Produce planted in fields that have been used for decades with pestacides allowed to be considered "organic"?

Question

When labeling something as "organic," do they simply look at the fact that no pesticides were applied to the current crop, or do they actually test the produce (or the soil) for contaminants?

Answer 1

Legally, in Texas, if a field has not received chemical fertilizer and/or pesticides for three years (36 months sequentially), it (the field) can now be considered organic.  I believe that is the standard found acceptable by most regulatory agencies.

Answer 2

Jazz, you have a good question here and have the best answer as well, hopefully you can give yourself 10 points.  

Agriculture includes everyone, we do not label ourselves here as some folks in other areas of this website.  If you eat food then you are involved in agriculture, period!

Are there issues involved with pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and just science in general, absolutely.  To what degree do we take this can be the talking point for everyone hear.  We can talk till we are blue in the face of the benefits and disadvantages of using anything or everything man-made to raise our food crops.

I do believe that our biological sciences that have been developed through governmental and private business, in the big picture, have our best interests.  Only in a country where food is in an abundance do we have the opportunity to scrutinize our systems as you may be with your question.  Again, I do believe that this is a good thing, yet we must be careful so that we do not bite the hand that feeds us, at least too hard.

Commercial agriculture as opposed to small hobby farms or organic operations will not survive to feed the masses if we stopped using the products that the organics oppose.  I have been on tours of organic operations of cattle and crops.  Bugs, flies, weeds are all a major challenge to the organic crop.  Milk production on the organic farm was one third of a regular farms production.  Flies were a problem, they did not have veterinary products available to help resolve reproductive issues on the organic farm and cows in turn were culled from the herd.  Animals under organic production do not lead a happier life and can often be a shorter life if antibiotics or other medicinals are not made available.

The agronomy side of organics is equally challenged.  Are genetically altered GMO crops a benefit or boon-doggle.  I am not aware of what farmers everywhere throughout the midwest would have used to ward off the recent infestation of Japanese beetles without the use of man made chemicals.  We have issues of fungus, insects, weeds; a weak American dollar which is driving the cost of everything through the roof and somehow the farmer is supposed to make a profit.  

I am not sure what side of the fence in which you come from, yet I hope that you spend some time on the farmers side to learn about the issues at hand and help to become a part of a better solution and not a divided one.  Farmers need new technology and new ideas to continue advancing their farm operations.

Answer 3

This is the time of year when a lot of farmer are very busy, and your giving us guff about not answering quickly?  Hmmm....  

Harvest (wheat) is about to start, everyone is working like crazy.

When the Government stepped in and first made rules and regulation about organic, it use to be no chemicals on the land/crops for SEVEN years, and farmer who sold $10,000 or more a year had to become certified.

Then the big boys who owned the agra business companies stepped in, and got the laws changed.

They had the number of years reduced from seven, to three, because that bennifited the major agribusiness companies a lot.  

They also got it lowered from $10,000 a year in sales, to $5,000 a year in sales, because that again benifited agrabusiness companies, and drove even more small farmers out of business. The major agribusiness companies already knew they would have FAR more than $10,000 a year in sales.  It was a real boon to them to drive even more small farmers out of business, or at least make it so they couldn't use the word, "organic."

The agribusiness companies are also getting the organic laws changed further, to allow more borderline chemicals to use on their crops.  They are also trying to lobby to allow GMO crops to be labled as organic.

Agribusiness companies have made so much money with the sales of "organics" they sought to drive the knife even further into small farmers.  They had their lobbiest begin to challenge the small farmers who stopped using the word "organic," and instead started to use the prase "grow with nature" or "grown as nature intended".

Those two phrase are now about to also be controlled by the Government, via the major agribusiness companies.

Certified farms are inspected once a year by the Government.  The farms pay the Government for the privilage of being inspected.

Do you want true "organics" and good wholesome food, then buy from small farmers like myself, who raise both crops AND livestock on the same farm.  Manure from the livestock is used to fertilize the crops.  Manures were not transported, and my livestock lives healthy, and happy lives on pastures, and in herds/flocks just as they should.

Bit hypoctical for vegans to be purchasing organics, most of which are grown with manures transported from confinment/factory farms.

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

Answer 4

Before certifying as organic they do look test soil as well as produce for any residue.  If u are not using pesticide for last 3-4 years then there are chances that u can get it certified.

Answer 5

Bohemian, I respect you a lot but the USDA NOP has always had the 3 year to trasition rule and that was based on the OEFFA/CCOF/MOGFA/NOFA 3 year to transition rule that I had to follow when my farm was certified organic for 8 years. the reason for this short transition period is due to the fact most people entering the organic farming game cannot afford to wait 7 to 15 years to be able to sell their crops as organic. thus we get this arbitrary number of 3 years.

The reality is soil will not be truly organic for at least 7 years (and more like 15 years) if the soil was heavily contaminated for decades by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. These chemicals do a lot of long term damage to soil life and huge machinery does a lot of damage to soil structure

if you want real organics buy from local sources. Find farms that have been certified organic for at least 8 years or are no longer certified organic due to disgust with the USDA (this is my case-I am not certified any longer, cannot legally use the "O" word but still manage my farm as if it were certified. I understand the synergy of the farm and know using any chemicals will badly upset things so I avoid such like the plague)

The USDA seal on corporate items can be a bunch of greenwashing, especially milk. Check out http://www.organicconsumers.org for a lot of information about the state of USDA organics and the companies that are certified. they tell the good the bad and the ugly (and there is a lot of ugly out there)