Organic Versus Conventional Comparisons – a Devil without Details.

The organic agricultural sector has grown and evolved considerably over the past 20 years, which has in turn encouraged considerable research comparing organic versus conventional systems.  However, despite the development of the USDA and other organic certification standards, it is important to acknowledge that these standards allow a range of practices and inputs.  As a result not all organic systems are equal or inherently sustainable -  the same can be said for conventional systems, which also may use ‘organic’ practices to various degrees.  This diversity complicates interpretation of comparison studies and has increasingly lead some researchers to highlight the need to focus on specific management practices rather than on the broad and potentially misleading labels of ‘organic’ and ‘conventional’.  We agree with this sentiment, but are concerned that not all studies provide adequate management detail to enable readers to know what is being compared.  This presentation will provide a brief overview of comparison studies in the literature and provide a check list of details that we consider critical to make meaningful comparisons.  Our presentation will draw from our experience with managing long-term systems studies that include organic systems in California and Maryland.  We will use a novel presentation method to convey our message, increase interaction, and invite input.  Hopefully this will ensure that limited research funds promote more sustainable management practices in both organic and conventional systems.