A: The Holistic Approach of Organic Farming (Prof.

Mller)
(Robyn)
1. Define holism in relation to organic farming. (2.5 points)
Looking at the whole system - what goes into the farm, what goes out? Energy consumed to
produce the products? Effects on environment, society (fair wages, working conditions, other
countries). Holism means to try and create closed circles (as much as possible) to keep the system
from losing nutrients and other parts that go out.
2. Which risks do you see in the conventionalisation of the organic food chain?
(2.5
points)
The true idea and spirit of "organic" might be lost - people buying organic not out of conviction, but
because it is "in" and all the things they are used to in conventional stores are now also available in
organic stores.
Convenience food is not as "organic" as unprocessed food - better than conventional convenience
food, but only one step towards living a truly organic life - so if there is too much conventionalisation,
people might stop there and not consider more unprocessed, organic options.
3. Summarise Rusch's definition of soil fertility. (2.5 points)
Fertility is at the base of life and living organisms. A fertile soil produces healthy plants which
produce healthy animals and humans. Fertility is a very sensitive criterion of biological function and
therefore serves as a reliable indicator in biology.
4. Characterise holistic science. (2.5 points)
- Holistic science starts with the whole before it looks at the parts (deductive, not inductive).
- It uses participatory approaches and recognizes that the scientist alters the system he observes.
- There is no objective truth.
- Multidisciplinary approaches are valued.
5. How is "holism" related to the organic food chain and how does conventionalisation" of
organic food production counteract this principle? (10 points)
Holism usually refers to "looking at the whole system", which is very difficult depending on the size of
the system (actually, one would have to look at the whole universe). To still achieve a certain degree of
holism, one can try to create closed circles (a closed system) at a manageable level, thus trying to
make the whole system as small as possible.
This means on a farm level: integrating arable land and animal husbandry, a great variety of species
and local marketing of produce. This is counteracted by the conventionalisation of organic food
production, because conventionalisation usually means specialisation (stockless organic farms),
convenience products (using more ingredients than local farms could supply) and the offer of tropical
fruit or fruit that is not in season.
6. Explain two examples for holistic approaches within the organic food chain and compare
these approaches with the conventional food chain. (10 points)
One example of holism in organic farming can be seen in the long rotations that incorporate a wide
variety of species (biodiversity), which are also needed to fertilize the soil without external inputs
(legumes) and to feed the animals. In the conventional food chain, fertilisation can be done via
chemical fertilizer inputs and farms often are stockless (or have just animals, without arable land). This
way, the biodiversity of these conventional farms is much smaller, the inputs come from far away
(fertilizer, animal feed).
Another example is fertilisation: in organic farming, fertility is tried to be maintained mostly by

by-products of the farm itself (slurry, solid manure) or via using fertilizers that can be produced on the
farm (legumes, green manure), thus minimizing the adverse impacts on the environment by high
emissions of transport or production of fertilizers. In conventional agriculture, these considerations do
not matter.
7. Give two examples for conventionalisation in the organic food chain. Discuss how these
examples may counteract holistic approaches. (10 points)
1) Convenience food such as organic frozen pizza. This counteracts the holistic idea of energy
efficient, fresh, unprocessed, locally produced organic food. The ingredients are probably not
surced only from local farms, the food chain is much longer than for locally produced vegetables
and the production uses much more energy as if customers would buy fresh ingredients and make
fresh pizza at home.
2) Specialisation. With conventionalisation, farms tend to become more specialized (stockless or
only animal husbandry) which again means that they have to source animal manure or feed from
other farms, thus making for longer food chains and less closed on-farm cycles. (See question 5)
8. Give two examples for the implementation of sustainability (as defined by the Brundtland
Commission) in organic farming Meeting the needs of the present generation without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (UN Brundtland
report). (10 points)
1) Focus put on maintaining soil fertility. If future generations want to meet their food needs like we do,
they need fertile soils with high organic matter content, many species of edaphon living in the soil,
good water holding capacity etc. Organic farmers perceive the soil as the base of their means of
production and thus care for it.
2) Counteracting soil erosion. Organic agriculture tries to prevent soil erosion by using hedge rows,
conservation tillage, covering the soil by catch crops and green manure. This way, future
generations will still have soils to farm on.
9. Give three possible reasons for differences in yield between organic and conventional
farming (6 points)

10. Explain the concept of holism in a tabulated comparison between organic and
conventional farming. (10 points)

11. Explain the concept of sustainability in a tabulated comparison between organic and
conventional farming. (10 points)

12. Under which circumstances will yield differences between organic and conventional
farming be particularly large (2 points)
and under which circumstances will these differences be relatively small (2 points)?

