August 23, 2024 - By Ching Lee - With assumptions about high fees and onerous paperwork and inspections, some farmers have eschewed becoming certified organic even though they may already be farming organically or want to transition to earn higher prices for their products.
But those who have gone through the process in recent years suggest such perceptions may be overblown, with some of them saying the benefits of certification are worth the extra cost and work.
“I had heard all the horror stories,” Tulare County farmer Art Hutcheson said. “I was one of these guys that (said) I’m never going to be organic.”
Hutcheson manages multiple orchards for Cilker, a property investment firm based in Los Gatos. One property, a 79-acre almond farm in Strathmore, became certified organic in June. He said the farm’s owners wanted to convert some acreage to organic when they saw at the time that returns on organic almonds were twice as much as conventional.
Though he was “a little apprehensive,” Hutcheson said the overall certification process “wasn’t that difficult.” Even the paperwork “was not that big of a hurdle,” he said. Having a good consultant helps, he added.
The biggest change has been in the field. There are few approved pesticides for organic use, he noted. Not only do they cost more than conventional products, but “they don’t really work that well,” he said.
As a farmer who has always used preemergent herbicides, weed control has been particularly challenging, he said, as “there’s no good weed killers.”
“This drives me nutty to go down and look at this ranch every day because of the weeds,” Hutcheson said.
What’s disappointing, he said, is the current price for organic almonds is not much higher than conventional, meaning “we did all this work to try to get a premium, and this year, it’s not going to materialize.” After three years transitioning the orchard to organic, he said the company wants to “see it through” for at least a couple of years. But if the lower pricing trend continues, the owners may want to go back to farming conventionally, he said.
Vasken Hauri, who runs Country Nerd Farm in Mariposa County, said being able to label his specialty mushrooms with the U.S. Department of Agriculture certified organic logo is “a huge trust builder” at the farmers market with new customers who may not be familiar with his products.
With plans to eventually sell his products at retail outlets, where he can’t talk to customers as he does at the farmers market, the organic label will prove even more useful, he added.
Hauri’s farm became certified organic in March, though he had been producing mushrooms for seven years before taking the plunge. He said he decided to pursue certification after talking to other small organic farmers who told him the cost is “a lot cheaper than I thought—and they were right.”
“There is a perception that permeates farmers markets and in small talk between farmers…that there is a high cost to this,” he said.
Based on his sales, the total cost to become certified was less than $1,200, minus a $750 refund from the USDA Organic Certification Cost Share Program.
He described the recordkeeping requirements as “significant,” as he and his wife “really struggle to keep good records and to do good planning.” But now that it’s part of maintaining his certification, Hauri said it’s a good reason to do what he should be doing anyway as a business.
Andrew Glikin, who runs Raw Roots Farm, a 4-acre diversified vegetable farm in Mariposa County, was one of the farmers Hauri spoke to about becoming certified. Glikin and his wife have been farming organically since 2012 but did not become certified until 2021 due to financial reasons. During the height of the pandemic, they saw “a huge uptick” in the farm’s sales and production, he said.
“We were starting to get a lot of customers who didn’t know who we were but heard about us,” Glikin said. He also noticed increased competition. That’s when he and his wife decided to look into organic certification. The cost was “considerable but doable,” he said.
They did not have to go through the three-year transition, as they were able to prove they had been farming organically. Though certification was the right move for his farm, Glikin said he doesn’t think it’s necessary for all small farms, especially those just starting out, as certification adds “another layer of paperwork.”
“It’s a burden they don’t need to put on themselves until they’re absolutely ready because there is a financial component to it,” he said. “That’s why we didn’t do it because however many hundred dollars that we got to save by not doing it went to buying shoes for our kids or vacation or those things.”
There is a drawback, he said. Some farmers-market customers see the organic label and decide to buy from conventional farms, where prices are lower because “they don’t believe organic is better.”
For Mike McGrane, who manages vineyards and orchards in Sonoma and Napa counties, the cost of going organic is rarely an issue for his clients. Some want the certification because “they want to be known that they’re taking better care of their land through farming organically.” Organic certification is especially important if they have their own wine label, he added.
“It’s really promotional based,” McGrane said. “They’re proud to hang the organic signage to make sure that their neighbors know. It’s very much a badge of honor.”
Other clients become certified because they’re worried about the industry’s eroding wine sales, he said, and they think organic may appeal to younger potential wine drinkers who care about the environment. Also, with Sonoma County’s plan to certify 100% of its vineyards as sustainable, being organic allows farms to distinguish themselves from the pack, he said.
He estimated about one-third of his clients don’t seek certification but still want their vineyards farmed organically, especially if they live on the property, because they “believe it’s the right thing to do.”
McGrane said he hasn’t converted more ground to organic because he has not seen much financial benefit. Organic production adds about 15% to the farming budget, he noted, due to more passes in the field, more fungicide applications and the higher cost of the materials. More importantly, 90% of the grape contracts with wineries don’t call for organic grapes, he said.
When hay prices skyrocketed during the drought three years ago, Siskiyou County farmer and rancher Dan Chase saw a lot of hay growers drop their organic certification so they could produce higher yields conventionally. He opted to certify more hay ground with the thought that there would be less organic hay available.
“I am now very thankful that we did that,” he said, noting he has developed relationships with organic dairy farmers who have become steady customers. Selling organic hay has proved beneficial now that prices have plummeted and “the market is difficult for everybody.” The premium for organic “is what’s allowing us to stay in business and keep going.” His profit margin may be small, he said, but “at least there is a margin.”
Chase acknowledged the recordkeeping can be tedious and “a bit of a burden,” especially for farmers, most of whom “would much rather be out in the field.”
“But that’s the price you pay for the price you receive,” he said.
Chase describes himself as a fan of organic farming. Where he has implemented organic farming practices, the soil is more productive and holds water longer, he said.
“I think there’s a lot of good that can come to the soil from good, solid organic practices, but you’ve got to work at it,” he said. “Organic isn’t my mission statement per se, but I see the benefit.”
(Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@cfbf.com.)
The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 32,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 5.5 million Farm Bureau members.
Source: Reprinted with permission CFBF
