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2016 Logan County Fall Farm Outlook Magazine
Lincoln Daily News
Oct. 27, 2016
29
Good record keeping is another important part of the
transition. The Illinois State Department of Agriculture
shows a list of information required to become
organically certified, such as by showing “substances
applied to land for the previous three years” and
“Organic products being grown, raised, or processed.”
The applicant’s organic plan, must show “practices
and substances used in production” and “describe the
monitoring practices to be performed to verify that
the plan is effectively implemented.” It should also
detail “the record-keeping system, and the practices
to prevent commingling of organic and non-organic
products and to prevent contact of products with
prohibited substances.”
The transition from traditional to organic also means
finding a market for products, but that may be less
challenging. As organic products have become more
popular, there are more markets for these products,
and sales have increased in recent years. Organic
grains for livestock and poultry feed capture a
premium price.
In today’s increasingly health conscious society, the
market for organic products is growing along with
plenty of informational resources. Grocers and other
consumer markets carry an expanding line of organic
products.
Though the transition and implementation may be
challenging, the change may be beneficial to those
who may want more control over input costs and
market options.
According to the University of Illinois Extension,
“Growing organic grain is an emerging trend in
agriculture. An increasing number of farmers realize
that gaining control over their marketing, and tapping
into the strong demand for identity-preserved organic
grain has many benefits.”
Organic crops show higher profits
Certified organic crop acres more than doubled
between 2002 and 2011, and that trend continues
today. Of the then over 3 million acres certified
organic, 264,000 crop acres were in corn, soybean and
wheat.
As organic production interests increase and new
local markets emerge, organic crops are offering new
opportunities to the farmers.
Experts find it challenging to report and project just
how much profit might be realized by turning to
organic, as records currently only offer “limited time-
series data.”
The USDA put together a report in 2015 based on an
Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)
that was conducted of targeted organic farms.
The economic analysis examined only operating or
variable costs. It excludes the economic costs of land,
labor and capital. Mean figures were used that also
incorporated transition to becoming certified organic
costs. Organic production figures are expected to
continue to change for the better.
Summarized high points from the 2015 study:
■ Significant price premiums paid for certified organic
crops.
■ Additional economic costs of organic versus
conventional production were more than offset by
higher returns from organic systems for corn and
soybeans, although not for wheat.
■ Organic field crop production was, on average,
conducted on farms with less total acreage and less
field crop acreage than conventional farms.
■ Despite having fewer acres, producers of some
organic field crops were less likely to work off-farm.
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