Integrated farming, which reduces the use of chemicals by combining organic and conventional production methods, came second, conventional farming last. What's more, untrained tasters rated the organic apples the sweetest. This is one of the first well-replicated rigorous experiments that's looked at all of the benefits and costs involved in an alternative framing practice,'' says David Tilman, who works on sustainable development at the University of Minnesota in St Paul. We kept track of everything that went in,'' Reganold says. By recording inputs of compost, chemicals and even the amount of fuel used by farming machinery, Reganold's team produced an environmental impact assessment for each growing method.
Critics say organic farming is based more on ideology than on environmental or economic merit.
They also worry that because organic farming is often more energy intensive and produces lower yields than conventional methods it may place an even higher burden on the environment. Although Reganold's study finds that this is certainly not the case for growing Golden Delicious in Washington, it does not necessarily imply that organic farming is more environmentally and economically sound for other types of agriculture in other regions. Dennis Avery, director of the Center for Global Food Issues in Churchville, Va. argues that this is a persistent problem with research hailing the benefits of organic systems. He argues that it is the large-scale production of staple crops like wheat, corn, rice and wood that have the greatest impact on whether or not agriculture is environmentally and economically sustainable and that organic methods cannot produce sufficient yields in these crop systems to compete with conventional methods. But organic farming experts argue that if there was as much research into alternative farming practices as there is into conventional ones, the muddy boot could be on the other foot when it comes to the sustainability of organic farming.