Find your own pace
The important questions about how to convert are little different from any other management decision in the context of the organic farm. They need to be answered in a holistic way, with appropriate reference to the individual situation of the farm.
Some growers will need to convert quickly in order to maintain enthusiasm. Others will need to start slowly in order to pay for adjustments and to learn new management practices. Most farmers will fit into the second category and will begin with one or two paddocks or blocks, adding some land each season until the whole property is organic. Often the addition of new paddocks can be based on the rotation plan, using the pasture phase of the cycle to nurse each paddock through the three-year conversion period.
Allow some flexibility in the conversion plan, as some of the management tools will require fine-tuning which only comes with experience, and a slow start ensures that financial implications of changes are not disastrous.
Just how you get there is less important than the end goal - an organic, sustainable, financially rewarding and personally satisfying farming system.
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