Comparing Organic and Conventional Farming Systems: Metrics and Research Approaches

Abstract

With the rise of organic farming worldwide, researchers are being presented with new opportunities to study organic systems and also to compare them to their conventional counterparts. This paper focuses on farming systems research comparing organic and conventional agroecosystems. The types of farming systems comparison studies, some of the metrics used, and integrative research approaches to farming systems studies are discussed. To hasten implementation of more sustainable agricultural systems, more farming systems comparison research, especially interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary, is needed, which brings together multiple disciplines and, when possible, non-academic participants to measure key sustainability indicators and/or ecosystem services. Such research does not just need to compare organic and conventional systems. In addition to organic farming systems, other innovative systems make up a modest, but growing, component of US and global agriculture and include alternative livestock production (e.g., grass-fed), mixed crop/livestock systems, conservation agriculture, integrated farming, agroforestry, and perennial grains. Such systems integrate production, environmental, and socioeconomic objectives and reflect greater awareness of ecosystem services. These systems can be studied in farming systems research, in which they are compared with each other or with conventional systems. Introduction Sale of organic foods in the past 15 years has been one of the fastest growing market segments within the global food industry (32). As a result, more arable land, research funding, and research test sites are being devoted to organic farming worldwide. In addition, there has been an increase in published scientific studies of organic systems, with different types of studies evolving and more parameters being measured. With this rise of organic farming worldwide, researchers are being presented with new opportunities to study organic systems and also to compare them to their conventional counterparts. For example, organic farming systems provide an opportunity to link basic and applied ecology through research on biodiversity and ecosystem services (11). In addition, we can compare soil health, crop quality, financial performance, or environmental quality of organic and conventional systems (23). Certain parameters, such as crop yield, have been included in so many organic/conventional comparison studies that metaanalyses have been done synthesizing this information on a global scale [e.g., (4,28)]. Although results from a meta-analysis must be treated with caution (because no single farming system or practice works best in every location), meta-analysis is a great statistical tool for identifying broad patterns not immediately visible in primary field research (20). This paper focuses on farming systems research comparing organic and conventional agroecosystems. Examples of comparison studies that have helped shape such farming systems research are the Corn Belt study (12), the Palouse erosion study (22), the South Dakota grain study (29), the Rodale Farming Systems Trial (5,16), the Washington State apple sustainability study (23), and the Swiss "DOK" Systems Trial (13). Here, the types of farming systems 29 April 2013 Crop Management Published June 13, 2014