“I don't look at organic farming as a return to old methods before chemical use, because a lot of the old methods weren't sustainable either. What we're really trying to do is focus on understanding the whole system and have a rotation that provides weed and pest management and quality crop production.”
~Bob Quinn
Big Sandy, MT
Pests, diseases and weeds
Organic farmers break pest and disease cycles by interspersing crop plots and by not planting the same crop year after year on the same piece of land but instead rotating them.
Many insects—in fact, most insects—on your farm are actually beneficial. Different plants attract different insects, and each one, in turn, has its own favorite food. The beneficial insects on your farm prey on the pests whose favorite foods happen to be your crops. This is another way diversity encourages a healthy and resilient system—the balance shifts in your favor when you encourage a diversity of species rather than upsetting the balance by killing pests and beneficial predators alike.
Crop diversity also reduces financial risks by avoiding the "all your eggs in one basket" scenario.
One of the big mental shifts required for making the transition to organic production is how you think about weeds on your farm. While organic farmers surveyed consistently list weeds as one of their biggest challenges, we know from our research that crop plants will tolerate some level of weed pressure before yields are adversely affected.
Weeds can even have some beneficial qualities: They add organic matter to the soil when they are turned under, they keep the ground covered, and they contribute to the richness of the rhizosphere, or root zone, where an abundance of beneficial microbial activity takes place. Too many weeds, of course, can choke your crop plants by robbing them of water, nutrients, sunlight and space. It's important to manage weeds by tillage or mowing before they go to seed.