GROWING PAINS Manitoba's organic farmers in an enviable position with demand far outpacing supply
To say a conversion six years ago to organic farming changed the fortunes of Pipestone's Lobreau family would be an understatement. A really big understatement.
"We were very small -- more of a hobby farm at that point," Bryce Lobreau explained during a recent interview.
Today, Pristine Prairie Organics, the 5,000-acre farm Lobreau operates along with his parents, Danny and Robin, is one of the province's most successful organic farms thanks to a burgeoning consumer demand for healthier foods.
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There are lots of good reasons to go organic
Imagine farming in a world in which you could control your production costs, receive a premium for what you produce, and in which demand exceeds supply.
That might seem like the impossible dream, especially in a year such as this one, when it appears it doesn't matter what crop a farmer grows, there are few opportunities to do much better than break even -- despite assuming above-average yields.
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Organic, conventional farmers should exploit common ground
A recent story in The Western Producer that compared crop insurance data on conventional yields versus organic yields for many of Western Canada’s main crops has rekindled old rivalries.
At times it seems like the two sides in the conventional versus organic debate will never see eye to eye, even though the two camps don’t, as a rule, compete for the same markets. There is a philosophical divide that makes it hard for the two to relate.
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Higher seeding rate needed for organic soybeans
It’s a simple question, one that Martin Entz hopes producers will seriously consider.
“Why not grow organic soybeans?” he asked producers gathered at the Ian N. Morrison research farm near Carman late last month for the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers’ annual SMART Day.
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Recipes for better soil
You can’t control Mother Nature, but you can have some control over the health of your soil.
At a recent workshop, soil scientist Jill Clapperton outlined some visible indicators of soil health, and described a few things producers could do to improve their soil.
“If you have healthy plants, you have an excellent indicator that your soils are also very healthy. That’s the No. 1 thing you want to pay attention to,” said Clapperton, a rhizosphere ecologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge for 16 years before moving to the States and starting a consulting company called Rhizoterra.
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Banking on quinoa from seed to sale
Standing beside a field of quinoa, Ryan Pengelly asks a neighbouring farmer if he thinks he's crazy. "You have to start somewhere,"àthe farmer said jokingly from the cab of his diesel pickup.
While not the first to grow quinoa in Manitoba, Pengelly took a big risk seeding the South American crop grown for its edible seeds.
Last year, he planted an acre of quinoa and was able to sell approximately 400 pounds of what he called "dark tan" seeds at farmers' markets throughout the province. The product retailed for $10 per pound.
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New report on the profit potential of certified organic field crop production
WHO Publishes Full Probable Human Carcinogen Report on Glyphosate
