New idea

[cottonpicken]

Go ahead and punch this out of my brain,its been driving me nuts for years,i;ve mentioned it a few times on here.

Basically its a semi-organic label.

Consumers want something and most of us are not giving it to them.You can't ignore the tidal shift underway.

It doesn't really matter who is right or who is wrong and all the political b.s. at this point.

Anyway you cut we are losing.

And all the farmers here know straight organic is not really an option.

Small concessions from both sides.

You guys know the things we maybe shouldn't be doing and conversely we need to explain the things we HAVE to do.

[freewheat]

We are doing this with our animals already. Animals are easier to be semi-organic with.

I think you are on the right track, but not so much with larger scale grain so much as maybe smaller scale grain and animal ag.

I have been thinking along the gluten free craze, and what to grow and mill, or clean and bag at exhorbitant prices.

Make a living on a thousand acres rather than 10 000.

Different ways to do things.

[sumdumguy]

The organic store that I went to this morning is booming. Guess the consumer knows what he wants.

[hedgehog]

you guys have the perfect climate for organic farming, frost to kill bugs and a dry winter that doesnt wash the nitrogen out. i did it for 15yrs on unsuitable heavy soils.

[pourfarmer]

There are things I would like to change within the organic system, but unfortunately its a take it or leave it scenario with certification.

I've always thought "middle ground" would be best, maybe less herb/fung/pesticides on food grade products... maybe limit fert used, I don't know exactly... I think we ****ed it up bad when we decided to treat food as fuel (nothing wrong with growing fuel), the farm practices should differ. I couldn't care less if I'm pumping GMO fuel laced with preharvest desiccant into my truck tank, but into my body or my family that's a different story.

The thing of it is though, most people would have to pay more for their food and have less money for 60" TV's and "branded" clothing..

Thanks for opening dialogue on this Cotton!

[tweety]

CFIA will say the same thing as with PFP.

Too confusing for the incredibly uninformed and naive consumer.

[malleefarmer]

in Sweden a few years back on a farm for 10 days canola rye a little wheat and catlle and sheep. drenches used some selected chemicals mostly knock down prior to sowing cattle got a drench but was all organic but had to be within
'guidelines" and all recorded and inspectors came out at each operation. So was a bit like cotton said semi organic but labelled organic

[sumdumguy]

What would it take to entice farmers to turn the clock back on some acres? Continuos chemical application has become commonplace in today's Ag world. Between the practice of no-til and fall desiccation, I wonder if over-production and production for fuel substitution has taken precedence over production for human consumption. Gotta wonder.

[pourfarmer]

What would it take? It would take $$$. Many farmers cant afford 3 years fallow or 3 years alfalfa or 3 years decreased production. The treadmill they're on is speeding up and they have to make every acre pay just to keep pace.

Guys like ADO have it made, lax rules by certification bodies allowing parallel production with no (or not following) a transition plan. Its definitely a different world then when I started down this path...

[cottonpicken]

The marketing campaign would/could kick the **** out of the David sussukis of the world and the soccer moms in the cities. Even "pesticide free" would go along way.

It be like-look guys we have to have zero till and fertilizer and some chemical,it's just that simple.

Animals i wouldn't know about but the angle is there.

Maybe the space isn't there i dont know.