Processors Profit from Organic Farm Research

By Sarah Fister Gale


Organic processors spend a huge amount of time and frustration finding ways to battle insects. From cockroaches in the walls to flour beetles and other pests sneaking in with raw materials, pests in an organic facility wage a constant battle. But what many organic processors don’t realize is that not only should they fight bugs inside the plant, they should also help growers find greater pest management solutions for the farm.

Pest control on farms has tremendous impact on the cost and sanitation of raw material. When a particular commodity or region is plagued by aphids, coddling moths or other destructive insects, those farmers produce smaller yields, forcing them to charge higher prices per bushel to meet demand. The chain reaction means manufacturers either have to increase the already high cost of their organic end products or cut their profits to meet consumer demand.

Further, the lack of information about pest-free farm storing and shipping can further damage the limited supply of organic crops—which make up only 1% of the total crop production in the U.S.—causing buyers to turn down shipments or spend additional time and resources sanitizing them before they can enter the processor’s facility.

Although organic manufacturers may put little thought into pest control outside the warehouse, it’s in their best interest to focus lobbying power on expanding their growers’ options for battling pests on the farm.

In a Farmer’s Tool Box
The emphasis in pest control on organic farms is and will always be on integrated management techniques, admits Bill Quarles of the Bio Integral Resource Center, a non-profit organization in Berkeley, CA, dedicated to finding alternatives to pesticides. Historically, rotating crops, changing planting schedules and allowing natural enemies to balance insect populations have been the primary defense against pests on organic farms. But with the increasing interest by consumers in organic products, more money and attention is trickling to researchers intent on finding non-toxic tools organic farmers can use to produce healthy crop yields and pest free-products.

Advances in organic pest management techniques and interest from big-name chemical companies and political groups have made organic pest control for some farms easier, says Brian Baker, resident director of the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), a non-profit organization in Eugene, OR, dedicated to evaluating and publicizing materials compatible with organic standards. Dow Chemicals, for example, produces Entrust, an OMRI-approved Spinosad-based product used to grow organic cherries, and the company is researching new fungal derived nonsynthetic insecticides. McLaugh-lin Gormley King Co. also has developed an organic pesticide called PyGanic, a form of pyrethrum listed by the OMRI for use in organic production. OMRI (www.omri.org) publishes lists of products that can be used within organic guidelines, giving farmers access to the latest pest control data available and ideas for non-chemical solutions.

But for most organic farmers there are still few organic pesticide options and little research being conducted on their behalf, says Bob Scowcroft, co-founder and executive director of the Organic Farmers Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, CA. “We in no way get our fair share of the resources dedicated to agricultural development.”

The problem he says is that organic research can rarely be transformed into a for-profit product. “It’s more often new information about how to farm then something they can sell.” For example, research has led to plants being used to attract natural enemies of pests, such as catnip luring ladybugs to feed on the aphids that plagued soybean farmers last year. That’s valuable information for farmers but doesn’t translate into profits from pesticide companies.

This lack of commercial viability makes it difficult to capture funding or interest for further exploration. Until more voices demand greater attention and public funding is spent on organic farming research, the costs and challenges of producing organic crops will continue to burden the entire organic community.

“M” is for Media Frenzy
In areas where much research has been done, it is often the result of increased consumer demand or a media frenzy over the negative impact of chemical use. The more publicity and push a commodity receives, the more research will be dedicated to finding solutions, Scowcroft says.

Such was the case in the organic apple industry. One of the most well researched organic produce categories is apples, not because researchers were naturally interested in producing a healthier product but because of a public outcry over the risks of Alar, a pesticide that had been used on apples for decades. In 1989, 60 Minutes did a news show exposing the cancer risks of Alar, a chemical first marketed in 1968, which apple growers sprayed on trees to make their apples ripen longer before falling off. In use, however, it was discovered that Alar breaks down to a byproduct called unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH), which causes tumors in laboratory animals. Little attention was paid to the studies until the exposé, titled “A is for Apple,” aired, warning that Alar was especially harmful to children because they consume far more apple products per pound of body weight.

The ensuing backlash forced apple growers to abandon the chemical and made organic apples immediately popular with mainstream consumers. As a result, says Scowcroft, scientists were granted research dollars to find alternative non-chemical ways to grow apples, creating one of the largest bodies of knowledge about organic farming available. Today, the largest apple growers in the country dedicate a significant portion of their orchards to organic and scientists have discovered useful cover crops, pheromone confusion techniques and pruning methods that enable growers to produce larger crops without the use of chemicals.

But farmers can’t and don’t want to rely on such negative publicity to draw attention to their need for better organic pest control. Most research comes about as the result of individuals lobbying for the needs of a particular group, Scowcroft says. Today, for example, much attention is being paid to the challenges of growing organic strawberries and lettuce in a pest-free environment because these commodities have grown in popularity with consumers. But that research does little to help farmers in other crops or areas of the country.

Because every climate and every product is different each farm group had different needs and requires a unique spokesperson to promote research in their categories. Scowcroft’s organization lobbies to build funding for all organic research and acts as an advocate for organic farmers within political groups. As a result of those efforts, discoveries for certain popular crops continue to make organic farming easier in some parts of the country. “It’s all about economies of scale,” he says. “Solutions can be found to make organic products feasible in the marketplace if the proper resources are attributed to them.”

If organic farmers, manufacturers and retailers band together to demand the investment that is rightfully theirs, it could create the necessary momentum to force politicians to take notice. The result could be a safer selection of products on grocery shelves and a more profitable organic industry for everyone involved.

Sarah Fister Gale is Contributing Editor to Organic Processing Magazine. She can be reached at sfister@mn.rr.com.