The SAFS project is ending and being converted to study conservation tillage. Although reduced plowing is common in the Midwest, California's different cropping systems require some modification of the practice. Organic crop production costs more than traditional farming, but it can be economically viable as long as the organic crops are sold at premium prices, according to a study of alternative farming practices. The UC Davis study is comparing conventional cultural practices with low-input and organic farming systems for crop rotations typical to the Sacramento Valley.
Furrow irrigation is used for crop production in all four systems.
Some consumers are willing to pay more for produce grown without pesticides than for conventionally grown produce. As demand for organic food rises, more organically grown produce has been garnering price premiums. On average, the low-input system outperformed the organic system with conventional prices, but fell below the two conventional systems. To compare the magnitudes of the price premiums received for the organic SAFS crops, the premiums can be expressed as the percentage over conventional prices. Processing tomatoes are the only crop for which the price premium actually decreased steadily from 1989 to 1996, but increased in 1997 and again in 1998.