$60,000 from 300 Organic Acres?

John Hollinger MAFRI - Organic BDS Is it possible to net $60,000 from only 300 organic acres? This was the question posed to those touring the Organic Crops Field Lab site at the University of Manitobas Field Research Station at Carman in the summer of 2008. Dr. Martin Entz established the 10-acre site in 2004 to provide a practical demonstration of an organic crop rotation under actual field conditions. The rotation consists of six crops grown in sequence, with each crop grown on a parcel of 1.5 acres:

Green manure Pulse Crop Cereal

Oilseed/Broadleaf

Cereal

Green manure

Organic soybeans

Dr. Entz has shown the agronomic benefits of this rotation several times in recent years. But the question often arose: What about the economics of this rotation? How can a farmer make money from a field that is being green manured every three years? Dr. Entz replied with his own question: How many acres are needed for an organic farm to net $60,000? This formed the basis for the exercise at Dr. Entzs organic plot last summer. By walking through the six crops, field visitors were asked to estimate the projected yield of each crop. At the end of the plot tour, these numbers were entered on a chart where bushel prices and costs of production were added and an acreage figure was calculated. Crops and varieties in the rotation included: Forage Peas (40-10), Oats (HiFi), Wheat (5602HR), Soybeans (OAC Prudence), Barley (AC Ranger), Hairy Vetch, Flax (Hanley), Fall Rye (Prima).

Dr. Entz in the flax plot

Lely harrow used for weed control

Estimated yields were entered onto the summary chart.

2008 Crop Plan 1) Peas with Oats 2) Spring wheat 3) Soybeans 4) Barley with hairy vetch 5) Flax 6) Rye

Use Green manure Grain Grain Forage/green manure Grain Grain

Price/ bu ------$20 $15 $50/T $25 $7

Yield bu/A ------35 30 2T/A 15 45

Gross Cost of Net return return Production ---------- $ per acre--------------80 -80 700 450 100 375 315 170 150 150 155 170 530 300 -50 220 145

With the net return averaging $177.50 per acre from the six crops, the answer to the $60,000 question became apparent: $60,000 / $177.50 = 338 acres The acreage result will fluctuate according to yield and price, and in fact, more than one group calculated a result in the 200-acre range. This left many who work mainly with conventional agriculture scratching their heads wondering if the complete story was being told. But all of the bases had indeed been covered by Dr. Entz and the skeptics left with the impression that, Hmmmaybe there is something to this organic business after all. For more information, contact John Hollinger, MAFRI Organic Specialist, at John.Hollinger@gov.mb.ca. U of M Natural Systems Agriculture website: http://umanitoba.ca/outreach/naturalagriculture/articles/fieldlab.html MAFRI Organiculture website: http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/organic/