This is truly quite the read. You never really know people I suppose.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article239079858.html
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article239079858.html
MO Farmer Swindles Millions in Fake Organic Farming Scheme
- Thread starter Bret44
- Start date
I can’t believe someone from Missouri would do this.
I really don’t understand the demand for Organic. I get it theoretically but this just makes it hard to trust.
Too much incentive to cheat in organic world, so unless you know the farm your food is coming from your just gambling that it’s organic. Just taking some box store word is ridiculous.
Organic corn is only checked for GMO when delivered and you show them your organic certification for the farm is what I understand.
I would guess a lot of Conventional corn (Non GMO) is in the organic market.
I am not even sure you can test corn to find out if it had commercial P, K & N on it vs hog or chicken manure.
I would guess a lot of Conventional corn (Non GMO) is in the organic market.
I am not even sure you can test corn to find out if it had commercial P, K & N on it vs hog or chicken manure.
Geez and all this time I thought the whole organically grown thing was 100% on the up and up. Color me shocked.
Organic food is one of the biggest marketing scams ever perpetuated on consumers.
Chemically dependent farming is not a scam though.
Who said anything about being dependent on chem? We could go back to row crop cultivating if we wanted to, it’s just not nearly as efficient and increases unnecessary tillage.
“Multiple modes of action” has been the most used phrase in farming lately. I realize it’s coming quick but steps are being made to slow it’s progress.
This story is crazy only for the fact that it made it to that level. I guarantee this happens more than people think.
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I have no idea what the real stats are but I feel like I’ve seen more cultivating happening lately. I’ve been mostly around the seed corn world though where most trait platforms aren’t available. HPPDs are only going so far and late dicamba applications are prevalent. I’ve seen a lot of seed corn ground get rotated out to get weed pressure under control.
Seed corn is the perfect example of multiple trait platforms working, as much as the non GMO crowd hates it.
Like every group/tribe/faction/etc. there are mostly good actors, but there are also a few bad actors.
The organic farmers I work with are highly invested in maintaining the USDA National Organic Program standards, and it is really frustrating any time your learn it is not a fair playing field.
Not only is this detrimental to the farmer that plays by the rules, but undermines any consumer confidence in the established standards. This really has consequences in the marketplace, and it is all over organic agriculture- both in US but more so in the global market. In the organic dairy industry you have seen a lot of farms vanish because of the uneven playing field.
The organic farmers I work with are highly invested in maintaining the USDA National Organic Program standards, and it is really frustrating any time your learn it is not a fair playing field.
Not only is this detrimental to the farmer that plays by the rules, but undermines any consumer confidence in the established standards. This really has consequences in the marketplace, and it is all over organic agriculture- both in US but more so in the global market. In the organic dairy industry you have seen a lot of farms vanish because of the uneven playing field.
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Synthetic N (i.e. produced via Haber-Bosch) and manure/compost/etc. N have distinguishable stable isotope N14 and N15 signatures in crop samples. So it is possible to reliably tell the difference in how a crop was produced. Scientists and USDA inspectors have use such methods to tell the difference, but it is not a common test- especially at the elevator.
Is organic N really the main driver behind organic ag though? What real difference does that make in the final product or overall production? I’d say there’s less misuse of synthetic N than manure on a percentage basis (once again no real evidence other than experience). Most of the organic movement is based around pesticides.
The specific question I was responding to was about whether it was possible to test crops for inorganic fertilizer use- which there is.
The use of organic fertilizer sources (vs. inorganic) are more about closing the nutrient cycle and integrating livestock as part of the whole farm- so the reasons are more environmental than about the final product or gross production.
Consumers find organic products appealing for various reasons (reduced exposure to pesticides, perceived environmental benefits, farmer/worker conditions, animal husbandry, etc.). Some reasons are valid and other not so much (or very grey).
I have organic farmers around me. Non stop in the field. No pesticides but looks like some solid erosion issues.