B: Organic Farming: General Principles Dr. Zikeli

1. Name five principles of Organic Farming on a practical level and describe two of them in more
detail!-10
a. Maintain and increase the fertility of the soil in the long-term.
To reduce the soil erosion and improve the soil quality in its physical and chemical properties,
by implementing crop rotation and reintegration of crops into the soil, mixed cropping, green
covers, adding green manures, farmyard manures and composts.
b. Provide nitrogen through the intensive use of nitrogen fixing plants.
The use of legumes (clover, alfalfa, soybeans, peas, beans, lentils) helps to increase the
amounts of available nitrogen in the soil by fixing the atmospheric N 2into NH3to the soil. This
active nutrient mobilization is made in the root nodules due to the symbiotic relation between
the plant and the microorganism Rhizobium spp.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.

Enhance the cycling of nutrients within the farm.

Diversity of crop varieties and animal species, appropriate to thelocal conditions.
Animal husbandry appropriate to the needs of the animals.
Biological plant protection based on prevention instead of curing.
Ban on synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, hormones andgrowth regulators.
Ban on synthetic or harmful methods, processing aids andingredients in food.
Prohibition of genetic engineering and its products.

2. Organic farming principles on animal husbandry are very much based on the
sustainability of the farm, reduction of inputs and on animal welfare. What are the most
important aspects of organic animal husbandry?-10
a. The number of animals is related to the farm area.
b. The animals have to have the possibility to show their natural behavior as much as possible,
having enough space and keeping relation with other animals of the same species.
Nevertheless some practices are allowed, such as artificial insemination and castration.
c. The feed has to be derived from the farm.

d. Preventive measures for animal health protection. The uses of medicines, as antibiotics, are
only allowed in case of curative measures to alleviate the suffering from the animal.
e. Animals should be adapted to the local and organic conditions.
3. In the table below you find the rotation of a stockless organic farm in Germany. Explain
why the farmer selected these crops and why he designed the rotation in this way!-10
Rotation of a stockless organic farm
1. Year: Clover grass with a high proportion of clover2. Year: Winter wheat3. Year: Soy bean4.
Year: Spelt5. Year: Clover grass with a high proportion of clover6. Year: Maize and 3 t ha-1 of
compost7. Year: Peas8. Year: Rye
- The farmer doesnt have the manure from the livestock to improve the soil fertility and to use it as a
direct organic fertilizer for the crop production. Because of this, he is using legumes (as catch crop)
before each cash crop (wheat, spelt, maize, rye) to increase the nitrogen quantity in the soil by the
biological fixation.
- Additionally he can use the legumes also as cash crops, like the soy bean and peas to human
consumption. Besideshe should be cutting frequently the clover grass, before the reincorporation into
the soil, to break the weeds. The compost for the maize production is because this crop is very
demanding of nitrogen, so it is necessary to add anextra source of nutrients. Also the compost helps to
increase the soil organic matter.
4.An organic fruit farmer has problems with the fungus Venturiainequalis (applescab) in his
apple plantation.Is he allowed to use the following crop protection agents according to the EU
Regulationon Organic Food and Farming:
a) Copper?
b) Elemental sulphur?-2
YES!
5.Is there any other way to avoid or minimise apple scab in apple plantations? -2
a. Using resistant varieties, adapted to local conditions.
b. Mixed cropping.
c. Removal of infected material.
d. Improvement of soil fertility to achieve a balanced nutrient supply.
6. List the most important principles of organic animal husbandry (Use keywords and explain
them shortly)! (10 points)

7. Organic farming systems operate without herbicides, therefore weed control is an important
issue in organic farming. Describe how weed control is done in organic farming and give
examples for the different approaches! (6 points)

8. Name the core principles of soil fertility management in organic farming and explain them
shorty! (8 points)

9.1. Animal welfare plays an important role in organic farming. Which are the basic principles
that are implemented in organic animal husbandry? (8 points)

9.2. Which deviations from the above mentioned principles can be permitted? (2 points)

10. Are Social Standards included in the EU Regulation on Organic Food and Farming? Give
reasons for your statement! (2 points)

12. Agroforestry systems, intercropping and rotations are very important in organic farming.
Design an agroforestry system or an agricultural system using intercropping or a rotation
which is suitable for organic farming and explain why this is the case! (10 points)

13. Social standards and Fair-Trade (in addition to organic farming standards) become more
and more important in the organic sector. Why is this the case? (6 points)

C: Organic Farming Facts and Figures Dr. Zikeli

Graph 1 shows the ten countries
the most agricultural land under
organic management in the year
Please explain the distribution of
area!

with
2006.
the

Why are so many European

countries among the ten
countries?
Why is Australia
the leading country?

