There is some controversy on where the term “organic” as it applies to agriculture first derived. One side claims term ‘organic agriculture’ was coined by Lord Northbourne, an agriculturalist influenced by Steiner’s biodynamic approach, in 1940. This side claims the term as meaning the farm should be viewed as a living organism and stems from Steiner’s non scientific anthroposophy.[18] The second claim is that “organic” derives from the work of early soil scientists that were developing what was then called “humus farming”. Thus in this more scientific view the use of organic matter to improve the humus content of soils is the basis for the term and this view was popularized by Howard and Rodale. Since the early 1940s both camps have tended to merge. [from wiki]