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Oct. 27, 2016
2016 Logan County Fall Farm Outlook Magazine
Lincoln Daily News
● The use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation
and sewage sludge is prohibited.
Starting the process of becoming organically certified
requires specifically documenting the last time
prohibited materials were used. Compost, animal
manure, and green manure are some of the fertilizers
that may be used in the place of synthetic fertilizers.
Atlanta’s PrairiErth farms, owned by the Dave Bishop
family, has been organically certified for a few years.
In the farm’s fertilization processes, “We use compost
as fertilizer and all of the compost comes directly from
our farm. Whether it be manure or vegetable waste, it
breaks down for a season, then is spread on the field
in the following spring. We also use cover crops, also
known as green manures. These crops are grown for
the sole purpose of what they return to the soil when
they are then tilled under.”
The health of the soil is very important for growing
organic crops. In the article “Time to Transition Your
Farm to Organic,” Illinois Stewardship Alliance’s
Conservation Associate, Woody Woodruff says, “One
of the underlying principles of organic farming is the
building of healthy soils with good structure, high
organic matter, diverse soil micro and macro fauna,
and high water-holding capacity.”
The Guidebook for Organic Certification published
by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education
Service (MOSES) says, “Organic farmers don’t
substitute ‘approved’ inputs in place of synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides. Rather, organic farmers
continuously improve their farm system by building
and balancing soils...”
With all the changes during the transitional period,
patience is needed. As Tom Doran, a field editor for
Agrinews says, “Getting through those first two years
of transitioning to organic is a challenge.”
Harold Wilken switched over to organic production at
his farm near Danforth several years ago and describes
some challenges. Wilken says, “You really have to
tighten your belt in those two years because you are
getting conventional prices and farming organically.
But nowadays the costs of conventional farming are so
high that actually going into transition isn’t as bad as it
used to be.”
Several other measures need to be considered when
making a transition to organic farming. The USDA
says organic operations must implement preventive
practices based on site-specific risk factors, such
as neighboring conventional farms or shared farm
equipment or processing facilities.
The organic system plan documents several measures.
For example, organic farmers must plant “early or late
to avoid organic and GMO crops flowering at the same
time” due to risks of “cross-pollination.”
Communication with conventional farmers is
beneficial. The USDA says it may be helpful to “sign
cooperative agreements with neighboring farms to
avoid planting GMO crops next to organic ones.”
Some organic farmers may “... designate the edges of
their land as a buffer zone where the land is managed
organically, but the crops aren’t sold as organic.”
It is also important to “Thoroughly clean any shared
farm or processing equipment to prevent unintended
exposure to GMOs or prohibited substances.”
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