

At the fest I asked SD state PF Biologist if that would be good for pheasants (organic farming). He said that if eveyone in SD farmed organic there would be some many pheasants we wouldn't know what to do (weeds and all I suppose help).

Organic means your can't use any synthetic or chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers.

 

[pheasantaddict]

Uguide, I certainly hope organic farming is the future. Wildlife will certainly benefit, but I believe people will also gain may benefits from organic farming. Decrease in cancer, taste and nutrients from food, and overall health benefits. Pay a little extra and receive alot more. Pheasants and quail would thrive across the midwest. What do you have planned for your farm?

 

[Prairie Bird Hunter]

Uguide,

It would great for wildlife and I would love to see it but I don't see organic farming overtaking the current farming practices. I think it organic has a bright future but I doubt we'll see anything large scale until it pays for the farmers to do so. To many mouths in the world to feed and how would the farmers get the huge yields without the help of a genetically modified seed that gets all herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers it needs?

I hope I am wrong though.

 

[UGUIDE]

Uguide, I certainly hope organic farming is the future. Wildlife will certainly benefit, but I believe people will also gain may benefits from organic farming. Decrease in cancer, taste and nutrients from food, and overall health benefits. Pay a little extra and receive alot more. Pheasants and quail would thrive across the midwest. What do you have planned for your farm?

Well thanks for asking. 2 things need to happen to put any plans into action. 1.) CRP eligibility cropping years need to roll forward from 1996-2001 to 2002-2007 as propsoed in the new farm bill. This mandate is on hold since somebody determined they need to do an EIS first (Environmental Impact Study). No ETA on if and when it will change. 2.) My cash rent lease needs to expire (end of next year) and then I get full control back.

The PF biologist and I came up with a design for an 80 acre pilot that would take 80 tillable acres and put roughly 19 into CRP trees to buffet the wind, 10 acres in CRp wildlife buffer around field edge and the rest would be cropped on a 4-5 different crop rotation.

I figure with the reduction in crop acres, one could afford the extra overhead that an organic crop would take. It just seems to be a natural fit for my farms system.

 

[UGUIDE]

Uguide,

It would great for wildlife and I would love to see it but I don't see organic farming overtaking the current farming practices. I think it organic has a bright future but I doubt we'll see anything large scale until it pays for the farmers to do so. To many mouths in the world to feed and how would the farmers get the huge yields without the help of a genetically modified seed that gets all herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers it needs?

I hope I am wrong though.

I think you nailed it PBH. Too many mouths to feed. Even the USDA says thats a constraint of organic production. But, everything has it's trade-offs and this is no different. Agriculture will need to be sustainable whether organic or not. Too many owners are forced to put land stewardship in the hands of their renter and it is just not the right model for sustainability.

 

[landman]

Well thanks for asking. 2 things need to happen to put any plans into action. 1.) CRP eligibility cropping years need to roll forward from 1996-2001 to 2002-2007 as propsoed in the new farm bill. This mandate is on hold since somebody determined they need to do an EIS first (Environmental Impact Study). No ETA on if and when it will change. 2

Uguide: I talked to a representative from the USDA at a convention seminar last week and was told that the reason the cropping history hasn't changed is because the EIS study isn't finished yet. He added that the reason then USDA Secretary Schafer demanded a EIS study on the cropping history was in response to the lawsuit brought on the the Wildlife Federation last summer concerning the critical feed program. If you remember, Schafer made a decision to open 50% of the CRP grass to grazing without penalty. Then the Wildlife Federation brought a suit against the USDA to try to stop the program and one of their arguments was that Schafer did not do a EIS study before making that decision. Schafer lost the suit but in response he apparently demanded an EIS study for all major changes including the cropping history change. The cropping history change was made by congress in the new farm bill so normally it would not have to go through such a regimend. Fortunately Schafer is out and Vilsack is the new guy so there is hope that the USDA will have better leadership in the future.

LM

 

[UGUIDE]

LandMan, thank you so much for the update.

All my habitat plans hinge upon this cropping year change.

If an when it changes I will be the happiest man alive.

Thanks for the insight on the origin or the EIS. I had no idea.

Let's cross our fingers and hope/pray for the change.

I'd love to surround 3 nice sloughs with riparian buffers next spring and rollout the organic plan the year after that.