Australia with 12 mill. hectare is the largest one because of high proportion of grassland and pasture
followed by china (around 2 million hectare), Argentina(2 m.h.) and USA which are big countries with
high proportion of grassland and pasture, Italia , Uruguay,Spain, Brizil ,Germany and UKaround 1 m.h.
And in all of these countries there are large areas of certified organic land, large market of import and
export of organic products, Local markets are well established, large awareness among consumers,
strong growth in the recent years, existence of organic regulation and government support organic
agriculture (e.g. subsidies)
Australia has the highest proportion of permanent grassland and has large extensive livestock
production.

2. Table 1 shows the revenues per capita in the different member states of the EU and the total
revenues for organic products per country.

Why do the per capita revenues

differ between European countries
e.g. Austria and Poland? Explain
also the differences in revenues per
country!
I think reasons of high revenue per
capital is market price of product, high
demand
by
consumer
and
governmental support and revenue per
country is related to size of the country
amount of organic land (proportion of).
(However I didnt find anything related
these in any slid!!)

like

and
to

3. Graph 1 shows the percentage of land use for different agricultural systems. Explain why the
distribution of permanent grassland, arable land and permanent crops differ between the
continents.

3. I think the reasons for these different of distribution on grassland and pasture in the countries relate
to climate and water availabilities like in Australia the poor soil condition and less water availability and
on the other hand large areas leads to more extensive agriculture production specially livestock
production (it is almost the same in the Latin America) in the USA. In area with high proportion of
permanent crops I think reason is the climatic reason and more perennial crops as wild collections. I
also think large areas in big countries and export are reasons on this distributions.

4. Below you find two figures showing the distribution of organic farm land and of

organic farmers world wide. Explain the differences!

I think organic producers (farmers) are also covering noncertified wild collection and include all the
activities as organic but farm lands are related to organic certified lands.
For example in Africa and Asia there are lots of uncertified organic lands in huge areas.
5.The per-capita spendings on organic food vary considerably in European countries. For
example, every Danish consumer spent on the average about 143 on organic food in 2011
while consumers in Poland spent only 1.50 . Discuss the reasons! (5 points)

6.a) Name two countries with a high per capita consumption and two countries with a low per
capita consumption of organic products! (2 points)
6.b) Why does the per capita consumption of organic products differ in the countries you
named above? Explain the reasons for these differences! (10 points)

D: Conversion to Organic Farming

1. The design of rotations plays an important role in Organic Farming and farmers
have to change rotations when they convert to organic farming. In Table 1 you
find the rotation of the conventional research station Meiereihof and of the
organic research station Kleinhohenheim. Please explain why they are different
and give reasons for the selection of crops!

a. Conventional: the rotation system of the conventional farm is short (only 3 years) with a high
proportion of cereals and interestingly including catch crops after them.
b. Organic
Crop rotations in organic farming:
- are designed to increase soil fertility & nutrient availability, microbial activity and soil organic matter in
the long term.
- should promote changes between cereals and tubers, field vegetable and corn as a measure to
reduce disease pressure
- include soil cover (i.e. undersown clover grass) to prevent soil erosion and as a source of organic
matter
Clover grass:
being a legume, is the most important source of Nitrogen in organic farming, as no mineral
syntethic fertilizers are allowed.
- and other legumes are usually/ideally grown prior to a Nitrogen demanding plant like cereals.
- acts as a tool for biological weed control it is very competitve, suppressing weeds; frequent
cuttings weaken perennial weed.
- 2-years of clover grass induce a resting period to enhance biological activity and SOM
contents.
2. A farmer doing pig fattening wants to convert to organic farming. Would you recommend
that he should continue with the pig fattening? Give reasons for your decision! (10 points)
- The market for organic pork meat has been increasing over the past years and demand will
continue to grow = access to price premium!
- If the following aspects are fulfiled, I would recommend him/her to continue with pig fattening:

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

He/she has financial means to invest in adapting the buidlings to provide an outdoor
area to the animals
He/she can afford a reduction in the number of animals
Most of the feed can be organically grown on farm
Only a small amount of supplement feed needs to be bought off farm.
Only breeds best adapted to local conditions must be chosen.
Straw for bedding is available on farm
No tail docking is practiced

