Emmanuel Omondi, Ph.D.: Lessons Learned from Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial

This scientist shared some of the results of the Rodale Institute’s research over the past several decades that can help organic farmers improve their farming systems and that show the advantages of organic production based on scientific data. The Farming Systems Trial at Rodale Institute is America’s longest-running, side-by-side comparison of organic and chemical agriculture. Started in 1981 to study what happens during the transition from chemical to organic agriculture, the FST surprised a food community that still scoffed at organic practices. After an initial decline in yields during the first few years of transition, the organic system soon rebounded to match or surpass the conventional system. After more than 30 years of side-by-side trials, Rodale Institute has demonstrated that organic farming is better equipped to feed us now and well into the ever changing future.

(1 hour, 12 minutes, 3 seconds) Recorded at the 2016 Acres U.S.A. Conference, Omaha, Nebraska, Friday, December 2, 2016.