Tuesday, September 23, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 3
make a comebae
'U yrm it-' Lis- ;W
Natural farming
research at UNL
helps lower costs
By Andy Jacobitz
Staff Reporter
With the recent trend among con
sumers toward "natural" foods and the
need for many farm producers to reduce
production costs, many farmers have
become interested in returning to an
organic style of farming.
The NU Institute of Agriculture and
Natural Resources is in the forefront of
organic farming experimentation, said
Dr. Warren Sahs of the UNL Depart
ment of Agronomy.
Sahs has been working with an insti
tute experiment on organic farming.
He said, however, that as researchers
they call it "alternative agriculture"
instead of organic farming because the
term organic farming carries many
negative connotations.
Whatever the term used, this type of
farming is described by the United
States Department of Agriculture as a
production system that avoids or lar
gely excludes the use of synthetically
compounded fertilizers, pesticides and
growth regulators. It relies on crop
rotations, crop residues, animal man
ures, mechanical cultivation and aspects
of biological pest control. The purpose
is to maintain soil productivity, to
supply necessary plant nutrients and
to control insects, weeds and other
pests.
Sahs said the experiment began in
1975 and was prompted by a concern
for environmental food safety and water
safety. The experiment is funded by
federal Cooperative State Regional
Research Funds and has recently been
approved for another five years.
Sahs said that in the 1930s and '40s,
crops were grown on a rotation basis
with different crops grown in different
years. When anhydrous ammonia came
into use as a fertilizer, continuous
cropping became popular because the
needed nutrients in the soil could be
replaced with synthetic fertilizer.
Now many farm producers are look
ing at alternative farming as an oppor
tunity to lower costs. Sahs said alterna
tive agriculture eliminates the cost of
chemical fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides. He said that alternative
agriculture is a form of soil conserva
tion and is better for groundwater. He
also said that some people just can't
work with chemicals because of physi
cal reactions to them.
Researchers using dry-land test plots
compared convent ional continuous corn
to a four-year rotational system of corn,
soybeans, corn and oats and clover. The
organic treatment made use of feedlot
manure only. The only weed control
was cultivation, whereas the conven
tional corn plot made use of all syn
thetic fertilizers, perticides and herbi
cides commonly used by producers.
Sahs said that the results varied in
the test years. In years of drought and
stress, such as 1980, 1983 and 1984, the
manure rotation plot outyielded the
conventional plot. In years of good rain
fall, such as 1981 and 1982, the conven
tional plot did better. He also said that
many differences could be noted in soil
profiles. More nutrients and organic
material accumulated in the soil of the
organic plot, creating a better overall
soil profile, but the changes were slow
and gradual, he said.
Sahs said that economically, organic
farming can compete with conventional
farming if a producer does not have to
pay for the manure used. The gross
return may not be as high as is conven
tional farming, but the net return is. All
economic comparisons were based on
regular market prices. Some organic
producers, however, do receive bonuses
for their products.
Sahs said that indirectly, many
farmers are becoming interested in
alternative farming. It provides less
costs and fits well with many current
farming operations, and with the recent
decline in farm commodity prices, more
producers may consider this alterna
tive, he said.
oosalis doesn't support state lottery
BOOSALIS from Page 1
Other states in our area are not get
ting the return they expected, she said,
only about 48 cents on the dollar.
Also Nebraska isn't big enough to
support a lottery and organized crime
usually follows, she said.
About her philosophy of government,
Boosalis said she believes people should
be a part of the decisions that affect
their lives.
"Government is the people," she
said, "and we should encourage them
to d as much as possible for themselves."
Regarding the death penalty, Boosa
lis said it should be used as an option
in the most vicious crimes.
Commenting on President Reagan's
impending visit to Omaha to campaign
for Kay Orr, Boosalis said it will bring a
lot of money to Orr's campaign.
Boosalis emphasized her leadership
skills were demonstrated during her
eight years as mayor of Lincoln.
During that time, she said she kept a
lid on taxes and people paid a lower
proportion of their incomes when she
left office than they did when she went
into office.
"Because I did it for the city of Lin
coln I can do it for Nebraska," she said.
"H7iere do J go to place a classified ad in the Daily Nebraskan?"
3TKi
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ieeir
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4418 Farnam
Omaha, Ne.
556-1599
600 N. Cotner
Suite 116
466-0219
(7.
(r
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from 2-6 pm
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in PIONEERS PARK
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Sates Open At 1:00 Tickets s3
Sponsored by:
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Special Contributions by:
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IT"
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