Issue 07 · One essay

Commercial vs Organic at Scale

By Clark J. Madsen · From KB Garden

Why home gardens lean manure — and why a 418-acre farm reaches for the bag.

In Conclusion Organic farmers say all commercial fertilizers are bad for the environment. While there is some truth to their claims, if used appropriately, commercial fertilizers are a blessing.

“For small farms, organic fertilizer makes perfect sense. In your home garden, manure should always be used in fall or spring soil preparation.”

Commercial vs Organic at Scale

According to the 2007 Census, the average farm in the United States contains 418 acres of crop fields. To properly prepare a farm of this size each fall, 7 tons of bovine manure would have to be added to each acre. That totals 2,926 tons of manure that would need to apply each year! The logistics of finding, drying, storing, and spreading that much manure is staggering; that is just a lot of poop.

It is much simpler and time efficient for large scale farmer to use commercial fertilizers. In fact, if farmers were required to solely use organic fertilizers food prices would dramatically increase. It is just not practical for larger farms.

For small farms, organic fertilizer makes perfect sense. In your home gardens manure should always be used fall or spring soil preparation. The slow release benefit of manure will help insure proper plant nutrition all year long without fear of leaching off with the fall and spring moister.

Then as needed throughout the year, additional nutrients should be added by side dressing with commercial fertilizers.