The organic farming concept developed in the period prior to 1940 and was pioneered by Sir Albert Howard (1873–1947). Howard, born and educated in England, directed agricultural research centers in India (1905–1931) before permanently returning to England. His years of agricultural research experiences and observations gradually evolved into a philosophy and concept of organic farming that he espoused in several books. Howard's thinking on soil fertility and the need to effectively recycle waste materials, including sewage sludge, onto farmland was reinforced by F.H. King's book, Farmers of Forty Centuries. Howard developed a system of composting that became widely adopted. Howard's concept of soil fertility centered on building soil humus with an emphasis on how soil life was connected to the health of crops, livestock, and mankind. Howard argued that crop and animal health was a birthright and that the correct method of dealing with a pathogen was not to destroy the pathogen but to see what could be learned from it or to ‘make use of it for tuning up agricultural practice’. The system of agriculture advocated by Howard was coined ‘organic’ by Walter Northbourne to refer to a system ‘having a complex but necessary interrelationship of parts, similar to that in living things’. Lady Eve Balfour compared organic and non-organic farming and helped to popularize organic farming with the publication of The Living Soil. Jerome Rodale, a publisher and an early convert to organic farming, was instrumental in the diffusion and popularization of organic concepts in the US. Both Howard and Rodale saw organic and non-organic agriculture as a conflict between two different visions of what agriculture should become as they engaged in a war of words with the agricultural establishment. A productive dialogue failed to occur between the organic community and traditional agricultural scientists for several decades. Organic agriculture gained significant recognition and attention in 1980, marked by the USDA publication Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming. The passage of the Federal Organic Foods Production Act in 1990 began the era of accommodation for organic farming in the USA, followed by another milestone with official labeling as USDA Certified Organic in 2002. Organic agriculture will likely continue to evolve in response to ongoing social, environmental, and philosophical concerns of the organic movement.

Can banded herbicide be eliminated in ridge-tilled soybean (Glycine max)? The effects of banded herbicide, rotary hoeing and cultivation on weed populations and soybean yield in a ridge-tillage system were tested on three farms in Iowa, USA in 1989 and 1990. In 1989, plots either had no herbicide or had herbicide banded in the row at planting in mid-May; all plots received two rotary hoeings and two cultivations. In 1990, treatments were banded herbicide with no rotary hoeing, banded herbicide with one rotary hoeing, and no herbicide with one or two rotary hoeings; all plots received two or three cultivations. In both years, over all weed species [primarily giant foxtail (Setaria faberi), Pennsylvania smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum) and redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus)], seedling emergence was highest in late May and early June, with few seedlings emerging after mid-June. Weed populations were highest in May and June, after which rotary hoeing and cultivation reduced weed numbers in all plots. There were no consistent differences among treatments in weed numbers in early August for the 2 years. In both years, there was no significant difference in soybean yield among treatments. Within-farm mean yields ranged from 2.26 to 3.01 Mg ha−1 among farms in 1989 and from 2.07 to 2.93 Mg ha−1 among farms in 1990. Ridge-tillage without herbicide was generally equivalent to ridge-tillage with banded herbicide, with respect to total number of weeds and number of broad-leaved weeds remaining in August after tillage, and to soybean yield.

Information is needed on the role of cover crops as a weed control alternative due to the high adoption of conservation tillage in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production. Field experiments were conducted from fall 1994 through fall 1997 in Alabama to evaluate three winter cereal cover crops in a high-residue conservation-tillage, soybean production system. Black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb.), rye (Secale cereale L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were evaluated for their weed-suppressive characteristics compared to a winter fallow system. Three herbicide systems were utilized: no herbicide, a mixture of two pre-emergence (PRE) herbicides, or PRE plus post-emergence (POST) herbicides. The PRE system contained pendimethalin plus metribuzin. The PRE plus POST system contained pendimethalin plus a prepackage of metribuzin and chlorimuron ethyl applied PRE, followed by an additional chlorimuron ethyl POST application. No cover crop was effective in controlling weeds without a herbicide. However, when black oat or rye was utilized with only PRE herbicides, weed control was similar to the PRE plus POST input system. Thus, herbicide reductions may be attained by utilizing cover crops that provide weed suppression. Rye and black oat provided more effective weed control in the PRE only herbicide input system than wheat in conservation-tillage soybean. The winter fallow, PRE plus POST herbicide input system yielded significantly less soybean one out of three years when compared to systems that included a winter cover crop.

