Several innovative farming systems have been identified to promote global food and ecosystem security that better balance multiple sustainability goals. The most rapidly growing and contentious of these systems is organic agriculture. Whether organic agriculture can continue to expand will likely be determined by whether it is economically competitive with conventional agriculture.

This study examined organic and conventional agriculture's financial performance by conducting a global dataset meta-analysis spanning 55 crops grown on five continents.

The results show that the combination of ample organic yields, similar costs, and organic premiums allowed net present values and benefit/cost ratios to be reliably greater for organic crops and systems. Additionally, total costs, gross returns, benefit/cost ratios, and net present values for organic compared with conventional crops and systems were consistent across the study period.