Connie Falk
>Interesting points, in theory, but there are exceptions -
>specifically involving "sod" crops - which raise doubt about the
>robustness of the theory. Specifically, I refer to net returns (not
>gross) from pasture dairy or beef vs. confinement dairy or beef - in
>North America. Our rudimentary analyses from a 3-year research trial
>here at Guelph showed returns from stocker beef on Class I land were
>at least equal to - even with conservative assumptions - or exceeded
>returns from any other land use (corn, soybean, wheat etc.) on that
>same class of land.
>
>More recent work by a colleague in Ag Ec and Business (Stonehouse)
>compared economic returns from organic dairy vs. conventional
>(resource-intensive) dairy in Ontario. Although both were
>confinement-based, organic dairy used pasture and hay more
>integrally, achieved winter cover in most years, purchased remarkably
>little from off the farm, grew essentially all of their own feed,
>kept their own replacements, grew cereals instead of corn......etc.
>AND made more money - per ha, per cow, and per unit of labor.
>
>Therefore, while I make no comment on other crop types or land uses,
>certainly, our experience with livestock commodities from grass would
>argue that ecologically sound agricultural practice is not, in fact,
>inconsistent with profitable agriculture. Ann
>ACLARK@crop.uoguelph.ca
>Dr. E. Ann Clark
>Associate Professor
>Crop Science
>University of Guelph
>Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
>Phone: 519-824-4120 Ext. 2508
>FAX: 519 763-8933
>