Organically farmed corn and soybean crops were only minimally reduced as compared to conventionally farmed crops. Moreover, after factoring in production costs, the two farming methods yielded equal net returns, according to a study.

Over 80 percent of U.S. corn and soybean crops are grown in the Midwest. The majority of crops, which take up over 100 million acres, are produced using a conventional corn-soybean rotation practice, which includes annual synthetic fertilizer and pesticide applications.

Organic production practices follow guidelines defined by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) and offer an alternative to conventional farming methods.

In the study, which was conducted from 1989 to 1999 in two locations, researchers evaluated a two-year corn-soybean rotation and a four-year corn-soybean-oat/alfalfa-alfalfa rotation using conventional and organic production strategies.

Corn grown from 1993 through 1999 using the organic four-year rotation yielded nine percent and seven percent less (at the two locations) than corn grown using the conventional two-year rotation.

Organically produced soybeans grown during the same time period yielded 19 percent and 16 percent less at each respective location than the conventional two-year rotation soybeans.

According to researchers, weed control played a major role in the larger reduction yields from organically produced soybeans as compared to corn. The soybean crop had increased weed pressure because of its placement in the rotation sequence.

Although the four-year organic method showed a reduction in both corn and soybean yields compared with the two-year conventional method, the organic method had lower production costs. Therefore, net returns for both methods were equivalent, according to the study.

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