Farm Characteristics, Social Dynamics and Dairy Farmers’ Conversions to Organic Farming

Efforts to assess and improve the sustainability performance of the growing organic farming sector depend on an accurate understanding of farm structure and management practices. To contribute to the dearth of literature in this area, we conducted a survey of over 850 certified organic corn growers in four states (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) in the spring of 2018. Findings show that most organic corn growers in this region had diversified livestock operations (mostly dairy) on relatively small farms (10–100 ha), which contrasts with trends of specialization and growth in farm size. More than half were dairy farmers, and nearly two-thirds farmed with horses (likely Amish). Soil fertility and health were managed by the use of manure, cover crops, forages, and a variety of other soil amendments. Organic corn growers relied heavily on moldboard plow tillage. All producers had positive net returns to labor and management in 2017, though net returns varied widely across operations. The results have implications for assessing the sustainability of organic farming systems, and for designing scientific research and extension/outreach programs to ensure they address the needs of the diverse organic farming population in this region.

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Conversion to organic farming increases dairy farmers’ satisfaction independently of the strategies implemented

Agronomy for Sustainable Development ◽

10.1007/s13593-020-00616-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Maëlys Bouttes ◽

Alexandre Bancarel ◽

Stéphane Doumayzel ◽

Sandrine Viguié ◽

Magali San Cristobal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Farming ◽

Dairy Farmers

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Green Harvest

10.1071/9780643101074 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Rebecca Jones

Keyword(s):

Human Health ◽

Organic Farming ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Well Being ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Self Sufficiency ◽

The World ◽

Back To The Land ◽

Organic Gardening

Green Harvest explores the ideas and practices that have shaped organic farming and gardening in Australia from the interwar years to the present day. It reveals that Australian organic farming and gardening societies were amongst the first in the world, being active as early as the 1940s. In what way does human health depend upon the natural environment? Green Harvest traces this idea through four themes of Australian organic farming and gardening – soil, chemical free, ecological well-being and back to the land – each illustrated with a case study profiling an Australian organic farmer or gardener. Personalities in Australian organic gardening, such as Jackie French and Peter Bennett, talk about organic growing. The book also features extracts from early organic magazines and interviews with current organic growers, including banana and macadamia farmers, managers of outback sheep stations, dairy farmers and self-sufficiency gardeners. All of these tell the story of Australian organic farming and gardening: past, present and future.

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Do the new organic producers differ from the ‘old guard’? Empirical results from Norwegian dairy farming

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems ◽

10.1079/raf2005140 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 174-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Ola Flaten ◽

Gudbrand Lien ◽

Martha Ebbesvik ◽

Matthias Koesling ◽

Paul S. Valle

Keyword(s):

Organic Farming ◽

Food Quality ◽

Postal Survey ◽

Rapid Expansion ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Farm Production ◽

Frequent Use ◽

Organic Dairy ◽

Organic Farmers ◽

Norwegian Dairy

Conventional farmers converting to organics have contributed to most of the rapid expansion of organic farming in recent years. The new organic farmers may differ from their more established colleagues, which may have implications for the development of the organic farming sector and its distinctiveness vis-à-vis conventional production and marketing practices. The aim of this study was to explore Norwegian organic dairy farmers' personal and farm production characteristics, farming goals, conversion motives, and attitudes to organic farming, grouped by year of conversion (three groups). A postal survey was undertaken among organic dairy farmers (n=161). The results show that the newcomers (converted in 2000 or later) were less educated than the early entrants (the so-called ‘old guard’) who converted in 1995 or earlier. The frequency of activities like vegetable growing and poultry farming among the old guard was high. The late-entry organic herds were fed with more concentrates and had a higher milk production intensity, showed a higher incidence of veterinary treatments and less frequent use of alternative medicine than the herds of the two earlier converting groups. For all groups of farmers, the highest ranked farming goals were sustainable and environment-friendly farming and the production of high-quality food. Late entrants more often mentioned goals related to profit and leisure time. On average, the most frequently mentioned motives for conversion were food quality and professional challenges. The old guard was more strongly motivated by food quality and soil fertility/pollution issues than the others, whereas financial reasons (organic payments included) were relatively more important among the newcomers. All groups held very favorable views about the environmental qualities of organic farming methods, albeit with different strengths of beliefs. Even though trends towards more pragmatic and business-oriented farming were found, the majority of the newcomers were fairly committed.

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