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Conversion to Organic Grain - Research paper extract
What is required to become an organic farmer
Summary
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Wheat Extract from Els Wynen Conversion to organic grain farming in Australia, 11th Australian Barley Technical Symposium, Adelaide, September 2003

In 2000-2001, the estimated farm gate value of organically grown grains amounted to $23.3 million, of which most ($19.1 million) was sold as cereal, $3.7 million as oilseed, and $0.4 million as legumes. Of the cereals, 72 per cent was reported as having been sold as organic, which means to a farm-gate value of $13 million (Wynen 2003).

A different way of looking at the market is to explore how much has been exported over the years. AQIS has kept records of weights of exports. A provisional analysis of their data shows that 2000-2001 was the year of highest exports, with over 25,000 tons of cereal exported, less than 2,000 of which consisted of barley. In the following year, this dwindled to less than 500 tons of barley exported, and virtually nothing in 2002-2003, presumably because of the drought. The total amount of cereals exported decreased to around 17,000 tons in 2001-2002, and 3,000 tons in the last year. Interestingly, the decrease was least in ‘flour’ exports.

If we assume that the cereals were exported for an average of $200 per ton, which seems reasonable as most of the cereals were exported as wheat, this would lead to export earnings of $5 million. If this were to be the case, less than half of the produce sold by the present organic farmers was sold on the export market in 2000-2001. As organically grown grain is not only for human consumption but is needed as an input on organic livestock farms (such as for poultry and dairy), this seems a reasonable possibility. Decreases in exports in subsequent years can than be seen as a lack of supply, rather than of demand.

The export of barley has, over the years, been to Switzerland and the UK, and also some to Norway and, in 2002, to Japan. For ‘flour’, presumably wheat, the demand was overwhelmingly from Japan, and in 2002 also from New Zealand and Korea. Wheat grain exports have been exported mainly to Switzerland, UK, Italy and France, with a modest shipment to China both in 2001 and 2002.

What is required to become an organic farmer

In a study on conversion from conventional to organic cereal livestock farming in 1993, seven farmers discussed their farms, the process of conversion towards organic agriculture; their ideas about the problems that process brought with it; the ways in which they had tried to solve the problems on their farm; and, with the benefit of hindsight, how they would convert if they would do so now (see Wynen 1993). Some general lessons can be learned from these discussions.

First of all, information about organic agriculture is important, in technical, regulatory and marketing areas¹ . A good source for technical details is other organic farmers, especially if they have farmed organically for a long time. Organic farmers themselves mention that for them literature and conferences were very important. In the regulatory area, the certification offices (NASAA and the BFA mainly) are relevant for organic broadacre farmers² , and they should be able to guide farmers. These same offices provide contact details of other farmers. Some of the Departments of Agriculture have officers working on organic farming, and their websites can be rather informative.

If, after digesting the information you think that organic agriculture is for you it is time to start thinking about a 'plan of action', that is, a plan about how to go about converting the farm to organic management. This should be made for several stages: a general plan for the long term, a somewhat more detailed plan for the medium term (say three years), and a detailed plan for the short term (one year).

A specific farm plan should include:

farm resources: assets and liabilities;
opportunities – problems;
changes needed to effect organic certification;
likely effects (value ranges of yields, total production, output prices etc.);
time frame.

Existing resources can include quantity and quality of land, buildings and other structures such as yards, water tanks and fences; labour availability and specific skills or abilities.

Problems most organic farmers battled with were: weeds, insects (crops, storage, livestock) and machinery. Weed and insect problems are often handled by a combination of change in rotations and choice of crop, manipulation of the planting date; adaptation of seeding rate; choice of cultivation technique, change of paddock size and use of livestock; hand weeding and special storage containers. A number of farmers mentioned that they needed to adapt their machinery to cope with the change in management. Some of these changes - in fencing and number of livestock, and also additional storage capacity to be able to store grain on the farm as organic, require new investments. Before taking a final decision on whether to change management system, it is important to get some idea whether these investments are likely to pay off. Hence, a detailed plan is essential.

Such a plan needs to include details about:

general rotation, and planned crop and livestock enterprises;
rotation of each paddock, though realising that this may need to be adapted every year, depending on climatic and economic circumstances;
inputs to be used, their availability and cost;
yields expected;
markets to be accessed;
output prices expected.

A change in livestock numbers also requires some extra thought, for example about a change in combination of livestock (for example, sheep, goats, cattle, horses); buying stock from outside or breeding on the farm; and need for re-fencing.

The new plan then needs to be checked for compatibility with other resources on the farm and how they can be provided if not available. For example, do the new strategies to manage soil fertility and pest problems require different machinery from what there is available on the farm at present? If a new crop is planned, is the right machinery available? If not, can existing machinery be adjusted or leased; can a contractor plant or harvest the crop; can the needed machinery be bought? And how much do the different options cost?

Not all of these aspects need to be worked out in detail before starting with organic farming, but those aspects on which the system depends most heavily should be. For example, if the decision to go ahead is dependent on premiums for the product, it is more important to have contacted a buyer before the start than if the decision to start with organic farming depends on the availability of certain equipment. Contacting other organic farmers and organic licensing organisations may be a good idea to ensure that the plans are consistent with organic standards, that is, that certification will not be a problem.

Other actions a prospective farmer may want to consider are: having soil tests done to determine nutrient needs or toxicities; alternative rotations; changes in input use; change number and types and species of livestock and their management (feed minerals, stop using dips and drenches, implement a rotational grazing plan); and a change of paddock size.

Whether this is done on the whole farm or part of the farm depends on personal circumstances. Those farmers who went through the transition sometime before the interview all mention that they would convert the whole farm in one go, if they had the money. They were convinced enough about organic agriculture that the possibility of failure was not a big threat to them. However, they realised that it can be costly to convert the whole farm at once, so that they all qualified their statement in terms of '...if I had the money'. A detailed plan, as mentioned before, should give an insight into what the (financial) consequences are of the different possibilities.

Another aspect that emerges is the availability of money in the initial stages. This is important for a few reasons:

how much of a decrease in income will there be - if any?
how much of a decrease in income can one cope with and for how long?
which investments are essential in order to be able to start with organic agriculture?
how fast can the conversion go?

Once the decision to convert to organic management has been made, make sure to continue to monitor the progress and measure it against a predetermined goal (the long term plan). It is, however, also important to keep in mind that farming is dynamic. All kinds of conditions change from year to year or, indeed, even from day to day (such as the weather, soil life, input and output prices and the farmer's understanding of the processes and skill with which to cope with new challenges). It is therefore equally important to adjust plans from time to time to accommodate a change in the conditions.

It is also good to remember that non-farming aspects can be important in being a successful organic farmer. Many organic farmers commented that, for them, period of reflection, preparation, reading, informing themselves, has been very valuable. In addition, support from other members of the family has been extremely important in either starting with organic farming, or being able to continue with it. This was partly the case because organic farming has often been socially isolating in the past. This may be less important nowadays.

Summary

Organic agriculture is starting to be of increased interest to the grain industry in Australia, partly because of the GMO debate.

From past surveys, we can conclude that broadacre organic farming can be profitable in Australia, though is not necessarily so.

For farmers to decide whether to switch to organic farming, it is extremely important to be well informed about what organic agriculture is, what is needed for a change to organic management, how it can affect the farm and the farm family, and in which time period these changes can be expected. This will be different on each farm, and a plan-of-action for each individual farm is therefore essential before venturing into organic agriculture.