Speed of conversion

Another major issue in organics is whether conversions should be slow or fast. Some organic leaders say "you can't be half pregnant and you can't be half organic". They will not accept semi-converted (half-organic, half-conventional) farms or planned conversion-over-time. Their religious fervour over the concept of a dramatic and instantaneous 'conversion' is why some others avoid the term altogether in favour of 'transition', accepting that it won’t be an instantaneous change.

The concern over this point of conversion or transition is explained by the prior commitment of those who decided to make this cathartic change and because of the totality of their commitment. Conversion is not a decision made easily because the implication is that there will be no retreat (although in fact a delay or even reversal of some planned actions is a feature of most conversions). Many growers refer to their conversion to organic as ‘cold turkey’, an intersting refernce to both the suddenness of the change and the weaning of land off of synthetic ‘chemical’ dependency.

In the final analysis, only the farmer can decide how fast to convert, as only the farmer has the whole picture of the agronomic, economic and social pressures on the farm.