>Hello Dale and all others,
>
>My original post was not intended to spark a
>debate on whether or not organic farms should be nutrient self
>sufficient...
>
>I think agricultural utilization of available "clean" off-farm nutrient
>sources is very desirable...
>
>The main gist of my orignal post is in the following sentence...
>
>> Joel wrote:
>> > on-farm integration of crops and livestock and complex
>> > rotations that include both row rops and sod crops are
>> > still largely ignored on many organic farms.
>
>I think that the original proponents of "organic agriculture"
>e.g. Howard, J.R. Rodale, Balfour... would be disappointed to find that so
>many of todays organic farms do not integrate livestock and do not follow
>complex crop rotations...
>
>Off-farm sources of nutrients should be used strategically to supplement
>efficient on farm
>nutrient cycling... my feeling is that profligate use of off-farm manure
>has replaced rational nutrient management on too many organic farms...
>
>The "organic" label should mean extra careful management... any organic
>farmer that can not tell you the rate at which he is applying manure
>should be certified as "organic but not ecological"...
>
>As mandatory nutrient management is implemented in various parts
>of the US (e.g. Chesapeake Bay watershed) and world (e.g. Netherlands), I
>wonder how the regulations will deal with organic farms that rely on
>off-farm manure yet have already loaded up their soils with high levels of
>P and K from past manure applications ?
>
>Joel Gruver
>U of MD
>Soil Quality Research
>
>
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