4 ms·

Reference for this claim? My understanding is that oeganic farming uses less inputs overall (including pesticides and herbicides ) and some organic farmers use

• bluGill 6y ago
  Every farm is different. What you call the chemicals is also different, but everything (including water) is a chemical in the end. Organic just chooses to limit modern chemicals that often are much safer. Organic is a one way conversation: conventional farmers do use organic chemicals when they are the best for the job. If they use less herbicides it is because they are not counting diesel fuel to run their tractor as herbicide. Sure they don't apply roundup, but they spend a lot more money and emit a lot more CO2 pulling steel through the ground to destroy weeds because they are not allowed to use a good herbicide. Also beware of less inputs in other ways: you can mine the land for nutrients by not putting fertilizer on it as well. Fertilizer isn't only about more crops, it is also about the fact that everything you take off the land includes a certain amount of various nutrients that are forever taken off too. This isn't a problem for pure subsistence farming (subsistence farmers carefully save their poop), but as soon as anything leaves the farm you need to replace what is lost.