Organic Research Done By Roger Blobaum

Book Chapter in “Environmentally Sound Agriculture” – Barriers to Conversion to Organic Farming Practices in the Midwestern United States | 1983

Environmentally Sound Agriculture Pub. Date: January 1983Chapter 16 Barriers to Conversion to Organic Farming Practices in the Midwestern United States By Roger Blobaum RECENT ORGANIC FARMING STUDIES Although organic farming has been adopted by a small but in­creasing number of Midwest farmers as an alternative to conventional agriculture, this change received little attention until the early 1970s. Newspaper and magazine articles that began appearing at that time described several commercial-size farms that had adopted organic methods.

Read More...

Research Article in “The American Journal of Agricultural Economics” – Economic Performance and Energy Intensiveness on Organic and Conventional Farms | 1977

Economic Performance and Energy Intensiveness on Organic and Conventional Farms in the Corn Belt: A Preliminary Comparison Printed in American Journal of Agricultural Economics Vol. 59, No 1, February 1977 Robert Klepper, William Lockeretz, Barry Commoner, Michael Gertler, Sarah Fast, Daniel O’Leary, and Roger Blobaum Recent energy and environmental problems in U.S. agriculture have stimulated interest in alternative technologies or systems of agricultural production. Large-scale, mechanized organic farms that use little or no inorganic fertilizers or chemical pesticides may be one such alternative. The crop production on fourteen matched pairs of organic and conventional Corn Belt farms was studied to determine the relative value of crop output, net returns, energy intensiveness, and labor requirements. The results of this preliminary study suggest that organic farming warrants more intensive research.

Read More...