The benefits downsides of Organic Farming
I have apple trees on my farm and this season was a very bad year for scab (two long wet springs in a row).
It seems that some organic orchards in Michigan are seeing an old "friend" come back with a vengeance.
From the
Entomological Society of America:
An Old Pest Reemerges in Organic Orchards
The apple flea weevil, a sporadic insect pest in the early 1900s, has reemerged as a severe pest in organic apple orchards in Michigan, where outbreak population levels have been observed since 2008, and damage has resulted in up to 90% losses for apple growers.
According to the authors of "The Reemergence of an Old Pest, Orchestes pallicornis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)," an open-access article appearing in the latest issue of the Journal of Integrated Pest Management, the weevil can be managed by broad-spectrum insecticides used in conventional agriculture, but there are currently no proven management options for use in organic production. And, as broad-spectrum materials are replaced by reduced-risk compounds, it is possible that the apple flea weevil will increasingly become an important pest in apple production.
90% losses -- that can kill a farm in one year. I made the conscious decision to not be organic just because of stuff like this. Organic farmers are allowed to use Rotenone because it is plant derived but it kills everything in its path -- fish and birds as well as bugs. The orchard chemists have sprays that are completely harmless to everything except for one specific bug -- it will interrupt the breeding cycle of one kind of moth. Much safer to use and better for the environment than most people realize. I appreciate the efforts these people are making for quality food (most organic farms tend to treat their crops a lot better than mechanically tended and harvested 'factory farms') but they are leaving themselves wide open for crap like this. It would be interesting to look at the history of pests for specific crops -- keep a watch for the resurgence of old foes...
Posted by DaveH at September 29, 2012 10:19 PM