The Importance of Organic Agriculture in the U.S. in Coming Years - October 30, 2007
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- Introduction
- Speaker Bios
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
2:30-4:30 PM
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 628
Briefing for Senate and House of Representatives (PDF)
Dear Colleague Letter from Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Jon Tester (D-MT)
This briefing is free and open to the public; no reservations are required. For further information, please contact Matt Jennings in the Office of Senator Tester (Matt_Jennings@tester.senate.gov) or Margaret Thomsen at the Center for Health and the Global Environment (617-384-8533 or margaret_thomsen@hms.harvard.edu).
Made possible through generous support from the Claneil Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. and the Energy Foundation for the climate change portion of the program. Additional funding was provided by one private family foundation, which wishes to remain anonymous.
Organic farming has been one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture in the U.S. and in several other countries since the early 1990s. Sales have increased by roughly 20% each year, reaching almost $14 billion in the U.S. in 2005. In 2006, there were more than 76 million acres farmed organically around the world. With its potential for improved energy efficiency and greater tolerance to drought, organic agriculture also offers new opportunities for rural America in a changing climate.
Senator Jon Tester, who has farmed in Montana organically for almost 20 years, will join several of the country’s leading experts to discuss the potential of organic agriculture in coming years.
Welcome and Introductions
Eric Chivian M.D.
Director, Center for Health and Global Environment, Harvard Medical School; Shared the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize for co-founding International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; Runs Pairidaeza Farm, an heirloom fruit orchard in Central Mass
PowerPoint
Policy Implications of Increasing Organic Agriculture in the U.S.
The Hon. Jon Tester, Senator, State of Montana
History of the National Organic Program Standards
Kathleen Merrigan Ph.D.
Director, Agriculture, Food and Environment Program, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Comparing Organic with Conventional Farming—What Research Has Been Done?
John Reganold Ph.D.
Regents Professor of Soil Science, Washington State University
PowerPoint
Organic Agriculture in a Global Warming World
Frederick L. Kirschenmann Ph.D.
Distinguished Fellow, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University; Runs the Kirschenmann Family Farm, a 3500 acre certified organic farm in North Dakota
Readings:
Goodman, Brenda. “Drought-Stricken South Facing Tough Choices” from The New York Times, October 16, 2007.
Kirschenmann, Frederick. “Potential for a New Generation of Biodiversity in Agroecosystems of the Future” from Agronomy Journal, v.99 (2007), pp.373-376.
Merrigan, Kathleen A. “Organic Food Regulations: Part Art, Part Science” from Regulation of Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: A Global Perspective edited by Clare Hassler. Blackwell Press, 2005.
Mouawad, Jad. “Record Price of Oil Raises New Fears” from The New York Times, October 17, 2007.
Reganold, John et. al. “Sustainability of Three Apple Farming Systems” from Nature, v.410 (2001), pp.926-930.
For additional information on this subject, please see the following article:
Lotter DW, Seidel R, and Liebhardt W. “The Performance of Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems in an Extreme Climate Year.” American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 18 (3): 146-154, September 2003.
Abstract
The 1999 severe crop season drought in the northeastern US was followed by hurricane-driven torrential rains in September, offering a unique opportunity to observe how managed and natural systems respond to climate-related stress. The Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial has been operating since 1981 and consists of three replicated cropping systems, one organic manure based (MNR), one organic legume based (LEG) and a conventional system (CNV). The MNR system consists of a 5-year maize-soybean-wheat-clover/hay rotation, the LEG of a 3-year maize-soybean-wheat-green manure, and the CNV of a 5-year maize-soybean rotation. Subsoil lysimeters allowed quantification of percolated water in each system. Average maize and soybean yields were similar in all three systems over the post-transition years (1985-1998). Five drought years occurred between 1984 and 1998 and in four of them the organic maize outyielded the CNV by significant margins. In 1999 all crop systems suffered severe yield depressions; however, there were substantial yield differences between systems. Organic maize yielded 38% and 137% relative to CNV in the LEG and MNR treatments, respectively, and 196% and 152% relative to CNV in the soybean plots. The primary mechanism of the higher yield of the MNR and LEG is proposed to be the higher water-holding capacity of the soils in those treatments, while the lower yield of the LEG maize was due to weed competition in that particular year and treatment. Soils in the organic plots captured more water and retained more of it in the crop root zone than in the CNV treatment. Water capture in the organic plots was approximately 100% higher than in CNV plots during September's torrential rains.
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