Farm chemicals hard on environment, wallets

Evidence continues to mount that there is no real conflict between protecting the environment and a strong economy. A case in point is the results of Canada's oldest organic-conventional cropping study. It shows that organic farming systems that use no farm chemicals use less energy, emit less greenhouse gases and make farmers more money.

Summary results from the first eight years of the study, which started in 1992 in Glenlea, Man., show organic systems had the lowest cost of production and the highest net returns for all crop rotations, even though the organic systems were less productive.

It was also found that the conventional forage system in the study consumed approximately 2.2 times as much non-renewable energy as the organic forage system, while the conventional annual crop system used consumed approximately 2.8 times as much energy as the organic annual system.

When comparing the conventional and organic systems within rotations, the conventional forage system produced approximately twice as much CO2, the most important greenhouse gas, as the organic forage system. The conventional annual system produced approximately 2.5 times as much CO2 as the organic annual system.

more from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix