Welcome
Welcome to
the homepage
of Kentucky
State University's
Organic Agriculture Working Group.
The group brings together KSU researchers, teachers, and
extension staff whose work relates to organic agriculture. We are a
diverse
group, with a broad range of ideas and expertise. By working together,
we try to approach problems holistically, according to the ideals of
organic agriculture.
These questions are complex [...] For their solution they manifestly require every aid that a wide knowledge of science can give.
Mission
The KSU Organic Working Group seeks to develop, evaluate, and demonstrate socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable agricultural systems compatible with National Organic Program standards and suitable for adoption by Kentucky’s small farmers and gardeners.
Why Organic?
A rapidly growing niche market offers premium prices for environmentally-friendly products.
| In 2002 the USDA
adopted
national organic standards,
establishing a definition of the word "organic" for use in
marketing agricultural products in the United States. The standards
require practices intended to "foster cycling of resources, promote
ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity" (see sidebar). They
prohibit most synthetic products, including chemical fertilizers,
synthetic pesticides, and genetically modified organisms. The standards
are built on a philosophy of creating agricultural ecosystems that
mimic natural ones. Organic farmers strive to use few off-farm inputs. On average, organic farms consume less energy than conventional farms, reducing resource consumption and pollution.2 The US organic food market has grown by about 20% per year for the past 15 years, from approximately $1 billion in 1990, to $15 billion in 2005.3 Organic farmers have enjoyed substantial price premiums during this period of growth: For example, between 2000 and 2004 organic broccoli and carrots fetched about twice the price of their conventional counterparts.4 |
Ecosystem:
|
Why Kentucky?
A state of small farmers seeks high value alternatives to tobacco, the traditional backbone of the rural economy.
Kentucky is a state of small, limited resource farms: More than 75% of the commonwealth's 86,000 farms are smaller than 180 acres, and 80% have an annual income under $20,000.5
Supply-managed tobacco production was long the backbone of Kentucky's unique small farm economy. In the 1990s, the return from 5 acres of tobacco was about the same as from 100 acres of corn, or 50 acres of double-crop wheat and soybean.6 All tobacco price supports and marketing quotas were eliminated before the 2005 crop year, resulting in lower, less predictable tobacco prices. Most of the farms that once grew tobacco are getting out of the business.
The loss of tobacco as a stable
source of income leaves Kentucky's small farmers looking for other
high-value crops to replace it. Returns from organic horticulture
production can be as high, or higher than returns from tobacco. Organic
production could allow Kentucky's small farmers to stay in business.
Why KSU?
A historically black land grant university continues a tradition of service to the under-served.
| Kentucky State University is a historically black land grant university with a simple motto: "Enter to learn. Go out to serve." Building on its history of service to the under-served, the university's Land Grant Program, directed by Dr. Harold Benson, has tried to cater to small farmers, minority farmers, and other producers who might not otherwise be supported by a land grant university. Organic farmers fit this description: In 2003 the proportion of the nation's cropland dedicated to organic production was three times the proportion of the land grant university research acreage dedicated to organic research.7,8 |  |
|
Dr. Harold Benson, Land Grant Director |
Sources
1.
Albert Howard,
1924. Crop Production in
India: A Critical Survey of its Problems.
Oxford
University Press.
2.
Tommy Delgaard, Michael Kelm, Michael Wachendorf, Friedhelm Taube, and
Randy Delgaard. 2003. Energy balance comparison of organic and
conventional farming. In Organic
Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets, and Policies.
CABI Publishing, OECD.
3. Organic Trade Association. 2005. The Organic Industry Flyer. Organic Trade Association, Greenfield MA.
4. Lydia Oberholtzer, Carolyn Dimitri, and Catherine Greene. 2005. Price Premiums Hold on as US Organic Produce Market Expands. USDA, Economic Research Service.
5. USDA-NASS. 2004. Kentucky State and County Data. 2002 Census of Agriculture.
6. Will Snell and Steven Goetz. 1997. Overview of Kentucky's Tobacco Economy. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Bulletin.
7. Jane Sooby. 2003. State of the States: Organic Farming Systems Research at Land Grant Institutions. 2nd Edition. Organic Farming Research Foundation.
8. USDA-ERS. 2005. Organic Production, 1999-2003.
