One factor preventing some farmers from making the switch to organic crops is the fact that their yields will likely decrease.
While it can be hard to see crop production decline by 19 to 25 per cent, some researchers feel that may not be the case in the future.
Speaking recently at the University of Guelph, Carlo Leifert of Newcastle University, reported organic wheat yields today are now beyond conventional wheat production in the 1980s.
He compared organic and conventional crops to the tortoise and the hare.
As conventional intensification has intensified, global food production has doubled over the last 40 years, but the use of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium has gone up by 5 to 7 times that amount.
Leifert feels over time organic production may someday overtake conventional methods, as environmental factors become an increasingly bigger issue.
The university also notes profits are what drives farm businesses.
In 2015, profits were 22 to 35 per cent higher on organic farms.
