"In the last 15 years, I have been on 150-200 organic farms," he said, "and on about the same number of conventional farms. At every organic farm, the farmer has always shown me the soil. They always say, 'Look at the earthworms and look at the structure.' They are thinking the soil is part of the system. I have never been shown soil by a conventional farmer."
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Washington Apple Study Finds Organic Growing Is Best
Agriculture: The method would help the state's struggling farmers produce sweeter and more profitable fruit, researchers say.
California and the West
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His report describes organic farming as having "a profound impact on soil quality, enhancing soil structure and fertility and increasing water infiltration and storage."
This, said Andy Dolph, the farmer who managed the test plots for Reganold, is what accounted for the better-tasting, sweeter and firmer apple reported in the Nature study.
"Because the trees are in a more nutrient-rich soil, an evenly balanced soil, they impart that to the apples," he said. The cell structure and sweetness of organic fruit is better than fast growth resulting from fertilizer, he said, adding that organic fruit stores better, too.
