Several reasons accounted for the lucrativeness of organic farming everywhere in the world but we shall discuss 5 reasons organic farming is profitable in USA. Organic farming is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting.
In other words, it is an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity while, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones.
It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices.
Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic farming organizations established in 1972.
Since 1990, the market for food and other products through organic farming has grown rapidly; it reaches $63 billion worldwide in 2012. In the United States of America and Europe, organic farming is generally more profitable because of the higher prices in conventional farming with considerations to the low costs of organic farming in an economically challenging world. In developing countries, the profit margin is greater for organic farms because they have greater yields and higher prices than their non-organic counterparts. That is why many individuals with a stand-by knowledge on organic farming long to start organic farming as another very profitable business.
This type of farming can also be beneficial on biodiversity and environmental protection at local level.
5 Reasons Organic Farming is Profitable in USA.
The list of the 5 reasons organic farming is profitable in USA shall be delineated for you to follow, and this is expected to be done with interest to knowing whether it is worth it in deciding whether you are prepared for that type of farming or not, especially in the USA:
1. Organic Farming allows Polycultural Farming
Number 1 reason of the 5 reasons organic farming is profitable in USA is the fact that organic farming encourages crop diversity which, on the other hand, this article termed as ‘polycultural farming‘. The science of Agroecology has revealed the benefits of polyculture (multiple crops in the same space), which is often employed in organic farming. One of them is that planting a variety of vegetable crops supports a wider range of beneficial insects, soil microorganisms, and other factors that add up to overall farm health. Another benefit is that polycultural farming helps environments thrive and protects species from going extinct.
2. Organic Farming Manages the Fertility of the Soil
Organic farming relies more heavily on the natural breakdown of organic matter than the average conventional farm. That is because it uses techniques like green manure and composting majorly to replace nutrients taken from the soil by previous crops. This biological process releases nutrients available to plants throughout the growing season by using the help of microorganisms such as mycorrhiza and earthworms. In organic farming, farmers employ different methods to improve soil fertility like crop rotation, cover cropping, reduced tillage, and application of compost.
3. Organic Farming Reverses Climate Change
The organic process of using manure and stuff like it also have an added benefit of carbon sequestration, which reduces greenhouse gases and helps reverse climate change. Without doubt, climate change is a very challenging issue confronting the world by explanation of the several environmental hazards it has caused and how much it has effected extinction of some known plants and animals. However, organic farming, through its biological process that enhances fertility, can truly hep to kill climate change.
4. Organic Farming Promotes the Growth of Livestock
5. Organic Farming Costs less than Conventional Farming
The last of all the 5 reasons organic farming is profitable in USA is the fact that organic farming costs less than the conventional farming as production costs are generally lower for organic farms even more than the conventional farms. In the United States of America, organic dairy farms in Wisconsin have lower feed and labor costs than similar New England farms, and are consequently more profitable. Throughout North America, the higher cost of organic feed creates the greatest differences in the economic performance of organic and conventional dairies. Most European studies found that variable costs are 60-70% lower. Nonetheless, the total production costs of organic farms are lower.
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