Organic farms boost biodiversity

Is organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming? Well, it’s certainly better for biodiversity, UK researchers say. 

Organic paddocks and farms contain on average 30 per cent more species than paddocks managed using conventional methods, according to a meta-analysis of 94 previous studies dating back to 1989. 

The study’s co-author, Associate Professor Lindsay Turnbull, of Oxford University, writing in The Conversation, says the difference is so marked, particularly in areas that have a lot of conventional farms, that it might be worth deliberately scattering organic farms around the landscape, or grouping them together in conservation areas.

More organic farms may offer a lifeline to Britain’s formerly common, but now threatened, bird species, Professor Turnbull says.