A recent study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production assessed the environmental impacts of organic grass-fed beef and non-organic grass-fed beef production. Researchers used a lifecycle analysis to analyze data collected from one grass-fed farm prior to conversion to organic and then after its conversion to organic, as well as data from conventional non-grass-fed… Read More ›

Small mammals can provide agricultural benefits by eating weed seeds or they can act as pests by eating crop grains. A new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology sought to tease apart the effect of organic and conventional farming on these benefits and challenges caused by small mammals. Researchers compared the effects of… Read More ›

A recent study published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment investigated the effect that organic farming has on birds over the winter. The researchers compared the number of bird species as well as the abundance, or number of individuals present for each species, in plots on 16 paired organic and conventional farms. The study found that… Read More ›

A new study published in the journal Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science compared the effects of organic and conventional farming on onion yield, onion chemical quality, and soil health indicators–soil organic carbon and microbial activity. Organic plots were treated with either farmyard manure, poultry manure, vermicomposting or neem cake, and all organic treatments were… Read More ›

A recent study published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment investigated the effects of organic vs. conventional farming in large- and small-scale agriculture on wild bee communities and the flowers that they rely on. Bees were sampled in 18 pairs of organic and conventional winter wheat fields and organic winter wheat field in Central Germany. Researchers… Read More ›