As much as possible, organic farmers rely on crop rotation, cover crops, compost, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and fertility, to supply plant nutrients, and to control weeds, insects, and other pests.

“With mutation breeding, seeds are put in a highly carcinogenic solution or treated with radiation to induce random changes in the DNA. After germination, surviving seedlings that have new and useful traits are then adopted by breeders.”

Because sewage sludge in the United States is presently contaminated with cadmium, zinc, and copper, its use in organic agriculture is prohibited by the USDA “organic standards.”

Another agricultural benefit is that herbicide-resistant soybean has helped foster use of low-till and no-till agriculture, which leaves the fertile topsoil intact and protects it from being removed by wind or rain. Also because tractor-tilling is minimized, less fuel is consumed and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced

return the animals to the farm so their manure could be composted and used on site.

It takes the energy equivalent of thirty gallons of gasoline to produce the synthetic N, P, K needed to grow an acre of corn

While the seedlings are growing in the greenhouse, we can irrigate the fields to germinate weeds. When the weeds are small, we shallowly till to kill the weeds. When the crop seedlings are large enough, we can transplant them into the soil, and they will have a big head start against the weeds.”

The technology that sets organic agriculture apart from conventional agriculture isn’t mechanical; it’s ecological and biological.

The farmer can then design a farm so that pests are minimized. This starts with crop diversity, but it also means providing habitat for a diverse group of beneficial insects, predatory birds, and mammal predators.