Perspective on Rodale Institute's Farming Systems Trial

Abstract

After thirty years of research, Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial (FST) still remains a relevant catalyst for change in American agriculture. FST is America’s longest running side-by-side field experiment comparing organic and conventional production systems. Starting in 1981, following on the heels of the 1980 USDA study on organic production, FST was implemented to address several of the transition issues identified in the study as potential barriers to farmers adopting organic production strategies. (Additional details can be found at reference 19.) In order to assess each barrier, specific and targeted cropping systems were identified for comparison: an organic/livestock system, an organic/legume system, and a conventional/chemical system. While yield data, the standard agronomic measure of success was collected, additional and important data streams were also measured: soil health, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic returns. By every measure the organic systems documented a positive benefit to the soil, the farmer, and to society. Yield was the only standard in which all treatments performed at similar levels. The study site is located at the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, PA. Field investigations on this 6-ha site began in 1981. Prior to establishment of the experiment, the site was farmed conventionally with continuous corn for at least 25 years. The soil type is a moderately well drained Comly silt loam. The growing climate is sub-humid temperate (average temperature is 12.4°C and average rainfall is 1105 mm per year). Main plots were 18 × 92 m, split into three 6 × 92-m subplots, which allows for comparison of three crops in any given year and the use of farm scale equipment for all operations. The experiment was set up to withstand the rigors of the most intense scrutiny and managed with the assistance of an externally staffed advisory board, to assure the scientific and political communities that the results are sound. Peer review of results found in research papers again assures us all that the data is factual and based on standard acceptable research protocols. (Additional field site and experiment details can be found in reference 9, 10, 13, and 14.) First we’ll address the yield data since the current conversation seems to focus on the need to feed the world and an ever growing population. Direct crop yield comparisons can only be made between corn, soybeans, and wheat because they are the only crops that are present in all systems. In the first four years of the trial (1981-1984), corn yields were significantly lower in the two organic systems compared to the conventional system, mostly due to N deficiency (due to the research design) and weed competition. During that same time period however, soybean yields were equal between Legume and Conventional and significantly higher in the Manure system. Yields may not need to decrease during the transition from conventional to organic production, if the transition is properly planned, as a similar trial in Iowa showed. Here corn and soybean yields were the same in organic and conventionally managed rotations for the first 3 years and higher in the organic plots in the fourth year. Since those early transition years the yields have been statistically the same across all treatments, except in drought years when the organic systems show yield increases over the conventional systems. (Additional agronomic details can be found in references 6, 9, 10, and 14.)