Earth Day is today, and you can bet there’ll be claims that organic crops are somehow “better” for planet Earth than conventional or biotech crops. But it’s the biggest misperception in agriculture.

Organic farming isn’t pesticide free, as consumers are led to believe. A number of synthetic substances are allowed for use in organic crop production, including isopropanol, chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, boric acid, sulfur and streptomycin. Among the dozens of other nonorganic substances allowed as ingredients in or on processed products labeled as “organic” or “made with organic” include various acids, animal enzymes, glucono delta-lactone (whatever that is), wood resin, cellulose, glyceride and kelp.

E. coli is often linked to livestock manure, a primary source of fertilizer for organic crops, although it should be pointed out that manure is used in the production of conventionally produced crops as well, and that E. coli can originate from other sources besides manure. However, most producers of conventional and biotech crops use manufactured or synthetic fertilizer, and as Princeton molecular biologist Lee Silver puts it, “Synthetic fertilizer does not contain bacteria of any kind – period. So synthetic fertilizer cannot cause food poisoning – no need to worry if it’s been processed properly.”

Organic farmers generally rely on conventional tillage for weed control, a practice universally understood to increase soil and water erosion and the loss of organic matter, which is the key to soil productivity.

Because organic crops do not yield as well as conventional or biotech crops, organic production requires more land. Alex Avery, in his must-read book “The Truth About Organic Foods” writes that “organic farming, on a large scale, poses the single greatest threat to natural ecosystems and biodiversity in human history.” Why? Because “organic only” would force us to clear-cut, graze, plow, and farm larger areas of the earth’s remaining wildlife habitat due to lower yields.

Avery points out in his book that biotechnology has the power to improve just about every aspect of farming, and has already done so in many ways. Then why is there such intense organic opposition to, and misrepresentation about, biotech crops? Avery speculates that it’s competition. “Biotechnology offers a more cost effective way to achieve the lower pesticide use and more eco-friendly farming systems claimed by organic farmers and desired by consumers,” he writes. “In short, biotechnology represents a direct threat to organic agriculture’s current monopoly on eco-conscious consumers and the illusions of super safety....”

Read the full article at The Forum.

Lentz, who farms near Rolla, N.D., serves on the board of Growers for Biotechnology, whose purpose is to promote and facilitate the research, development and acceptance of biotechnology in agriculture.