A green manure (GM) is a crop grown primarily as a nutrient source and soil amendment for subsequent crops. In environments such as Florida, combined use of GM and reduced tillage may improve soil water and nutrient retention and reduce potential groundwater pollution. In the first 3 years of a long-term experiment, use of GM in a reduced-tillage system on a sandy Florida soil benefited the season-long growth of sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. Rugosa) much more than final ear yields. To help understand these patterns, we evaluated response of sweet corn roots when in rotation with GM of sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.; summer) and cahaba white vetch (Vicia sativa L.; winter 2002–2003) and a multi-species mixture of hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth.) and cereal rye (Secale cereale L.; winter 2003–2004). Treatments included sweet corn with combinations of 0 or 133 kg chemical N ha−1 (as NH4NO3) and with or without GM. A highly fertilized treatment (267 kg chemical N ha−1) without GM was also included. Soil cores were sampled from three depths (0–15, 15–30 and 30–60 cm) both between and within corn rows. Data from two experiments showed that use of GM increased sampled corn root length density (RLD) by 44–54%, although only within the upper 15 cm of soil in one of the two experiments. Corn following GM plus 133 kg chemical N ha−1 produced up to 44% greater RLD than corn with 267 kg chemical N ha−1. Sampled RLD decreased with distance away from corn plants (from in-row to between-row positions, and from shallow to deeper depth), with roughly 85–95% of sampled RLD existing in the top 30 cm of soil across all treatments. During the 2004 experiment, we found that broadcast, as opposed to banded (placed along corn row only), chemical N application resulted in more even distribution of corn RLD between in-row and between-row positions during late-season without regard to GM crop. Although GM permitted optimal sweet corn growth with a 50% reduction in chemical N application, ear fill during the final 1–2 weeks before harvest may have been reduced in GM treatments. GM effects on the amount and spatial distribution of sweet corn RLD may help explain these trends. Provision of greater N from GM residues and/or altered distribution of supplementary chemical N and irrigation may be required to achieve greater ear yield benefit from GM.

Conventional farmers converting to organics have contributed to most of the rapid expansion of organic farming in recent years. The new organic farmers may differ from their more established colleagues, which may have implications for the development of the organic farming sector and its distinctiveness vis-à-vis conventional production and marketing practices. The aim of this study was to explore Norwegian organic dairy farmers' personal and farm production characteristics, farming goals, conversion motives, and attitudes to organic farming, grouped by year of conversion (three groups). A postal survey was undertaken among organic dairy farmers (n=161). The results show that the newcomers (converted in 2000 or later) were less educated than the early entrants (the so-called ‘old guard’) who converted in 1995 or earlier. The frequency of activities like vegetable growing and poultry farming among the old guard was high. The late-entry organic herds were fed with more concentrates and had a higher milk production intensity, showed a higher incidence of veterinary treatments and less frequent use of alternative medicine than the herds of the two earlier converting groups. For all groups of farmers, the highest ranked farming goals were sustainable and environment-friendly farming and the production of high-quality food. Late entrants more often mentioned goals related to profit and leisure time. On average, the most frequently mentioned motives for conversion were food quality and professional challenges. The old guard was more strongly motivated by food quality and soil fertility/pollution issues than the others, whereas financial reasons (organic payments included) were relatively more important among the newcomers. All groups held very favorable views about the environmental qualities of organic farming methods, albeit with different strengths of beliefs. Even though trends towards more pragmatic and business-oriented farming were found, the majority of the newcomers were fairly committed.

