I must admit that I don't really have the background to process your comment.
Can you... give a paragraph or two on what normal is and what organic farmers are doing differently to cause the difference?
Can you... give a paragraph or two on what normal is and what organic farmers are doing differently to cause the difference?
One of them is seeds themselves. Modern GMOs, more than being about being resistant to specific herbicides, are about built in pest control. It's part of the sales pitch to farmers: Buy this new seed, and you'll spend less in pesticides. With a traditional seed, a farmer gets to either lose a lot of yield, or use pesticides. Organic farming doesn't ban all pesticides: Some are considered natural, and are used a whole lot to protect the crop.
The problem is that organic pesticides are not necessarily less toxic for humans, or less likely to harm the environment. In fact, some organic pesticides are very toxic, even though they are 'natural'. It get worse when we take into account that they have to be used in large quantities. Practical toxicity is affected by how much we use, and then ho much actually 'leaks out' of the farm.
We also have the lower yields: A more 'natural' seed tends to yield less in practice, so to get the same number of bushels, you need to plant more plants, and protect more plants. Welcome less forests, and more pesticides!
So the picture of toxicity and environmental impact of organic vs GMO+synthetic pesticides is pretty complicated.
Organic is a label, that while better than conventional is not to be blindly accepted as a panacea--that is why the community part of CSA should not be forgotten.
Which pesticides were being used on your farm? And did the farm lose organic certification.
But even more - what has pesticide use got to do with top-soil loss? I'm not quite clear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification
It's a classic Appeal to nature tactic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature