But Reganold found one scenario where the research shows that organic yields are consistently greater than conventional: during periods of drought. Organic soil is built up with organic material, which can hold onto water, he says. That means that by the time a farmer plants and grows a crop, the plant has access to more water, so yields increase. For every inch of rainwater soaked up by soil, a plant can produce another 7-8 bushels of wheat, Reganold says.
Organic farming typically uses less energy, too. “When you look at ecosystem services, organic agriculture really shines,” he says. “The value they bring in areas like biodiversity, pollination, soil quality—if you were to put an economic value on those, and some researchers have, then it more than makes up for the higher price or price premium of organic food.”
A 2015 meta-analysis about the economics of organic farming, published in the journal PNAS, even determined that organic farming is more profitable than conventional, earning farmers 22% to 35% more money. They determined that the organic price premium (which was around 30% in the study) only had to be about 5% for organic profits to break even with conventional.