Press Advisory

Contact: Bob Scowcroft, 831-426-6606

Organic Yields Measure Up

Liebhardt, a sustainable agriculture specialist at the University of California, Davis, directly responds to Dennis Avery's persistent but unsubstantiated claim that organic yields are lower than conventional by presenting peer-reviewed data that long-term organic crop yields average 95-100% of conventional yields.

Liebhardt also suggests that Avery ignores the severe environmental consequences of conventional agriculture-such as water pollution from nitrate leaching, creation of the 5,500-mile Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico, and degraded soil quality-because his organization, the Hudson Institute, is funded by the agrichemical and pharmaceutical corporations whose profits come from large-scale chemical farming practices.

Creamer, associate professor and director of the Center for Environmental Farming Services, North Carolina State University, refutes a report written by Alex Avery (Dennis Avery's son) that claims more pesticides will be used in the U.S. as more acres are shifted to organic farming. Creamer dissects the convoluted thinking that leads to this conclusion and discusses how organic practices reduce the need for pesticide use and help to improve soil quality.

The articles were published in the Organic Farming Research Foundation's Summer 2001 Information Bulletin. OFRF's mission is to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming practices. To accomplish this, OFRF administers a competitive grants program that has distributed $850,000 in grants in support of 148 organic research and education projects since 1990. Upcoming grant application deadlines are Jan. 15. and July 15, 2002. For application guidelines, newsletter copies or further information, contact OFRF at 831-426-6606. The articles and guidelines may also be downloaded from the OFRF website, www.ofrf.org