Organic Farming

Overview

Organic farming has distinct advantages, for the environment, for human health, and also for farm economics. There are many definitions of organic farming. A commonly accepted definition is ?farming without the addition of artificial chemicals?. All kinds of agricultural products are produced organically ? vegetables, fruit, grains, meat, dairy, eggs, and fibres such as cotton and wool. Many processed foods are also produced organically (e.g. bread).

In the past organic farm production was often considered as being only for radicals or hippies. Now it is seen as a viable economic move ? with benefits to the farm soil, to the environment, and to the purchasers of the products. Organic farming has been adopted by some farmers for economic reasons, others for ethical or sustainability concerns. Whatever the reason for going organic, there is no doubt this method of farming is here to stay.

Through this Organic Farming course from Warnborough College, learn to manage both plant and animal production in a more natural and environmentally sensitive way and develop a sound foundation for understanding how to set up an organic farm, or convert an existing farm to organic practices. This course provides the student with a solid understanding of the systems and management techniques of organic farming for both crops and livestock.

Course Aims

• Investigate Organic industry such as, Certifying Organisations, Producers or organic farming groups in your locality or region

• Determine allowable inputs to an organic farm certifying in your area

• Discuss how an organic farm requires more labour than a conventional farm

• Visit an organic farm, either a real visit or virtual visit if that is not possible

• Prepare a plan for an organic farm.

• Describe the conversion process for one of the organic farms

• Investigate organic market potential

• Prepare a compost heap

• Prepare a diagram of a healthy soil food web

• Prepare a weed collection (25 weeds ?either pressings or illustrations)

• Determine appropriate weed control within allowable organic farming limits.

• Describe the life cycle of three animal parasites

• Describe habitat requirements of various predatory insects

• Survey one or more farms regarding animal production systems

• How can the animals above be integrated into a vegetable or fruit production system

• Determine organic solutions to different farming problems

• Investigate different pasture management systems.