Is organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming?

Organic farming avoids synthetic inputs like synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and GMOs (genetically modified organisms), while conventional farming uses these inputs.

Organic farming allows some non-synthetic chemicals approved by the USDA National Organic Program.

In livestock, organic farming restricts antibiotics and requires animals to graze outdoors, whereas conventional farming has no such constraints.

These differences shape farming methods: conventional farming often uses synthetic herbicides, enabling low-till techniques, while organic farming relies more on mechanical weed control or mulching.

The debate over which system is better for the environment is complex and often oversimplified.