Quote:
Originally Posted by speeder
Now I’m curious about how all of the organic farmers who grow most of the food I eat control weeds and insects(?) Do they just let the bugs have a certain percentage of the yield or what?  |
The rules governing "organic" farming are very, rightfully so, difficult qualifications to attain.
We looked at a number of organic options for our farm since we are about the right size, no farms directly around us for over-spray, good local markets for organic "stuff" and the weather in our micro-environment is excellent in term of winds and temperature.
We looked at hay, spices, vineyard, tree/fruit, etc.
The cost drivers for organic food is, as mentioned before, qualifying to be an organic farm (at least in Maryland), touch labor, infrastructure and access to markets kept us on the
spray and pray regime with corn, wheat and soybeans.
I still use a form of Round-up for specific applications but we have dedicated sprayers for non-toxic, plant based sprays my wife prefers.
In California, the climate helps dramatically in terms of, well, everything.