3. A poultry farmer doing egg production wants to convert to organic farming. Would you
recommend that he should continue with the egg production as an organic farmer? Give
reasons for your decision! (10 points)
4. A farmer who runs a farm with intensive egg production wants to convert to organic farming.
Do you see any problems for him? What would you recommend? (10 points)
I would recommend him/her to continue with egg production if he / she is willing to accept the
following changes:
- He/she has financial means to invest in adapting the buidlings: creation of aviaries and/or
percheries & access to outdoor spaces is necessary.
- Reduction of the number of animals
- To keep laying hens in group cages or in a run is completely banned in organic farming.
- Most of the feed can be organically grown on farm and only a small amount of supplement
feed needs to be bought off farm.
- Slow growing breeds need to be adopted
- The use of prophylactic medicine is not allowed
5. A farmer who runs a farm with intensive milk production wants to convert to
organic farming. Do you see any problems for him? What would you recommend?(10 points)
- He / she needs to prove the compatibility of existings structures with organic farming
requirements: costly construction adaptations might be necessary
- A radical change in the nutrition regime is needed: organic feeding has to be based on high
quality silage, grass & hay. Cows might have difficulties to adapt to this new diet, if they were
previously fed with concentrates
- A decrease in the milk yields is to be expected.
- Access to outdoor areas
- Pasture management, rotations (ley farming, clover grass) need to be
introduced/adapted.
- Changes in health management are necessary: The use of prophylactic medicine is not
allowed; diseases and fertility problems might occur
6. A conventional farmer is producing suckler beef in an extensive management system. Do
you recommend that he should convert to organic farming? What does he have to change?
Where do you see problems? (10 points)

7. Conventional farmer is producing milk. He owns a herd of 200 dairy cows with high milk
yields of 10.000 l on the average per animal and year. Do you recommend that he should
convert to organic farming? What does he have to change? Where do you see problems? (10
points)

8. Why are farmers converting to organic farming? Give five reasons! (5 points)

9. A farmer who keeps large herd sizes of laying hens wants to convert to organic farming.
What do you recommend him? Which challenges will occur for him? (10)

E: Soil management in Organic Farming

1. Many studies find that in arable fields under organic management earthworm
populations are larger and more diverse than under conventional management.
Give three reasons for this! (3 points)
a. No pesticides use
b. Clover grass rest periods lead to high reproduction of earthworms
c. High inputs of organic matter via cover crops, perennial lay and organic manure that represent a
good feed supply for earthworms
2. Name five measures applied in Organic Farming to maintain soil organic matter contents in
soils! (5 points)
a. Addition of organic matter like organic manure, clover grass, mucuna tree species, cover crops
b. Keep crop residues in the system
c. Reduction of tillage operations to prevent excessive mineralisation

d. Adequate cropping system , e. Protect biodiversity and enhance soil biota

3. Organic Farming prevents soil erosion is this statement true? Name the pros and cons in a
short hand fashion!
(8 points)
OF contributes to prevent soil erosion, but can also be responsible of enhancing it.
Prevention:
a. Soil cover (cover crops, undersown clover grass)
b. High contents of organic matter and increased soil biological activity
c. Long rotations (high proportion of clover grass)
d. Small proportion of i.e. corn / sugar beets: late soil cover increases susceptibility to erosion at
early development stages
Enhancement:
a. Intensive tillage operations
b. Wider rows in cereals/vegetable production to facilitate mechanical weeding
c. Slower development of seedlings due to a decreased availability of nutrients
4. Often, soil organic carbon contents are higher in organic farming than in conventional
farming. Graph 2 shows the comparison of soil organic carbon contents of the trial plots of a
system comparison trial between two different organic systems and a conventional farming
system. One organic system includes animal husbandry (Animal), the other organic system
is stockless but uses legumes as catch crops frequently in the rotation (Legumes). The
columns 1981 show the soil organic carbon content of the trial plots before conversion; the
columns 2002 show the soil organic matter content after 10 years of organic management.
Here you find the rotations of the three farming systems:
Conventional: 5 years: maize, maize, soy bean, maize, soy bean, with mineral
fertiliser, crop residues are left on the fields
Organic Animal: 5 years: Maize, rye as catch crop, soy bean, rye as catch crop,
maize for silage, winter wheat, red clover / alfalfa, fertilisation of maize with farmyard manure
Organic Legume: 3 years: Maize, rye as catch crop, soy bean, winter wheat, hairy vetch (legume) as
catch crop
Explain the differences in soil carbon contents of the plots under organic and
conventional management in 2002! Give reasons for the differences! (10 points)
Graph 2: Soil organic matter contents in
the research trials of the Rodale Institute
Farming Systems Trials (Pennsylvania)
before conversion in 1981 and in 2002.
Different letters show statistically significant
differences (Duncan-Test; p < 0,05; NSD =
no significant differences, Source: Pimentel
et al., 2005)

The chosen cropping system has a

direct influence on the content of organic carbon. The results demonstrate that the fields under
organic management have the greatest enhancement of organic matter.

