Bill Liebhardt

 

Bill Liebhardt is a soil scientist who has focused his research on soil fertility and farming systems comparison and analysis. He is the former director of the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program at the University of California, Davis and the former director of research at the Rodale Research Center in Pennsylvania. Doctor Liebhardt was an associate professor at the University of Delaware and worked as an agronomist for Allied Chemical Co. in the southeastern United States as well as for Standard Fruit Co. in Honduras. Raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, Dr. Liebhardt received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in soil science from the University of Wisconsin.

 

 

"I have worked with organic agriculture since 1981 at the Rodale Research Center.  Organic soil management  is a complex issue and involves complexity in the soil.  Hydroponics does not even come close to organic soil management.  It is a chemical based approach that has no place in organic agriculture.  All the soil interactions that make organic organic are missing. It is even more chemical intensive than conventional industrial agriculture.  If that idea is accepted as organic then organic  certification is almost a worthless concept.  It bankrupts the idea and the science behind what organic agriculture is."