Organic


	Issue 103 Prairie Grains


	Prairie Grains is the official publication of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, Montana Grain Growers Association and South Dakota Wheat, Inc.


	Why Do We Farm Organically?

While there is lots of anecdotal information about organic farm performance and profitability, real world information about production, financial performance and profitability on organic farms is scarce. In 2006, The Minnesota Department of Agriculture was awarded a grant from the USDA Risk Management Agency and the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant program to help answer those questions about organic production. The objective of the grant is to teach organic producers to keep and use quality records to make sound business management decisions. The producers receive comprehensive year-end analyses that can be used for tax preparation, discussions with lenders and enterprise planning. a

There is now three years of financial data from Minnesota organic producers, and the results are available at www.cffm.umn.edu, where you can also find information on non-organic production. The program continued into 2009, and those financial numbers will be available in late spring 2010.

To help you better understand the organic data contained in the report, Mark Berg, a Northland College farm business management instructor has included in the report a quick reference guide to answer the questions: Can I make a living farming organically? What does it cost to be an organic farmer? How big do I have to be?

The decision to begin a new farming enterprise is never easy; just read Lee Thomas’s account of his reluctance to enter the field of organic production (above), but this report can help you understand the financial implications of making the leap. Minnesot