Alternative Crops and Markets

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Alternative Crops and Markets
Surviving Drought Chadron NE 6 June
2006 Wyatt Fraas Center for Rural
Affairs Hartington NE 402
254-6893 wyattf_at_cfra.org
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• Eleven Points for Approaching
• New Crops and Markets
• 1.      Be creative and willing to hear a few
  people tell you 'you're crazy'. Only the easy
  ways of farming and marketing aren't working
  today.
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• 2.     Don't think that you need to match the
  equipment or machinery your neighbors buy. There
  are a number of ways to replace money with your
  management skills and labor.

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• 3.   Look for new markets. See what is missing
  around you.
• 4. Identify the resources you and the farm
  have. What are your interests and skills? Is
  your land very good for hay or grazing or
  vegetables (or rock hunting)? The only thing
  free on your land is the sunlight. How can you
  trap and sell it?

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• 5. Find someone else who is doing what you might
  do. Most farmers are quite willing to share
  their experiences, so visit with those
  experienced people. Don't consider them
  competition until you decide there isn't enough
  market to go around.
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• 6. Build a business plan for your farm. Know your
  cash-flow and budget, your competitive advantage,
  your markets and competition, etc.

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• 7.    Look for value-adding linkages on your
  farm. Use 'waste' from one crop to produce
  another. Put machinery or buildings to use for
  more than one crop. Look for partnerships in
  which you can use someone else's skills or
  machinery alongside yours - do more together.
•  
• 8.      Add value in many forms. You can keep
  more of the food dollar by keeping the
  transportation, processing, distributing,
  marketing, and retailing jobs for yourself. The
  most direct way is to sell to someone who will
  eat your crop.

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• 9.      Raise a crop with higher quality. Dont
  think value-added -- think high value.
  Registered livestock are an example food-grade
  corn is worth more than feed-grade corn fresh
  vegetables are worth more than cannery
  vegetables.
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• 10.      Raise the crop so it is worth more to
  buyers. The buyers perception is all that
  matters 'Natural' meats, without hormones or
  antibiotics, receive higher prices. So do
  certified organic crops.
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• 11.  Do some of the processing yourself.
  Livestock process grain and forage into meat and
  milk, which are worth more than the raw crops.
  Sell sausage from your hogs yourself, instead of
  letting Farmland do it.

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Less Land, More Profits

• Tim and Krisanne Cada
• Converted their family farm to organic production
  
• Increased profits.
• Maintained their farms manageable size and their
  quality of life.

• Clarkson, Nebraska

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Less Land, More Profits

• Tim and Krisanne
• Took over Toms grandfathers farm.
• Farmed 400 acres in a conventional rotational
  system for nine years.
• Decided to grow organic soybeans on 45 acres of
  alfalfa land in 1994.

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Less Land, More Profits
The First Organic Crop

• 45 acres qualified for organic certification.
• Expected low weed pressure on former alfalfa
  fields.
• Drilled beans on 27 acres, the remainder was
  planted in 36 inch rows.
• 1,500 bu. generated 24,000, despite a low 30
  bu/acre yield.
• In 5 years the entire farm was certified organic.

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Less Land, More Profits
Conventional farming models tend to

• Rely on purchased inputs.
• Emphasize few crops.
• Have declining profit margins.

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Less Land, More Profits
Organic farming systems tend to

• Improve the soil quality.
• Use tillage to replace herbicides.
• Spread manure to replace commercial fertilizer.
• Use more time and labor and fewer purchased
  inputs.
• Encourage crop diversity thereby minimizing risk.

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Less Land, More Profits

• You could say the organic farmers real crop is
  the soil.
• -Tim Cada

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Less Land, More Profits
Organic farming systems tend to

• Pay higher prices per unit of production.
• Require fewer acres for farming to make a profit.
• Help keep more farmers on the land and more
  families in rural communities.
• Contribute to the local economy.

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Less Land, More Profits
Controlling weeds is expensive in both
conventional and organic farming systems.

• Organic farmers typically invest in labor and
  equipment which benefit the local economy.
• Conventional farmers typically invest in
  purchased inputs which often benefit distant
  corporations.

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Less Land, More Profits

• If all farmers in the country were organic, the
  chemical dealers might suffer, but the equipment
  dealers would surely prosper.

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Less Land, More Profits
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Less Land, More Profits
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Less Land, More Profits
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Organic Price Index
http//www.newfarm.org/opx/
One category 1 market One category
2 markets One product all markets
One category 4 markets (organic only)
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• Buckwheat Growers Association
• of Minnesota
• www.buckwheatgrowers.com
• Great Lakes Organic
• (Ontario, Canada)
• www.greatlakesorganic.com
• Organic Farmers of Michigan
• Midwest Organic Farmers Co-op
• (Illinois)
• www.midwestorganic.com

• NFOrganics/National Farmers Organization
• www.nfo.org
• Organic Bean and Grain Marketing
• (Michigan)
• www.orbng.com
• Kansas Organic Producers Association
• www.kansasorganics.com
• Wisconsin Organic Marketing Alliance
• http//organicmarketingalliance.org

www.ofarm.org/
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NRCS EQIP Organic Incentive Payment

• 50/ac cropland, 160 ac max, 20 ac
• 10/ac grazing land, 320 ac max. 10 AU
• 4 year contract 3 yrs transition 1 yr
  certified
• Payment after harvest, after inspection by
  certifier
• Contract competes with other EQIP
• Noncompletion penalty of repayment 20
• Contact your local NRCS office for details