Humus supports microrrhyzeal fungi, which in turn hold the soil together with their tiny, web-like structures. Without these tiny fungi, the humus, or topsoil, washes away. It is estimated that a bushel of topsoil is lost for every bushel of corn produced in the Midwest using conventional techniques. In addition to massive erosion and silting of dams and waterways, chemical fertilizer and pesticide application is responsible for the contamination of wells and fish habitat. Agricultural runoff is considered a major source of Chesapeake Bay pollution, contributing to the slow death of the crab and oyster industries.
Farmers using organic techniques are a small minority in American agriculture.
A major reason for this is due to you, the consumer. Since the publication of Rachel Carlson's Silent Spring, mass awareness of the dangers of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals has snowballed. Most of those concerned worry about their own health and the health of their families, rather than about the health of the soil and the family farm. Family farmers are not experiencing economic hardship because they are stupid or unwilling to work hard. Since World War II, they have been encouraged by land-grant universities, pesticide ads, and the US government itself to jump on the chemical bandwagon.