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Organic
farm tour
[JUNE
5, 2003]
URBANA -- A tour of several
organic farms in Woodford County will take place from 9 a.m. to noon
on Monday, July 14. Terra Brockman, president of The Land Connection
Foundation, and other local farmers will host the tour, which will
visit successful, diverse, organic farms.
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"One farm grows 450 varieties of
vegetables on 10 acres," said Brockman, "and probably makes more
money than on 1,000 acres of conventional corn and soybeans. Another
farm we'll visit has 500 certified organic acres of cropland and
pastureland. They raise beef, hogs, dairy cows, chickens, turkeys,
sheep and geese, as well as organic grains in a seven-year rotation,
and some fruits and veggies. In between, we'll stop and visit a new
organic farm that's in the process of transitioning to organic grain
production." Brockman said that there will be tastings at each farm
and refreshments at noon.
There are six tours being offered this
summer through the University of Illinois Agroecology/Sustainable
Agriculture Program. The first tour took place in June and visited
ethnic grocery stores in Chicago. "Sustainable agriculture includes
alternative farming practices like organic, but it's also about ways
to provide an adequate and dependable farm income," said Deborah
Cavanaugh-Grant, a U of I research specialist who is coordinating
the tours.
On Tuesday, Aug.12, community-supported
agriculture will be the topic, with a tour of Angelica Organics in
Caledonia.
Tuesday, Aug. 19, a tour will visit
Tanglefoot Farm in Simpson to learn about prawn farming.
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On Wednesday, Sept. 10, the topic will
be agritourism, with a visit to Hardy's Reindeer Ranch in Rantoul.
The tour will include a hayride and lunch served in the style of the
grand Old West.
The final tour is scheduled for
Wednesday, Oct. 29, to Pike's Hunting Club in Marion, where the
topic will be waterfowl fee hunting.
A registration form is available online
at
http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/asap/index.html or by contacting
Cavanaugh-Grant.
For additional information contact
Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant at (217) 968-5512 or
cvnghgrn@uiuc.edu.
A small fee will be charged for each
tour. Registration at least one week in advance is required.
The tours
are sponsored by the Agroecology/Sustainable Agriculture Program in
the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at
the University of Illinois, the North Central Region Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program,
and the Illinois Small Farm Task Force.
[University
of Illinois press release]
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"If this does occur, the year would
show a modest positive margin for many hog producers," said Chris
Hurt. "Lower feed prices are also expected by the fall if weather is
near normal this summer. Profit prospects for 2004 should be
favorable, with some continued reduction in pork supplies, smaller
beef supplies, lower costs of production and the improving economy
we have all been waiting for."
Hurt's comments came as he reviewed the
hog market. He noted that hog producers have just seen their
operating margins break back into positive territory. Operating
losses have been the rule since March 2002, when hog prices dropped
below $40 per live hundredweight.
"They have generally averaged below the
$40 mark until last month," he said. "Mounting losses last summer
and the higher feed prices resulting from last summer's drought have
caused producers to cut back on the size of the breeding herd. The
cutback was modest last summer but has continued to gain steam such
that the current herd size is down about 3 percent."
Hurt noted that the reduced breeding
herd size has already begun to be reflected in reduced pork
production. Pork supplies have been down about 3 percent over the
past two months, and supplies will likely continue to stay down.
Pork supplies for the summer and fall are expected to be down about
2 percent.
Hog prices will get some upward
encouragement from the demand side as well. The cow that tested
positive for BSE in Canada should have some upward spin for hog
prices. So far, beef demand in the United States seems to have been
little affected.
"This means that the much larger impact
has been from the reduced beef supply coming from Canada," said
Hurt. "In 2002, the United States imported 1.7 million live cattle
and 1.1 billion pounds of processed beef. In total, this amounted to
about 8 percent of all beef consumed.
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"The reduction of this amount of beef
supply seems to be the dominating impact, as live cattle prices have
topped $80 per live hundredweight in June for the first time ever.
Pork demand will be enhanced as consumers respond to the record high
retail beef prices with some substitution of pork."
Hurt added that the trade picture
should also begin to turn friendlier for pork producers. Japan and
South Korea have also shut off imports of beef from Canada. While
this will be most positive for beef exports with known U.S. origin,
it will also increase pork exports to these two major buyers. Of
course, U.S. pork exports to Canada may be reduced, but this impact
could be much smaller, as exports so far this year to Japan and
South Korea are nearly six times larger than pork exports to Canada.
Exchange rates are another positive
development for live hog prices, particularly with Canada, which has
been supplying about 6 percent of the United States' live hogs.
"The U.S. dollar has dropped in value
relative to the Canadian dollar by 13 percent this year," said Hurt.
"The strengthening Canadian dollar provides less incentive to ship
hogs to the United States for finishing and processing. However, it
will take more time for this impact to develop, as most of these
hogs enter the United States on coordinated finishing contracts."
Finally, the U.S. economy shows signs
of emerging from its long period of slow growth, at least as
forecast by the current rising stock market. Faster growth in
consumer incomes would have a small, but positive, impact on hog
prices.
"So what do
these fundamentals mean for hog prices?" Hurt said. "Clearly,
declining hog numbers in the United States, the potential for
reduced Canadian imports and improving demand should mean better
times ahead for hog producers."
[University
of Illinois news release]
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