The future of farming is organic

[sumdumguy]

The soil must be half to 3/4 weed seeds, as evidenced by the many flushes of weed carpet this year, nursed along by daily showers. The diverse range of weeds included many weeds that reproduce every month or so. My hat goes off to those who can manage those intruders effectively. I'll watch for awhile, but all the local organic producers that started farming when we did are gone.

On the other hand a very successful organic who really stands out in my mind is a grower at Wawota who incorporates exemplary weed-management practices, they add value by cleaning, polishing, small-package foreign marketing. This fine lady and her husband showed me me what a whole-farm organic operation can be with a whole lot of hutzpah. I don't have her permission to use their name on here, but some of us know her by Parsley.

[cottonpicken]

I've been focusing everything on this,for a long time.

Right and wrong has nothing to do with it,well it does but.....

I don't know how many years ago i suggested semi-organic,where we attempt to explain to consumers how we need a few chemicals properly applied and how the fertilizers/minerals where essential to plants,soil and US but that seems like a pipe dream.

I can't even get it through my wives head about her attempting to alkaline her body she is changing the ph of her stomach thus not breaking down the amino acids/proteins and exasterbaiting the gluten(protein) intolerance which ****s up your intestine villa thus limiting the nutrient uptake thus ****ing up everything else and creating a million other problems.The uneducated health nuts got on the cancer and alkaline body band wagon without applying critical thought.

Looks like sugar is on the chopping block now but co2(carbonated) beverages should,because it ****s up the stomach ph,not that the 50% fructose in sugar which is brocken down in the liver isn't bad.

I kind of feel like going to war with food babe today.

[cottonpicken]

See these two "doctors" are ****in morons.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/revitalize/video/two-cardiologists-debate-fat-sugar-and-coconut-oil

[cottonpicken]

Eat olive oil at every meal and i guarantee you will die of a heart attack,to ****in stupid to mention inflammation without mentioning free radicals,god thank god for old farm boys turned vet turned doctor he would have ripped them to shreds.

[hobbyfrmr]

Cotton has a point. Above and beyond organic produced grains and foods the most paramount detail for people is Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. Food companies are presenting the general public with garbage and we eat it. Myself included. The farmer is taking the brunt of all consumer negativity and that is not right.

I do not encourage farmers to change to organic farming. 12 years ago I changed to organic farming for the exact, exact, exact same reasoning describe here by AVer's posts. I just did not see a profitable future without a whole lot of expansion and risk. Real risk, like signing up land to buy inputs then take all the risk all the way to the elevator grates.

If you like this, then excellent. Nothing wrong with being a risk taker.
I spend two nights and a couple boxes of beer at the lake with some conventional farming counterparts and the message is the same. They work like mad, spend more time spraying chemicals than being with their children. It's weighing on them. Our conversations are not about who's production model is right or wrong, it is about making a living. These fellows are my age and they are genuinely stressed out from all of it and what troubles them the most is they can't see any direction. At this time they acknowledge the cost/price squeeze but they don't know what they are going to do about it.

In the meantime I clap trap around with 30+ year old equipment and I am genuinely content. I am not against conventional farming, I try to criticize it in order to stimulate some alternative thinking. It's just life, we are fortunate to be able to choose our occupations. In the end, all I am taking with me is the dirt under my fingernails so I think I better help my wife and have some fun with the children.

We have been spraying weeds for 50 years and conventional guys still go out and spray every single year. I am cool with that, I understand how a good clean field provides the best change at a very good yield and low dockage reward.
I collect my screenings. This year when I sell them, I have chosen instead of making an extra land payment I will take the family to Disneyland.

I was thinking to take a photo of a quarter of oats on stubble that will run about 90+ bu/acre contracted for $7.50/bushel FOB farm. The test sample was 3% dockage. Then my good friend sent me a little reminder to never allow someone waste your time twice.

[fjlip]

Field scale organic oats is like 19 bu around here, 200% weeds. How does SMF every second year work out to returns per year? All the rain made SMF a waste of diesel and iron. So sad for those trying. Seed bank must be astronomical!
Musk says N should be cancelled, that would certainly REDUCE the F*CKING supply, I vote N illegal!

[hobbyfrmr]

Field scale organic oats is like 19 bu around here, 200% weeds. How does SMF every second year work out to returns per year? All the rain made SMF a waste of diesel and iron. So sad for those trying. Seed bank must be astronomical!
Musk says N should be cancelled, that would certainly REDUCE the F*CKING supply, I vote N illegal!

A really good way to prove you are right is to buy out that organic farmer.
Maybe thats what he is doing. You should pay him and tactfully make an offer.

[malleefarmer]

Cotton hit it "semi" organic,
Was in Sweden at a organic farm they were allowed one pass of glypho this is going back years but were demmed organic. It may have changed by now

[newguy]

Answer is not organic farming .half the yield on half the acres.a third of the world starves.Farmets are their worst enemy though.Reduce inputs would bring down production in a much more controled manner.But you could never get all farmers to do this.so the ones that reduced production would just increase price for the greedy guys that did not.

[cottonpicken]

The industry is running at a 12% growth rate or something like that,even in 08 it was growing.I should but don't know supply numbers.

Even costco is giving out loans or some shit to farmers to go organic.

Right or wrong doesn't matter its inertia can't be ignored.

[TraderJoe]

Newguy... it isn't half the yield on half the acres...that's the old way. Producers now have very sophisticated rotations to maximize nutrient availability and yields, and summerfallow is not part of it. I have seen 30 bushel organic flax crops followed by 60 bushel oat crops... that's over $1000/ac gross return in year 1, followed by $400 gross return in year 2, followed by a green manure/plowdown year in the 3rd that costs some money. Do the math, not half crops of either, and using all the acres with no summerfallow. Manitoba Agriculture has done multi year studies on production and returns, and there was an independent study done in Ontario that the POGI transition workshops are using for information. I am not in favor of either, but I have seen the results from the new wave of organic farmers and it is very impressive!

[hobbyfrmr]

Newguy... it isn't half the yield on half the acres...that's the old way. Producers now have very sophisticated rotations to maximize nutrient availability and yields, and summerfallow is not part of it. I have seen 30 bushel organic flax crops followed by 60 bushel oat crops... that's over $1000/ac gross return in year 1, followed by $400 gross return in year 2, followed by a green manure/plowdown year in the 3rd that costs some money. Do the math, not half crops of either, and using all the acres with no summerfallow. Manitoba Agriculture has done multi year studies on production and returns, and there was an independent study done in Ontario that the POGI transition workshops are using for information. I am not in favor of either, but I have seen the results from the new wave of organic farmers and it is very impressive!

Half a crop, and twcie the price. Dont do it, there is no money in it.

[fjlip]

A really good way to prove you are right is to buy out that organic farmer.
Maybe thats what he is doing. You should pay him and tactfully make an offer.

That land is SO POLLUTED, nobody would make an offer. No thanks, ruined his chances to sell it.

[newguy]

Not against the niche market and know many do a good job at it.Many are just wearing out their land doing it.on the other hand conventional farmers in my opinion have gone too far to produce more at any cost.a simple reduction in inputs right across the board would reduce yields increase prices and the big chemical and fertilizer companies would be the only ones losing.

[pourfarmer]

That land is SO POLLUTED, nobody would make an offer. No thanks, ruined his chances to sell it.

LMAO! what a crock of shit, roundup is cheap and plentiful