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Betsy Holcomb
English Comp 2
Prof. Watkins
6 March 2017
Conventional, or sustainable?
No one ever said, down with sustainability! Most people who eat food (which is

everyone) will agree that sustainable foods and farms are a good idea and great practice while

arguing that conventional farming is killing our food sources and soil. The fact of the matter is,

both methods have their own pros and cons. Conventional and sustainable farming vary greatly

in methods, production, and profit. Conventional farming often involves a larger area of one

crop, uses pesticides to protect the crop, and the use of a till or disk. Sustainable farming is the

exact opposite and usually includes no tilling, no pesticides, and a smaller area of land with more

than one type of crop. Yet, while sustainable farming is often used in a smaller plot to eliminate

the need for large machinery, it can be implemented for large-scale farming. Unfortunately, some

farmers believe sustainable farming is out of their reach. When a farmer feels like it is more cost

effective to spray his crops to ward off bugs, convincing him to not use chemicals can be

difficult.

Conventional farming is often seen as more cost effective from the farmers perspective.

Most farmers carry some sort of insurance for their crops in case of fire, floods, bugs, or other

natural disasters. Until recently, it has been difficult to find decent coverage for crops not through

a sustainable method. Because of this lack of reassurance, farmers tend to stick with what they

know. Thankfully, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has offered insurance

for farmers that are currently organically certified or trying to become organically certified. The

USDA Risk Management Sheet informs farmers of the coverage by stating, RMA currently
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provides coverage for 1) certified organic acreage; 2) transitional acreage (acreage on which

organic farming practices are being followed that does not yet qualifyas certified organic

acreage); (USDA par. 2). I personally think this is a fabulous idea. This gives farmers a net

to fall back on in their transitional stages from conventional to sustainable farming.

Another conventional farming practice, not used in sustainable farming, is the till.

Conventional farming would use a till or disk to aerate the soil. Disking and tilling would

normally take place after each harvest and often before planting again. Tilling, or disking, is the

act of mixing dirt or simply turning over and breaking up the soil (Leaf Group par. 1).

Tilling can be very beneficial for a conventional garden or crop field. Some of the benefits

include mixing amendments into the soilseverely compacted soil that needs to be broken

upremoves weeds and undesirable roots from the soil (Leaf Group par. 2). While Mother

Earth News agrees with the idea that tilling loosens the dirt and does allow for a more even root

structure, Mother Earth also believes it causes more damage. a moldboard plow doesnt

necessarily produce such soil. Plowing and disking a field results in a soil with broken structure

lying atop a heavily compressed plow pan (Mother earth par. 5). In short, while tilling may be a

short-term helper by loosening and aerating the top soil, it has long-term disadvantages due to

parts of the lower layers of soil being more compact after the fact from the heavy machinery

used to plow the top soil.

Other disadvantages that come with conventional farming include the lack of crop variety

and the lack of immunity those crops may have against disease. With conventional farming, it is

easier to plow one pasture and spread one type of seed throughout that entire plot. Unfortunately,

while it may produce a greater number of one crop, the farmers profits will be limited to the

markets for that crop. Should a farmer only sell one crop, to one market, his margin for error has
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less wiggle room. For example, if a farmer only sells pumpkins, his greatest profit margin

would be in the fall near Thanksgiving or Halloween when families will purchase pumpkins for

carving. Throughout the rest of the year, hopefully the farmer will have a contract with a

company to buy the rest of his pumpkin crop that will can the pumpkin for pre-made pumpkin

pie mix or other pumpkin products sold on store shelves. What if the farmers pumpkins never

mature? What if they all die on the vine because a type of bug or fungus attacked the pumpkins?

Now the farmer has sprayed a pesticide or herbicide to kill that fungus or bug, but maybe it is too

late. Maybe now, the bugs have effected enough of the pumpkins that he will not have any profit

from the produce. This leads us to the advantages of crop rotation for sustainable farming.

Crop rotation will allow for a natural shield for the crops in that plot. While the farmer

may not always be able to plant large scale, he will have healthier soil and plants. The Green

Tumble Editorial discusses the way no-till farming effects the soil and plant health. As I stated,

planting a larger variety of crop in one area leaves a natural shield. This natural shield is a crop

residue. Green Tumble shares the same thought, As the soil fertility increases, crop residue

remains, and the overall soil ecology gets healthiersignificantly reduced disturbance [from

lack of tilling] increases the beneficial insects and soil microbes (Green Tumble Editorial Team

par. 8). This natural shield and lack of pesticides will result in a larger profit of crops, and enable

the farmer to potentially market his crops to more buyers.

In the end, conventional farming will always be around. No amount of crop insurance or

beneficial soil microbes will change the mind of all farmers who have been farming

conventionally for 60 years, the same way their daddies also farmed the same property for 60

years before. Nevertheless, more and more new farmers are keeping an open mind and using

the benefits the government provides to start farming in a more sustainable fashion.
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Conventional and sustainable farming are both beneficial and harmful in their own ways.

Personally, I would rather see the soil degradation not caused by the plow or chemicals, but

happen naturally. I would feel much better about the smaller environmental footprint I leave

behind if I am not using chemicals.

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Works Cited

Editorial Team, GreenTumble. "Pros and Cons of No-Tillage Farming." Greentumble - Together

to Support Awareness & Conservation Activities. Green Tumble, 20 Feb. 2016.

http://greentumble.com/pros-and-cons-of-no-tillage-farming/. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Publications, Inc. Ogden. No-Till Farming Pros and Cons. Mother Earth News, Ogden

Publications, 1 May 1984, www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/no-

till-farming-zmaz84zloeck?pageid=1#PageContent1. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017

USDA. Organic Farming - the Future. Profitable Organic Farming, Feb. 2013, pp. 167170.,

doi:10.1002/9780470995525.ch11. http://www.rma.usda.gov/pubs/rme/organics.pdf

Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Writer, Leaf Group. "What Does Tilling Soil Mean?" Home Guides | SF Gate. SF Gate, 16 Sept.

2012. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/tilling-soil-mean-43382.html. Web. 06 Mar. 2017