. On organic farms, where the importation of materials to build/maintain soil fertility is restricted, it is important that a balance between inputs and outputs of nutrients is achieved to ensure both short‐term productivity and long‐term sustainability. This paper considers different approaches to nutrient budgeting on organic farms and evaluates the sources of bias in the measurements and/or estimates of the nutrient inputs and outputs. The paper collates 88 nutrient budgets compiled at the farm scale in nine temperate countries. All the nitrogen (N) budgets showed an N surplus (average 83.2 kg N ha–1 yr–1). The efficiency of N use, defined as outputs/inputs, was highest (0.9) and lowest (0.2) in arable and beef systems respectively. The phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) budgets showed both surpluses and deficits (average 3.6 kg P ha–1 yr–1, 14.2 kg K ha–1 yr–1) with horticultural systems showing large surpluses resulting from purchased manure. The estimation of N fixation and quantities of nutrients in purchased manures may introduce significant errors in nutrient budgets. Overall, the data illustrate the diversity of management systems in place on organic farms, and suggest that used together with soil analysis, nutrient budgets are a useful tool for improving the long‐term sustainability of organic systems.

A total of 602 samples of organically and conventionally grown barley, oats and wheat was collected at grain harvest during 2002–2004 in Norway. Organic and conventional samples were comparable pairs regarding cereal species, growing site and harvest time, and were analysed for Fusarium mould and mycotoxins. Agronomic and climatic factors explained 10–30% of the variation in Fusarium species and mycotoxins. Significantly lower Fusarium infestation and concentrations of important mycotoxins were found in the organic cereals. The mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and HT-2 toxin (HT-2) constitute the main risk for human and animal health in Norwegian cereals. The impacts of various agronomic and climatic factors on DON and HT-2 as well as on their main producers F. graminearum and F. langsethiae and on total Fusarium were tested by multivariate statistics. Crop rotation with non-cereals was found to reduce all investigated characteristics significantly – mycotoxin concentrations as well as various Fusarium infestations. No use of mineral fertilisers and herbicides was also found to decrease F. graminearum, whereas lodged fields increased the occurrence of this species. No use of herbicides was also found to decrease F. langsethiae, but for this species the occurrence was lower in lodged fields. Total Fusarium infestation was decreased with no use of fungicides or mineral fertilisers, and with crop rotation, as well as by using herbicides and increased by lodged fields. Clay and to some extent silty soils seemed to reduce F. graminearum in comparison with sandy soils. Concerning climate factors, low temperature before grain harvest was found to increase DON; and high air humidity before harvest to increase HT-2. F. graminearum was negatively correlated with precipitation in July but correlated with air humidity before harvest. F. langsethiae was correlated with temperature in July. Total Fusarium increased with increasing precipitation in July. Organic cereal farmers have fewer cereal intense rotations than conventional farmers. Further, organic farmers do not apply mineral fertiliser or pesticides (fungicides, herbicides or insecticides), and have less problem with lodged fields. The study showed that these agronomic factors were related to the infestation of Fusarium species and the concentration of mycotoxins. Hence, it is reasonable to conclude that farming system (organic versus conventional) impacts Fusarium infestation, and that organic management tends to reduce Fusarium and mycotoxins. However, Fusarium infestation and mycotoxin concentrations may be influenced by a range of factors not studied here, such as local topography and more local climate, as well as cereal species and variety.

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Organic agriculture can and should play an important role in solving future challenges in producing food. The low level of external inputs combined with knowledge on sustainablity minimizes environmental contamination and can help to produce more food for more people without negatively impacting our

a b s t r a c tThis article examines the characteristics of and reasons for Norwegian farmers' ceasing or planning to cease certified organic production. We gathered cross-sectional survey data in late 2007 from organic farmers deregistering between January 2004 and September 2007 (n ¼ 220), and similar data from a random sample of farmers with certified organic management in 2006 (n ¼ 407). Of the respondents deregistering by November 2007, 17% had quit farming altogether, 61% now farmed conventionally, and 21% were still farming by organic principles, but without certification. Nearly one in four organic farmers in 2007 indicated that they planned to cease certification within the next 5e10 years. From the two survey samples, we categorised farmers who expect to be deregistered in 5e10 years into three groups: conventional practices (n ¼ 139), continuing to farm using organic principles (uncertified organic deregistrants, n ¼ 105), and stopped farming (n ¼ 33). Of the numerous differences among these groups, two were most striking: the superior sales of uncertified organic deregistrants through consumer-direct marketing and the lowest shares of organic land among conventional deregistrants. We summarised a large number of reasons for deregistering into five factors through factor analysis: economics, regulations, knowledge-exchange, production, and market access. Items relating to economics and regulations were the primary reasons offered for opting out. The regression analysis showed that the various factors were associated with several explanatory variables. Regulations, for example, figured more highly among livestock farmers than crop farmers. The economic factor strongly reflected just a few years of organic management. Policy recommendations for reducing the number of dropouts are to focus on economics, environmental attitudes, and the regulatory issues surrounding certified organic production.

Maintaining sufficient soil phosphorus (P) levels for non-limiting crop growth is challenging in organic systems since off-farm inputs of P are restricted. This study assessed the status of P on organic farms in Europe using soil test results for extractable P. Data was obtained from published literature, unpublished theses, and various national and regional databases of soil test values. Most of the data (15,506 observations) came from field scale soil tests, but in some cases (1272 observations) values had been averaged across a farm. Farm scale and field scale data were analysed separately and the impact of farm type (arable, dairy, grassland, horticulture, mixed, poultry, unknown) was assessed. Soil test results were assigned to P classes from very low (P class 1) to very high (P class 5). The farm scale data came primarily from Norway, Sweden and Switzerland and did not indicate deficiencies in extractable P; 93% of farms fell into class 3 or above. The majority of the field scale data came from Germany and indicated 123Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2018) 110:227-239 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-017-9894-2 sufficient or higher levels of P availability for arable and grassland systems on 60% of fields; the remaining fields had low or very low available P. Adaptations in organic systems may improve P uptake and utilization efficiency allowing yields to be maintained in the short-term, nevertheless there is cause for concern about the long-term P sustainability of some organic farming systems in Europe. This highlights the need to reassess allowable P inputs in organic farming systems to improve overall sustainability.

Organic production and consumption provide a delineated food system that can be explored for its potential contribution to sustainable diets. While organic agriculture improves the sustainability performance on the production side, critical reflections are made on how organic consumption patterns, understood as the practice of people consuming significant amounts of organic produce, may also be taken as an example for sustainable food consumption. The consumption patterns of regular organic consumers seem to be close to the sustainable diet concept of FAO. Certain organic-related measures might therefore be useful in the sustainability assessment of diets, e.g., organic production and organic consumption. Since diets play a central role in shaping food systems and food systems shape diets, the role of organic consumption emerges as an essential topic to be addressed. This role may be based on four important organic achievements: organic agriculture and food production has a definition, well-established principles, public standards, and useful metrics. By 2015, data for organic production and consumption are recorded annually from more than 160 countries, and regulations are in force in more than 80 countries or regions. The organic food system puts the land (agri-cultura) back into the diet; it is the land from which the diet in toto is shaped. Therefore, the organic food system provides essential components of a sustainable diet.