Organic farming was the focus of a workshop at Western Development Museum April 1.
The title was Transitioning to Organic Farming, and it was a day-long session aimed at farmers looking to transition from “conventional” farming to organic.
The North Battleford workshop is the first of five one-day workshops held across the province in April. The others were scheduled for Humboldt, Assiniboia, Estevan and Swift Current. The events are funded by the Ministry of Agriculture Industry Organization Development Fund, Government of Saskatchewan.
The morning session was devoted to introducing the participants to a definition of what organic farming is and the business case for it. The afternoon sessions focused more on the practical side, with topics including the transition to organic farming, organic practices and standards for soil fertility and crop rotation, weed and pest management and organic certification.
The transition period involves considerable planning and preparation and isn’t an easy process. Presenter Sam Godwin outlined in the afternoon session the steps to convert a conventional farm to one that is certified organic, with the process happening over a span of about three or four years.
The process starts with the farm going substance-free in the first year and there are other challenges to negotiate, such as an increase in weeds, as farmers adjust to a completely different way of farming.
The point was made during the morning session that organic grain production was not simply an option for farmers looking to get away from the chemicals and pesticides used in conventional farming.
As presenters pointed out, there was an opportunity to make good money at it as well.
There is strong demand for organic product and that was reflected in the prices. One of the presenters was J. Wallace Hamm who operates an organic farm operation outside of Saskatoon.
He presented charts showing historic relative grain prices for various organic and conventional crops — red spring wheat, barley, oats, flaxseed, soybean and corn.
All showed organic prices on an upward trajectory, outpacing conventional prices by a considerable margin. Organic red spring wheat prices were shown as approaching $25 a bushel, compared to around $5 for conventional. Organic barley was selling in the area of $450 a tonne compared to somewhere around $125 for conventional, and it was a similar story for the rest, with organics outpacing conventional prices by two to three times the amount.
The only point in which organic prices showed a noticeable dip was during the recession year of 2010, where prices were closer to where conventional levels were.
The point Hamm made was that organic farmers spend half as much, and net twice as much per acre as their conventional farming counterparts.
One would think the existing organic farmers would be happy if they didn’t have any additional competition.
But Hamm noted organic farming’s market share was under threat from countries such as Argentina, Kazakhstan and elsewhere, and noted the importance of keeping their market share up to maintain the infrastructure and the elevators dedicated to organic farmers.
“We as an existing industry, we in existing organic farming, don’t want to lose market share (or) lose the infrastructure that we’ve developed over the last 25 years,“ Hamm said. “That’s why we’re here talking to you and inviting you to join us.”