Our global food supply becomes more vulnerable as we continue to lose diverse genetic resources. The Ossabaw hog is a feral breed that is unique to North America, a distant relative to the renowned Iberian hog and is considered an endangered swine breed. The objective of our farmer participatory project was to examine the meat and fat characteristics of Ossabaw hogs raised in alternative management systems for niche-market application. At one farm, eight Ossabaw pigs were randomly assigned to a grass pasture and fed a free choice corn–soy (CS) ration or placed in a mixed hardwood forest plot and provided free choice peanuts in the shells (P), alfalfa pellets (A) and mast from the mixed hardwoods (diet collectively referred to as PAM). The two diets had no effect on Ossabaw production data or pork quality characteristics; however, fat profiles were altered. Ossabaws weighed approximately 70 kg when harvested at 400 days and produced chops with small loin eyes (21–23 cm2) and minimal evidence of intramuscular fat deposits (1%). The unsaturated fatty acid (USFA) to saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratio improved from 1.6 to 2.6 (P<0.01) as a result of feeding the PAM diet. Forest-finished Ossabaw pork was considered more flavorful by food critics and renowned chefs than that of conventionally fed animals. Mast from hardwoods offers the possibility of enhancing pork flavor for niche markets and using a renewable forest resource as a food source. For farm two, eight Ossabaw gilts and eight crossbred progeny (from European breeds) were randomly assigned to one of the two dirt-lots and fed free choice a CS ration or PA diet (same ration as mentioned above with no mast). Ossabaw hogs grew nearly one-third as fast as the crosses and weighed approximately 80% of the crosses' harvest weight at twice their age. Loin eye areas of the crosses were nearly twice as large as the Ossabaws while the subcutaneous back fat deposition was nearly half. Compared to the CS diet, the PA ration decreased SFA by 23% while polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) increased by 60%. The USFA to SFA ratios improved from 1.5 to 2.2 (P<0.01) when PA diets were fed. Differences (P<0.05) in USFA profiles were observed for breed effects; Ossabaws had 8% higher levels of monounsaturated fatty acids and 18% lower PUFA levels than the crosses. When adjusted for breed effects, no differences in sensory characteristics for the CS versus PA diets were detected by a trained panel. Ossabaws were more flavorful than the crosses (2.3 versus 1.6); (P<0.05).

In the past decade, sales of meat products labeled as natural (minimally processed) and produced without antibiotics and hormones have increased dramatically. In response to growing demand for meat products differentiated by various production attributes, many smaller-scale beef enterprises are considering direct marketing of their beef products to end-consumers as a viable approach to sustaining their family farming operations. This research uses survey data from Colorado consumers, and factor and cluster analysis to determine market segments for various (varied by production protocols and other meat attributes) natural beef products. Findings from the cluster analysis indicate that there are multiple segments of consumers who are likely to purchase natural beef, and that different segments are motivated by different factors. The most important factor explaining almost two-thirds of the differences among consumer responses relates to consumers' perceptions of the importance of meat attributes related to production practices (e.g. use of antibiotics, hormones and environmentally friendly grazing). Interestingly, the two consumer segments that are willing to pay a significantly higher premium for natural, local beef are motivated by different aspects of the meat and its intrinsic production attributes. One segment, representing 12.5% of consumers, ranked the importance of all production attributes significantly lower than the sample average. Consumers in this segment appear to be motivated by their perceptions of the extrinsic quality of natural beef products. The other segment, 13% of consumers, appears to be altruistic, ranking all production attributes such as ‘no antibiotics’, ‘no hormones’, and ‘humane treatment’, significantly higher than all of the other clusters. These results indicate the potential strength of production methods (and marketing of such quality differences) as product differentiation criteria. This paper illustrates the type of market research that may be useful for beef producers seeking value-added marketing opportunities, and portrays the types of consumers who are fueling the growth in natural meats in the United States. Such market analysis can facilitate producers' ability to effectively develop product concepts, labeling and promotional strategies targeted at the most receptive consumer segments, and illustrates that there is more than one type of consumer interested in purchasing products differentiated by sustainable production methods.