The best performing/most successful system in terms of carbon content is the animal system
using farmyard manure, which represents one of the best sources for humus reproduction (ca.
28 kg SOM-C/ ton fresh matter up to 40 if composted).
The animal system has a long crop rotation (5 years) including legumes (soybean & red
clover / alfalfa) that are fertility building crops.
Rye as catch/cover crop is a high-yielding source of crop residues (dry matter 70 dt/ha; 2800
kg C/ha just as high as alfalfa).
Alfalfa is an excellent source of organic matter reserve ( between +600 to +800 kg SOM-C/ha
and year).

The legume system also adds organic matter by including catch crops (rye and hairy vetch) and winter
wheat that is a good source of crop residues.
The slight increase in the conventional system can be partly explained by the fact that crop residues
are left on the fields.
5. The figure presents the
earthworm biomass on organic
fields depending on soil tillage
fertilisation.

and

The rototiller represents a tillage

system with a very shallow tillage
without turning the soil, the
plough represents an intensive
tillage system which includes the
turning of the soil.
Explain the graph! Which tillage
system would you recommend to
organic farmer?

an

Discuss the pros and cons of both tillage systems!

The graph shows that the less invasive tillage system (rototiller) combined with organic fertilisation
contribute to a higher presence of earthworms (g/m2).
I would recommend a farmer to reduce tillage:
- to enhance biological activity, as it means less direct injuries of organisms and keeps their
habitat intact.
- To avoid soil compaction and erosion.
However, in organic farming tillage is necessary especially:
a. for mechanical weeding
b. for burying remains/residues of previous crops
c. and studies have reported higher yields when intensive tillage has been practiced (system trial
Scheyern in Germany).
6. An organic farmer cultivating organic apples and an organic farmer cultivating potatoes
want to use copper as a fungicide.
a) Are they allowed to do so? (2 points)

b) Are there any restrictions in the amount of copper used per year according to the EU
regulation? (2 points)
c) Do you see any environmental problems related to copper use? (6 points)
a) Cu is a heavy metal; its used in blight control (potato production) and as a fungicide in
vineyards so yes they are allowed to use it.
b) The copper content shall not be higher than 10 mg/kg. It didnt say about per year. (as Cu has
a low volatility, spraying poses only a very low risk for humans, by Zikeli).
c) The environmental problems are the long-term contamination of the soil and affect soil
organisms e.g. earthworms; effects on water quality seem to be negligible.
7. Organic farming can be seen as a strategy to prevent soil erosion. Name two positive
aspects of organic farming related to erosion control and explain them shortly! (4 points)

8. The figure below shows the soil organic matter stocks per ha in top soils under conventional
(N=71) and organic management (N=47). Describe the graph! Are there differences between
the two farming systems? Discuss the reasons why!
(10 points)

9. Name two strategies to increase soil organic matter content in organic farming! (2 points)

10.
The graph above shows the impact of different rotations on soil organic carbon content.
Describe the graph! What is the reason for the differences in soil organic carbon (Corg)
content? (8 points)

11. Many rotations in organic farming use clover grass and other perennial leys to enhance soil
fertility.
Assume that a perennial grassland is ploughed and two different rotations are cropped in a
field trial:
Rotation 1: sugar beet cereals potatoes
Rotation 2: clover grass clover grass cereals potatoes field beans cereals
The first rotation receives synthetic NPK fertilisers, but no farmyard manure. The second
rotation receives once in rotation period 50 t ha-1solid farm yard manure, but no synthetic NPK
fertiliser.
How do these rotations and the fertilisation affect soil organic matter contents? Draw the
development of soil organic carbon contents for both rotations in the graph below. Give a
short explanation for the development!
(7 points)

12. An organic farmer cultivating organic apples and an organic farmer cultivating potatoes
want to use copper as a fungicide.
a) Are they allowed to do so? (2 points)
b) Are there any restrictions in the amount of copper used per year according to the EU
regulation? (2 points)
c) Do you see any environmental problems related to copper use? (6 points)

F: Nitrate and pesticides

1. Table 2 shows a comparison of soil nitrate levels in conventional and organic arable fields at
a location (Windsor) in North Dakota, United States. Please explain the research results
shown in the table! Give reasons for the differences between the conventional and the
organic sites!
Table 2: Post-harvest soil nitrate levels to 122 cm for conventional and organic fields at the
Windsor location.