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Haughley Experiment

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The Haughley Experiment was the first comparison of organic farming and conventional farming,[1][2] started in 1939 by Lady Eve Balfour and Alice Debenham, on two adjoining farms in Haughley Green, Suffolk, England.[3] It was based on an idea that farmers were over-reliant on fertilizers, that livestock, crops and the soil should be treated as a whole system,[4] and that "natural" farming produced food which was in some way more wholesome than food produced with more intensive methods.[5] Lady Balfour believed that mankind's future and human health were dependent on how the soil was treated, and ran the experiment to generate scientific data that would support these beliefs.[5]

Deborah Stinner, an entomologist, has written that by modern standards the Haughley experiment was more of a "demonstration" than a true experiment because it lacked methodological rigour, and it is thus not possible to draw any firm conclusions from its outputs.[6]

Findings reported by the Haughley experiment included:

  1. Levels of available minerals in the soil fluctuate according to the season, maximum levels coinciding with the time of maximum plant demand and these fluctuations were significantly greater in the organic plots.
  2. Vegetative mineral levels remained as high or higher in the organic plots even without receiving the mineral inputs that the conventional plots had.
  3. Organic fed animals required from 12-15% less input of food, were healthier, and lived longer than their conventional counterparts.
  4. Increased yields.[3][7][8]

In the early 1980s just before it ceased operation, properties of the three sections were measured and showed differences in earthworm density, crop root depth, and soil properties including soil carbon, moisture and, surprisingly, temperature.[9]

Discover more about Haughley Experiment related topics

Organic farming

Organic farming

Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Organic farming continues to be developed by various organizations today. Biological pest control, mixed cropping and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are generally prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur and Ivermectin. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming advocates claim advantages in sustainability, openness, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, food security, and food safety.

Lady Eve Balfour

Lady Eve Balfour

Lady Evelyn Barbara Balfour, was a British farmer, educator, organic farming pioneer, and a founding figure in the organic movement. She was one of the first women to study agriculture at an English university, graduating from the institution now known as the University of Reading.

Haughley

Haughley

Haughley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk, about two miles from Stowmarket in the Mid Suffolk District. The village is located 2 miles (3.2 km) miles northwest of the town of Stowmarket, overlooking the Gipping valley, next to the A14 corridor. The population recorded in 2011 was 1,638. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, it was the site of a castle, a church on the pilgrim's route to Bury St Edmunds Abbey, and a market. Adjacent farms on the north side of the village were also home to one of the first studies of organic farming and the first headquarters of the Soil Association.

Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket, and Felixstowe which has one of the largest container ports in Europe.

England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Soil carbon

Soil carbon

Soil carbon is the solid carbon stored in global soils. This includes both soil organic matter and inorganic carbon as carbonate minerals. Soil carbon is a carbon sink in regard to the global carbon cycle, playing a role in biogeochemistry, climate change mitigation, and constructing global climate models.

Source: "Haughley Experiment", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 4th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haughley_Experiment.

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References
  1. ^ White, Kim Kennedy; Duram, Leslie A (2013). America Goes Green: An Encyclopedia of Eco-friendly Culture in the United States. California: ABC-CLIO. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-59884-657-7.
  2. ^ "LADY EVE BALFOUR". IFOAM. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b Balfour, Lady Eve. "Towards a Sustainable Agriculture—The Living Soil". Canberra Organic Growers Society Soil And Health Library. IFOAM. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  4. ^ "The Haughley Experiment". Nature. 179 (4558): 514. 1957. Bibcode:1957Natur.179T.514.. doi:10.1038/179514d0.
  5. ^ a b Gordon, Ian (2004). Reproductive Technologies in Farm Animals. CABI. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-0-85199-049-1.
  6. ^ Stinner, Deborah (1 January 2007). Lockeretz, William (ed.). Chapter 4: Science of Organic Farming. Organic Farming: An International History. CABI. pp. 50–. ISBN 978-1-84593-289-3.
  7. ^ Widdowson, R.W. (1987). "Towards Holistic Agriculture: A Scientific Approach". Pergamon: London.
  8. ^ Blakemore RJ (2018). "Critical Decline of Earthworms from Organic Origins under Intensive, Humic SOM-Depleting Agriculture". Soil Systems. 2 (2:33: tab. 16): 33. doi:10.3390/soilsystems2020033.
  9. ^ Blakemore RJ (2000). "Ecology of Earthworms under the 'Haughley Experiment' of Organic and Conventional Management Regimes". Biological Agriculture & Horticulture. 18 (2): 141–159. doi:10.1080/01448765.2000.9754876. S2CID 85386290.
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